Accessible route Florence - EN
CATARSINI’S TWENTIETH CENTURY. FROM THE MACHINE TO THE MACHINE AND THE REDISCOVERY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY TUSCAN PAINTERS
Palazzo Guadagni Strozzi Sacrati, Tuscany Region, Florence
June 25 – July 18, 2025
NEWS ABOUT THE PALACE, EXHIBITION PATH AND LAYOUT
INFORMATION
EXHIBITION PATH FROM THE GROUND FLOOR TO THE FIRST FLOOR
CATARSINI’S TWENTIETH CENTURY. FROM THE MACHINE TO THE MACHINE AND THE REDISCOVERY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY TUSCAN PAINTERS
Palazzo Guadagni Strozzi Sacrati, Tuscany Region, Florence
June 25 – July 18, 2025
NEWS ABOUT THE PALACE, EXHIBITION PATH AND LAYOUT
The exhibition is hosted in the PALAZZO GUADAGNI STROZZI SACRATI in Cathedral Square. Its history began in 1604 and after various events over the centuries, in 1988 it was purchased by the Tuscany Region to be used as the seat of the Presidency of the Regional Council. It is an important historical building divided into several buildings arranged around a large square. The building represents, together with Palazzo Corsini and Palazzo Capponi, one of the most significant expressions of Florentine architecture from the Baroque period. Due to its imposing volume, it is a cultural asset of extremely high patrimonial value and is the only noble residence existing in Cathedral Square.
In addition to the normal activities of the representative seat of the Regional Council and museum, the Palace is periodically open to citizens with the aim of encouraging participation in the political and civil life of the country.
The combination of institutional headquarters, museum and space for events and exhibitions, such as the one dedicated to Alfredo Catarsini, makes this palace a lively and dynamic place.
A skilful restoration work, both of the architectural parts and of the pictorial apparatus, has brought the palace back to its splendor and testifies to the importance that the Tuscany Region attributes to the conservation of its cultural heritage.
On the ground floor and first floor, the rooms host meetings, events, conferences and exhibitions.
INFORMATION
This exhibition combines modern art and the history of the building, with particular attention to accessibility.
The route is described to reach the first floor on foot through the monumental staircase but an elevator is also available.
On the first floor there is the corridor and the 4 exhibition rooms full of pictorial decorations, stuccos, furnishings and period paintings that integrate well with the works of Catarsini and in one of these you can experience the Experiential Laboratory with a tactilely explorable high sculptural relief inspired by an exhibited work and an adapted description and audio recorded on QR code.
The works are hung on panels positioned along the walls of the corridor and the rooms and each is accompanied by a card with QR code containing the card and the adapted description and audio recorded in order to make them accessible also to visitors with visual impairments. Some roll ups and tableaux with the artist’s biography and critical comments are accompanied by QR code.
EXHIBITION PATH FROM THE GROUND FLOOR TO THE FIRST FLOOR
After passing the entrance door, after 2 meters you come across a glass wall that leads into the large atrium that leads to an internal courtyard. You walk along it for about 14 meters after which, on the left, the monumental staircase begins. It is composed of 3 flights that lead to the first floor, where the exhibition is set up. The handrail is always on the right. The First flight has 12 steps up to the first landing; keeping to the right you go up the Second flight of 14 steps up to the second landing and finally the Third flight of 11 steps that reaches the first floor. The staircase is decorated on the vault with a large fresco from the neoclassical period depicting the apotheosis of Aeneas.
Once you reach the first floor, on the right there is a large corridor of about 16 meters with 7 display panels in total. Keeping to the left, you immediately come across the first panel; turning 90 degrees to the right and keeping to the left you come across the second panel; continuing in the direction of travel along the corridor you come across the protruding entrance of the elevator and then a large painting on an iron support.
After about half a meter on the left is the entrance door to the Ballroom.
At this point you leave the corridor to continue the route through the 4 rooms: the Ballroom and the 3 rooms arranged around it. At the end of the tour of the 3 rooms you return to the Ballroom and, exiting from the same door, you enter the corridor where the route continues in the opposite direction until you reach the staircase that leads to the ground floor and the exit.
FIRST ROOM, THE BALL HALL, AND THE OTHER 3 ROOMS ARRANGEMENTS IN A RING
Once you cross a small raised threshold, the Ballroom reveals its eighteenth-century beauty and elegance. Created in 1757 for the wedding of Giovan Battista Guadagni and Teresa Torrigiani, it features ornaments and stucco. On the wall opposite the entrance, high up, there is a sinuous stage for the orchestra with monochrome scenes depicting mythological themes. The style is defined as “Chamber Baroque”, a style widespread in noble Florentine homes such as Palazzo Corsini.
In the Ballroom, now used as a conference room, most of the central space is occupied by seats arranged to the right and left of a central walkway about 10 meters long. This walkway leads to a meeting table located centrally at the back of the room
In the Ballroom there are 4 display panels arranged at right angles: 2 along the entrance walls on the left and right and 2 along the side walls. The path begins from the left wall while the 2 panels on the other side will be seen when exiting. Immediately to the left is a display; turning 90 degrees to the left is another display; continuing and skirting the left wall you come across a door and a window and then after about 7 meters you find yourself in front of the door to the next room with a small raised threshold.
SECOND EXHIBITION ROOM
Once a dining room, the second room houses two frescoes by Antonio Fedi from 1812-13 with the stories of Numa Pompilius, a symbol of rigor and morality. The room measures approximately 10 meters in length and 6 meters in width. It contains 8 exhibition panels, 2 for each of the 4 walls.
On the left wall 2 panels; on the opposite wall 2 panels; on the wall to the right of the door 2 panels; on the following wall that leads to the back of the room, another 2 panels.
At the back of the room on the right you pass a small raised threshold and a short corridor that leads to the third room
THIRD EXHIBITION ROOM
The room is quadrangular in shape. The walls and ceiling are frescoed with Stories of Hercules, considered the legendary founder of the city of Florence since the Middle Ages. This decoration, carried out in 1814 by Luigi Catani, is one of the most significant in the entire palace.
The room measures about 5 meters per side and hosts 4 display panels, one for each wall: on the right wall a panel, followed by a panel on the perpendicular wall. On the left wall a panel and on the next wall another panel and you find yourself in front of the door to the corridor that leads to the next room
FOURTH EXHIBITION ROOM AND EXIT FROM THE BALLROOM
On the left wall of the short corridor leading to the fourth room is a panel. The corridor is finely decorated with frescoes in soft colors that harmonize with the atmosphere of the last room of the exhibition, a living room painted in an “open country” style with green plants and classical references, compositions and shaded colors that recall romantic painting.
It is the living room where the Governor receives guests and measures 10 meters in length and 5 meters in width. On the opposite wall is a sofa with armchairs and on the right wall is the access to the Ballroom. Behind the sofa the entire wall is frescoed by Angiolo Angiolini, painted in 1814 with a romantic landscape decoration. In the center is free space for transit
The room contains two panels, one on the right along the entrance wall and one on the right-angled wall.
The Experiential Laboratory is set up on the left wall, which includes the painting ‘Marina con figure’ displayed on an easel, its reinterpretation with high sculptural relief created by the Omero State Tactile Museum, some relief drawings and the QR code to listen to the adapted description. There are disposable masks that sighted people wear during the exercises.
Turning right, you cross the room and after about 6 meters you reach the opposite wall and the door that connects to the Ballroom. After crossing the small raised threshold, you walk along the left wall for about 4 meters. Here you find the first panel and another panel on the corner wall. Immediately after, on the left, you find the exit door and you return to the corridor.
ROUTE TO THE EXIT
On the left there is a panel with other works. At this point, you proceed to the right to cross the corridor and reach the opposite wall that you follow in the opposite direction in the direction of the monumental staircase. On this left wall there are 2 more panels, each with other works that conclude the exhibition route.
The last panel is located near the beginning of the monumental staircase that leads back to the ground floor and the exit. Alternatively, right in front of the last panel, on the other side of the corridor, is the elevator door.