Needlework Contest - Florence Update

Back in March of this year I told you about an upcoming needlework contest which will take place in Florence at the end of the year.

I have just received an update from the Club del Punto in Croce and wanted to pass on these dates and locales to you. It seems I was not totally in error to tell you that the exhibition would be displayed at the Palazzo Davanzati after all - they have added a second exhibition:

November 9 - 30 2013 – Palazzo Borghese – via Ghibellina, 110 – Firenze

December 3 - 15 2013 – Palazzo Davanzati – via Porta Rossa – Firenze (open only in the morning!)

Please let me know if you see or participate in this exhibit, I'd love to hear about it!

Needlework Contest - Florence

UPDATE: a second exhibition has been announced at the Palazzo Davanzati.

The Club del Punto in Croce is organizing an International Textile Art Exhibition called "The Chatelaine de Vergy" to be held at the Palazzo Borghese, at No. 110 Via Ghibellina in Florence November 9 - 30th, 2013.

The theme of this exhibition is the story of The Chatelaine de Vergy, a 13th century French chivalric romance which inspired the frescos done in one of the bedrooms of the Palazzo Davanzati (picture above), which is a different palazzo in Florence.

Palazzo Borghese in Florence. Image from Wikipedia.

For reasons of space availability and hours of operation, the exhibition will be held at the Palazzo Borghese in Via Ghibellina which lies 600 metres away from the Palazzo Davanzati.

You can read an English version of this tale by downloading a free pdf file here. The original tale was written in French and translated into Italian and if you search for images with the terms: "La Castellana di Vergy" you can see some of the frescos from the Palazzo Davanzati.

The exhibition will be comprised of the textile works of all those who wish to enter a piece of work inspired by the frescos and/or furnishings of the Palazzo Davanzati.

Art, history, cultural research and dexterity are the ingredients of this exhibition and the Club del Punto in Croce hopes this will bring about fascinating creations of embroidery, lace, macramé, quilting and other textile arts to be admired by multitudes of enthusiasts and others who are interested in the ancient handicraft techniques for which Florence has been particularly known worldwide for centuries.

I have translated the rules for entry here below:

• Open to all techniques related to the needle and thread, used alone or in mixed media.
• All forms of all kinds are accepted with dimensions not to exceed 150 cm x 100 cm.
• For quilted works, you will need to construct a support system so the back may be seen (pocket, pole, hook or other) to aid in the exhibition which must be sent along with the work.
• For the purposes of setup, each participant is required to submit the dimensions (which can be approximate) of their finished work by the 31st of May, 2013.
• A professional photograph of each work should be emailed to:
  info@ilclubdelpuntoincroce.com
  or mailed to:
  Il Club del Punto in Croce
  c/o Guida
  via Jacopo Nardi, 60
  50132 Firenze, Italia
  by the 30th of June, 2013 so as to allow the jury time to make selections for the exhibition and the catalogue.
• The creators of the works selected will then be invited to send in their pieces. A pre-paid return envelope is required, works will be returned between December 2013 and January 2014).

Books are available at the Palazzo Davanzati with reproductions of the rooms of the Museum for source material. The Museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 8:15am to 1:50pm. The Museum is also open the first, third and fifth Sunday of the month and the second and fourth Monday of the month.

For complete information, contact the Club del Punto in Croce:
www.ilclubdelpuntoincroce.com
info@ilclubdelpuntoincroce.com
tel. 055/2478204

I think this will be a fantastic show, please let me know if you enter or go to see it!

Guicciardini Quilt

An Italian lady from Bologna has just told me some exciting news. The Guicciardini Trapunto Quilt is finished being restored and is on display from April 26th to July 4th at the Palazzo Davanzati Museum in Florence.

The quilt returns "home" for a few weeks to the Palazzo Davanzati as it was displayed there between 1956 and 1991 in the Peacock Room (Sala dei Pavoni) which is the bedroom display.

The bed in the Sala dei Pavoni where I presume the Guicciardini Quilt will rest during the show:


One of the Peacocks on the wall of the Sala dei Pavoni:


This may be the only chance to see the real thing for a while as it will be returned to storage at the Bargello Museum (in Florence) after the exhibit. A replica stitched by the Club del Punto in Croce (Cross Stitch Club) of Florence will be displayed permanently in its place at the Palazzo Davanzati.

The Club del Punto in Croce (which practices all kinds of needlework, not just Cross Stitch) sponsored the International Exhibition of Textile Art inspired by the Guicciardini Quilt in Florence in October of 2006. All techniques of embroidery and lace were invited to participate. The result was a spectacular collection of needlework. Check out the slideshow of pieces (make sure you set aside 5 minutes or so to view them all): click on "Exhibitions", then "The Guicciardini Quilt" on the left-hand side of the page. Not all the photos are of good quality but you can get a pretty good idea of the amount of work involved in the show.

Some history of the quilt and it's brother (called the Tristan Quilt) at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the story of the restoration of the quilt in Florence plus other technical information can be found here but only in Italian. I have written them to ask permission to translate it for you, hopefully they grant it and I'll be able to write a post in the future about it. If not, then I'll sum it up for you in another post. In any case, go through the pages for the pictures!

In the meantime, you can also go to Tuttoricamo and look under the "History" heading for an article and links to more pictures!

Thank you Armida for your pics from the Palazzo Davanzati!
Grazie mille Bianca Rosa!