I AM WHAT I’VE DONATED
On display a selection of textiles, Renaissance majolica and rare 20th century artists’ books, to pay homage to Loriano Bertini, a Prato entrepreneur and great collector whose donation of over 600 antique textiles enabled the museum’s foundation in 1975.
Loriano Bertini liked to paraphrase Gabriele d’Annunzio’s famous phrase, ‘I have what I’ve donated’ into the motto ‘I am what I’ve donated’, referring to the joy of giving.
Numerous high-level museums and cultural institutions have benefited from Bertini’s donations, including the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Uffizi, the Museum of Palazzo Davanzati, the National Museum of Bargello and the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo.
His collection dedicated to illustrated books by international artists of the 20th century was extraordinary. Bertini began collecting them in the early 1970s, and over the course of 30 years he collected about 4,500 artist’s books and art editions. For the first time ever in Prato, 22 Italian and European artists’ books will be exhibited for the public, starting with Marinetti’s Futurism, passing through Picasso, Matisse, Mirò, Dalì, Duchamp, up to the artistic currents of the second half of the 20th century with Capogrossi, Fontana and Isgrò.
Loriano Bertini’s early collecting interests also included majolica, which he collected and studied starting in the 1960s. Some precious examples of Renaissance majolica he donated to the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo have been loaned to Museo del Tessuto and are displayed in the exhibition: an earthenware pot, a bowl, a scalloped dish and a jar, all made in Montelupo between the 16th and 17th centuries.
The exhibition will feature a careful selection of fragments of various sizes of Florentine, Venetian and Genoese velvets, lampas and brocatelle. It also includes two extraordinary books with pages made of jacquard fabric in the finest silk yarn: the prayer book woven by J. A. Henry and first presented at the famous Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889 (winner of the Grand Prix) and the book ‘La Marseillaise’, which includes the musical score of the French anthem, made by the Lyon firm Chatel & Tassinari.
Loriano Bertini liked to paraphrase Gabriele d’Annunzio’s famous phrase, ‘I have what I’ve donated’ into the motto ‘I am what I’ve donated’, referring to the joy of giving.
Numerous high-level museums and cultural institutions have benefited from Bertini’s donations, including the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Uffizi, the Museum of Palazzo Davanzati, the National Museum of Bargello and the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo.
His collection dedicated to illustrated books by international artists of the 20th century was extraordinary. Bertini began collecting them in the early 1970s, and over the course of 30 years he collected about 4,500 artist’s books and art editions. For the first time ever in Prato, 22 Italian and European artists’ books will be exhibited for the public, starting with Marinetti’s Futurism, passing through Picasso, Matisse, Mirò, Dalì, Duchamp, up to the artistic currents of the second half of the 20th century with Capogrossi, Fontana and Isgrò.
Loriano Bertini’s early collecting interests also included majolica, which he collected and studied starting in the 1960s. Some precious examples of Renaissance majolica he donated to the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo have been loaned to Museo del Tessuto and are displayed in the exhibition: an earthenware pot, a bowl, a scalloped dish and a jar, all made in Montelupo between the 16th and 17th centuries.
The exhibition will feature a careful selection of fragments of various sizes of Florentine, Venetian and Genoese velvets, lampas and brocatelle. It also includes two extraordinary books with pages made of jacquard fabric in the finest silk yarn: the prayer book woven by J. A. Henry and first presented at the famous Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889 (winner of the Grand Prix) and the book ‘La Marseillaise’, which includes the musical score of the French anthem, made by the Lyon firm Chatel & Tassinari.
Access notes:
cCosed on Christmas Day.
On other holidays, extended opening hours are possible. Please consult the museum website.
On other holidays, extended opening hours are possible. Please consult the museum website.
Photo gallery
