Desiderio da Settignano, Florence
“Desiderio da Settignano: the discovery of grace in Renaissance sculpture”, Bargello National Museum, Florence, Italy
2006
Client: Opera Laboratori Fiorentini Srl
Exhibition Designers: Guicciardini & Magni Architetti
Lighting Designer: Arch. Massimo Iarussi
Foto: Mario Ciampi
Desiderio da Settignano’s work constitutes one of the highest moments of creativity in the field of Renaissance sculpture. The Bargello National Museum, in collaboration with the Louvre Museum and the National Gallery of Washington, organized the first exhibition dedicated to this artist in 2006. Desiderio characterizes his formal language as a “sweet style”, which combines a sensitive treatment of the material with the sweetness of the figures and the strength of expressions.
The main objective of the lighting project was to restore the artist’s “grace”, recalled in the title of the exhibition, and sought after in the layout of the exhibition. A soft and faint light was adopted which at the same time allowed the reading of the reliefs, even the most minute ones, in the carving of which Desiderio was an unsurpassed master. For the illumination of the works, extensive use was made of fiber optic systems, installed in the showcases and often combined with a game of mirrors.