Art transporters remove painting from niche, October 2019
What’s the ‘story’?
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Discovering Ferroni’s paintings in their context
As we saw with the restoration of Nelli’s Last Supper, the success of AWA’s projects are largely hinged on the stories behind the art, its maker and the space for which it was created. According to an Italian proverb, Italy is a country of ‘saints and sailors’. This project has both. San Giovanni di Dio is located in central Florence in the Borgo Ognissanti district, one block from the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Steeped in history, it is the birthplace of Amerigo Vespucci, from whom the Americas got their name. A portion of the structure was once the explorer’s family home and the San Giovanni di Dio Hospital was founded by one of his ancestors in the 1300s. It remained operative until 1982. Ferroni’s paintings are called The Saint Heals Plague Victims and Saint John of God gives bread to the poor. 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. Project supporters: AWA, Robert Lehman Foundation, FSU in Florence, Art Angels.
As we saw with the restoration of Nelli’s Last Supper, the success of AWA’s projects are largely hinged on the stories behind the art, its maker and the space for which it was created. According to an Italian proverb, Italy is a country of ‘saints and sailors’. This project has both. San Giovanni di Dio is located in central Florence in the Borgo Ognissanti district, one block from the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Steeped in history, it is the birthplace of Amerigo Vespucci, from whom the Americas got their name. A portion of the structure was once the explorer’s family home and the San Giovanni di Dio Hospital was founded by one of his ancestors in the 1300s. It remained operative until 1982. Ferroni’s paintings are called The Saint Heals Plague Victims and Saint John of God gives bread to the poor. 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. Project supporters: AWA, Robert Lehman Foundation, FSU in Florence, Art Angels.