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The Search for Violante Conservators in Florence on a quest to confirm the attribution of three paintings to eighteenth-century artist Violante Siries PRESS IMAGE TO FLIP THROUGH "Violante didn’t work under the auspices of a Grand Duchess, like Giovanna Fratellini before her. Yet, the lower echelons of Florentine nobility threw parties, hosted salons, organised art exhibitions and held festivals – all potential occasions in which to garner commissions. This period also saw th

By MARGIE MACKINNON This article was first published in Restoration Conversations Magazine Issue 7, Spring 2025   View of the exhibition,...

BY MARGIE MACKINNON This article was first published in Restoration Conversations Magazine Issue 7, Spring 2025   Harriet Loffler,...

On 9 April 2025, as part of our 'garden project', nature lovers had the opportunity to stroll through the grounds of La Foce, thanks to a special tour with estate manager and co-owner Katia Lysy, whose new book, La Foce: Paradise in Tuscany , recounts the 'garden within a garden' that her grandparents Antonio and Iris Origo built, whilst working to reclaim large swathes of the Val d'Orcia, for agriculture. Iris Origo, well-known for books like Images and Shadows or War in Va

Violante Ferroni’s two large-scale ovals in the atrium of the ancient hospital of San Giovanni di Dio were restored by conservators Elizabeth Wicks and Marina Vincenti in 2020. Darkened by centuries of dirt and discoloured varnish, the paintings were created by Ferroni in the mid-1700s. Elizabeth Wicks and Marina Vincenti restoring Ferroni's artwork, ph. F. Cacchiani, 2020 Join us at 10am on May 14, on via Borgo Ognissanti 20 for a tour of the Ancient Hospital of San Giovanni

Here’s a glimpse of Il Palmerino, thanks to shared photos by Sara Papini. On a stormy day in mid-March, a brave group of ‘garden project’ aficionados enjoyed of visit of the home and garden of English author Vernon Lee and English painter and poet Lola Costa. These two women whose cultural contributions to early-twentieth-century Florence remain little known but hugely significant today. Il Palmerino, a cultural centre, family home and working farm is a garden oasis for moder

La Foce manager Katia Lysy  will accompany our guests through the garden of her family’s Tuscan estate, as she shares the ‘living memory’ of her grandmother, writer Iris Origo  whose contributions to the Val d’Orcia endure on page and in the region’s landscape. The visit begins at 11am on April 9 2025. Participants will have the opportunity to enjoy the gardens featured in Katia's newest book 'La Foce: Paradise in Tuscany', a photographic volume that celebrates the Origos’ 'l

Author Vernon Lee and painter Lola Costa made their home at Il Palmerino, the place they found their creative identity.   Join us at Il Palmerino (Via Il Palmerino 6) on Thursday, March 13 at 4.30pm  for a tour of the Il Palmerino garden, estate and cultural association, as Federica Parretti, opens her home to visitors as part of the project: ‘A Florentine Garden: Early Women Expats and Artists of Today’. Federica is director of Il Palmerino’s namesake association and grandda

Elizabeth Von Arnim, author of  The   Enchanted April pens a green space of her own. Join us on March 11, 2025 , for a lecture in Italian at Il Palmerino Cultural Association. Landscapes and gardens recounted by the novelist will be reimagined through the eyes of noted landscape architect Maria Chiara Pozzana.  Elizabeth Von Arnim (1866 – 1941) published her first book Elizabeth's Gerrman Garden in 1898, and it achieved immediate acclaim. A cousin to Katherine Mansfield, this

Art sleuth and artisan Poiret Masse searches for Violante Siries Cerroti’s ‘voice’ Interview by Linda Falcone Article Source: Restoration...

Megan Hunter will read from her forthcoming, Charleston-inspired novel, Days of Light (Picador, April 2025) and will be in conversation with Rebecca Birrell. At 4pm Friday, January 24 as part of MK GALLERY’s Conference on Vanessa Bell Megan Hunter will read from her forthcoming, Charleston-inspired novel, Days of Light (Picador, April 2025) and will be in conversation with Rebecca Birrell "Days of Light  evolved over many years and took many forms — it was originally inspired

View a PDF of the full programme calendar, by clicking the icon below. Programme PDF available above On January 24, 2025, starting at...

Exhibition catalogue, Silvana Editoriale, 2024 This photographic journey is marked by events that placed the city of Trieste at the center of the international scene. The Wulz photographers captured the milestones of their city's economic, demographic, social and cultural development, through a privileged lens, while running their Trieste photography studio (1868-1981) for more than a century. This volume presents nearly three hundred images, including photographic prints, ne

The Innocenti Institute's Historical Archive, Ph. Marco Badiani, 2025 Little Meteors: The Girls Restoring Tokens at the Innocenti Institute   By Linda Falcone   This article was first published in Restoration Conversations Magazine Issue 7, Spring 2025   The Innocenti Hospital’s historical archive comprises more than 13,000 documents and objects from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries, including ‘tokens’ that parents left with their foundling children, as proof of iden

Conservator recounts Violante Siriès’ restoration By Elizabeth Wicks This article was originally published in Restoration Conversations ...