'The Art of Healing' tour

14 May 2025, 10am, San Giovanni di Dio Hospital

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 di Dio and Violante Ferroni's artworks. The tour, hosted by Santa Maria Nuova, is part of the project 'Violante: Accademia Women', organised by the AADFI and Syracuse University, thanks to a grant from the AWA Legacy fund.

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.

As women did not generally receive public commissions until much later, Ferroni’s San Giovanni commission is an extremely prestigious one that attests to the solid reputation enjoyed by the artist during her lifetime. These 8 x 11.5-feet paintings, though largely unknown to the world, represent an exception in history. At a time when most female artists were painting small scale devotional works or still-life pieces, Ferroni was painting large scale pieces of traditionally masculine subjects: full-length figures and historic scenes with spiritual undertones… that inspire the viewer to reflect upon the ‘art of healing’.

Steeped in history, the San Giovanni di Dio hospital was birthplace of Amerigo Vespucci, from whom the Americas got their name. A portion of the structure was once the explorer’s family home. San Giovanni di Dio Hospital was founded by one of his ancestors in the 1300s. It remained operative until 1982. From 1347 to 1665, the Black Death claimed the lives of 25 million Europeans. Various outbreaks of the disease had plagued Florence since the 1300s. At San Giovanni di Dio, the Hospitaller Brothers who adhered to the teachings of Portuguese saint, John of God (1495–1550), ministered to plague victims and other people affected by illness in Florence.

Violante Ferroni’s paintings at San Giovanni di Dio

Saint John of God Heals Plague Victims

and Saint John of God gives bread to the poor

Organizational partners:

Azienda USL Toscana Centro

Fondazione Santa Maria Nuova

Project Patrons:

Margaret MacKinnon, Connie Clark, Cay Fortune, Pam Fortune, Nancy Galliher,

Nancy Hunt, Debbie Lilly, Donna Malin, Alice Vogler, Victoria Slichter and JoAnn Heisen

Project supporters:

Advancing Women Artists

Robert Lehman Foundation

‘The Mud Angels meet the Art Angels’

with Florida State University in Florence and the Lion’s Fountain

The Rauch Foundation

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Admission free. Reservations required.

TO PARTICIPATE write to: linda@restorationconversations.org