Address: Via Stibbert, 26
The Stibbert Museum is very important in understanding the
taste and mentality of that curious period the second half of the
nineteenth century. Frederick Stibbert collected a wide variety
of objects in his Villa at Montughi and came from the refined
world of writers and men of letters, English art amateurs and
others who entered the life of Florence, bringing with them such
a diversity of interest. One of the villa's main features is the
use of fantastic wall coverings in leather, with floral
decoration possibly from Spain or Germany: these were bought by
Stibbert during his many travels. When the original villa became
too small for the collections, various additions were made by
good artists such as the architects Giuseppe Poggi and Gaetano
Fortini or the sculptor Passaglia. The beautiful park surrounding
the villa was rendered one of Florence's loveliest and was opened
to the public along with the collection in 1884.
In 1906 the collection passed to the city. It has sixty rooms
containing objects of every description and source. Thus we find
next to a fine Dutch seventeenth century piece, an Italian
sixteenth century chests and a baroque console with some
beautiful eighteenth century Lombard chest. Among the most
precious objects of the collection are several fifteenth century
chests, two attributed to Francesco di Giorgio Martini
(1439-1502): there are also Neo-classical pieces, notably the
remarkable table in bronze and malachite made for Jerome
Bonaparte.
Paintings too are found in the rooms stuffed with sumptuous
objects, and, unusually for Florence, the collector's taste
inclined away from primitives to Dutch paintings and still-life.
The museum also has unexpected collections such as its brass and
silver basins, used daily by Stibbert and picturesquely displayed
without regard for period or source. Stibbert was also interested
in textiles and costume, and collected clothes of both sexes,
above all eighteenth century and those decorated with lace.
The main reputation of the museum is of course connected with its
arms collections. Their number, variety and rarity is strilking
and they represent every type from the fifteenth to the
seventeenth century. European arms dominate, notably of Italian
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but also included are
oriental. Persian, Indian, Indonesian and Islamic examples. Not
only do these show great technical skill, but are also rich in
magic and religious significance. In an oriental room which shows
the effect of the East on the Europe of the last century, is a
cavalcade of horses and riders fully equipped in a way fully
redolent of Stibbert's exotic tastes.
All interests are satisfied in this museum, whose exhibits range
from snuff-boxes to "posate", all acquired during
journeys in Europe and the East, at sales, from private
collections and the homes of ancient families; the one unifyng
factor is the skill with which they were selected.
