1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,959 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Oh, Tracy, I just 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: got back from Italy. I know you did. You seem 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: so happy while you were there. I didn't want to 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 1: I didn't want to leave. It was a pretty great trip. 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: And while I did actually bring materials to work on 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: an episode while I was traveling, because you know, long 9 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: flights and stuff, I got sidetracked by something else because 10 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 1: I saw something while I was in Italy that kind 11 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: of shifted all my gears and I got really obsessed 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: with it. So since that was the only thing I 13 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: could think about, it became an episode. So for setup, 14 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: if you visit the Ufeci Museum in Florence, Italy, and 15 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: if you follow the museum's suggested path, which in and 16 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: of itself is an adventure, there is this moment where 17 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: you turn a corner into a staircase, and and in 18 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: the sort of transitional vaulted ceiling that's over the staircase, 19 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 1: just as you're entering it, there is a discolored imprint 20 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: of a window like it almost looks like somebody like 21 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: drew a window on the staircase. But then to the 22 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: right of that staircase, on the wall, there is a 23 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 1: small plaque and the English version of it reads, the 24 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: vault bears the mark of a window blown by the 25 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: force of the Mafia bomb on May twenty seventh, nineteen 26 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,119 Speaker 1: ninety three. So I was instantly riveted and I looked 27 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: it up. I had a vague recollection of this event 28 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,839 Speaker 1: from when it happened, but I didn't remember a whole 29 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: lot of the details around it, and I was not 30 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: aware that the UFITZI is continually incorporating that story into 31 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: its own story and the way it presents art. So 32 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: I was on this long journey. It was quite delicious, 33 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: and that became this episode. We are gonna kind of 34 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: have this in three parts. We're gonna start by talking 35 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: about a particular artist and his work, and then we 36 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: are going to talk about the context of that bombing, 37 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: and then the work that's been done, some of it 38 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: pretty recently, to recover from that attack and memorialize the 39 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: tragedy and pieced together a little bit of lost history. 40 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: So we are going to start with Bartolomeo Manfredi Bartolomeo 41 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: Manfredi was born August twenty fifth, fifteen eighty two, in Ostiano, Italy. 42 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: That's in the province of Cremona, in the Lombardi region. 43 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 1: It's adjacent to the Mantua province, and sometimes you will 44 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: find his place of birth listed as Manchua. We don't 45 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: know a whole lot more about his early life than 46 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: that he is said to have become an apprentice or 47 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: a student to the Mannerist painter Christoforo Roncalli, also known 48 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: as Pomarancho when he was a boy. Pomarancho lived and 49 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: worked in Rome and had been chosen to create some 50 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: of the decoration for Saint Peter's Basilica. This also is 51 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: a fragmentary piece of information. Writing in nineteen eighty seven 52 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: for the Burlington magazine, Raphaela Marcelli noted that Pomaracio was 53 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: in Mantua in fifteen ninety five. He was actually imprisoned 54 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: there briefly, and that might have been where he came 55 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: into contact with Bartolomeo, who would have been thirteen. It 56 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: is unclear if Manfredi ever studied with Caravaggio, although he 57 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: certainly became associated with the older artist's work. In sixteen 58 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: oh three, Caravaggio was sued for libel by rival painter 59 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: Giovanni Baglione after critical and unflattering poems that Caravaggio wrote 60 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: about Baglione had circulated throughout Rome. I had originally been 61 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: planning to include some of these poems or an excerpt 62 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: from them in their translation. But they are so filthy 63 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: that they made even me, a person very comfortable with 64 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: salty and filthy language that many other people would find upsetting. 65 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: I gasped aloud. I was like, oh my goodness, Like 66 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: my husband ran down the stairs to see if I 67 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: was okay. They're filthy. But the important thing is that 68 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: during this libel trial a servant of Caravaggio's is mentioned 69 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: as actually being the one who passed out the copies 70 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: of those poems, and that servant is named in the 71 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: record as Bartolomeo Christifori. So this has led to some speculation, 72 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: and I think a pretty well grounded idea that this 73 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: is actually a reference to Bartolomeo Manfredi, and it is 74 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: using the first name of his teacher, Pamaranchio as his 75 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: last name. But again, this is still a detail that's 76 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: very much about piecing together clues rather than something we 77 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: can say with certainty. Even if Bartolomeo did study with Caravaggio, 78 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: it could not have been for very long because the 79 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: renowned painter famously had to leave Rome in sixteen oh 80 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: six am in murder accusations after a brawl that left 81 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: Branuccio Tomasoni dead. The actual cause of that brawl is 82 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: still debated. There are some different versions of it you 83 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: may hear, but Caravaggio was found guilty and he was 84 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: sentenced to death in absentia. He died in the Tuscany 85 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: town of Porto Ercole while he was actually headed back 86 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: to Rome, apparently in search of a pardon from Naples, 87 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: where he had been living, and that happened in sixteen ten. 88 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: Bertolomeo Manfreddi is often described as a Caravaggio follower, which 89 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: sort of straddles the fence on the issue of whether 90 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: he was his student, and he became the most well 91 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: known among the Caravaggisti, that's the painters that emulated both 92 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: the style and the techniques of Caravaggio. Manfreddi was so 93 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: studied at the style of Caravaggio that there have been 94 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: numerous times that his work has been mistaken for Carravaggio's. 95 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: I definitely when Holly sent me this outline and I 96 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: googled to see what some of this art looked like. 97 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: There were a couple of things that immediately made me go, oh, 98 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: that looks like Caravaggio. One such example is a painting 99 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: known as Cupid Chastised. This is an image of the 100 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: naked adolescent Cupid being whipped by Mars, god of war Venus. 101 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: Cupid's mother is attempting to intercede and to stop Mars, 102 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: so this is a violent image with a dramatic visual 103 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: contrast due to the light source being depicted exclusively from 104 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: the left side of the painting. According to Alfred Moir, 105 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: writing for the Art Institute of Chicago in nineteen eighty five, 106 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: when Cupid Chastised first hit the radar of the wider 107 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: art world outside of Italy, it was in nineteen thirty seven, 108 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: and at that point it was touted as a Caravaggio 109 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: that had been newly discovered, and although art experts quickly 110 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: determined that it was in fact the work of Manfredi, 111 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: that incorrect Carava attribution continued to circulate, people kept saying 112 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: it was by him. Today, the provenance of the work, 113 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: which is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute 114 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: of Chicago, is clearly laid out. From the time the 115 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: painting was commissioned in March of sixteen thirteen. That more 116 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: detailed account of the painting's history became possible, in part 117 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: due to the discovery of two inventory lists that were 118 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: in the Vatican Archives that mentioned the painting. They weren't 119 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: part of the Vatican collection, they were just pieces the 120 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: archives had that were collections of other people in Rome. 121 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: That information in those lists was then cross referenced with 122 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: other contemporary mentions of the painting in order to create 123 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: this reliable timeline. By sixteen thirteen, when that painting was commissioned, 124 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: Manfredy was well established. He was clearly influenced by the 125 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: work of Caravaggio, but he doesn't appear to have been 126 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: at all like him. In temperament. He was quiet. He 127 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: didn't socialize very much much. He took mainly private commissions 128 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: instead of seeking out important public jobs. Painting mostly multi 129 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: character tableau. Some of his work is religious and subject 130 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: A lot of it is often referred to as low life, 131 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: meaning everyday people doing things like drinking in taverns, playing cards, 132 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: or making music. One such work as the painting The 133 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: Card Players, sometimes also called Soldiers playing Cards, which Manfreddi 134 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: completed sometime between sixteen sixteen and sixteen eighteen. In this image, 135 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:35,599 Speaker 1: a group of men are at a table in a 136 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: variety of positions. Some are sitting, some are standing, one 137 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: is sitting on the edge of the table. They are 138 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: betting on a card game called Sorrow, which was popular 139 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: at the end of the sixteenth century. This painting employs 140 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: the technique known as cherasciro, that's the creation of depth 141 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: and drama through a contrast of light and dark, with 142 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,559 Speaker 1: those elements being light and dark within the composition. This 143 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: painting will become a central character later on in this episode. 144 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: Manfredi died quite young. He was only forty when he passed. 145 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: We don't have a lot of information about his death 146 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: other than the date, which was December twelfth, sixteen twenty two. 147 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: In Rome. Coming up, we are going to shift our 148 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: focus to the bombing that took place in Florence in 149 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three. First, though, we will pause for a 150 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: sponsor break at one four am on May twenty seventh, 151 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, the city of Florence was rocked by 152 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: a massive explosion on Via de Giorgophili. That's a street 153 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: that runs mostly north away from the Arno River, right 154 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: next to the Offizi gallery complex. On that side of 155 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: the complex, in addition to gallery buildings, are the Giorgophilia Academy, 156 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: which is a history educational institution. It's housed records and 157 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: study of agriculture, forestry and economy, and the Torre de Puchi, 158 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: a fourteenth century tower that is used by the Georgophilia 159 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: Academy for both offices and residences. A lot of residents 160 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: of the city came out of their homes to see 161 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: what had happened, and they saw a terrifying devastation. The 162 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: academy and the tower were both badly damaged, as were 163 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: sections of the art galleries. A theory spread that a 164 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: gas tank may have exploded, but as first responders got 165 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: to the scene, they found the epicenter. There was a 166 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: massive crater in Via de Giorgophili, and they realized that 167 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: the cause of this was not a gas explosion but 168 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: a car bomb. A Fiat van filled with an estimated 169 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: five hundred pounds of explosives had been parked on the 170 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: street and then left to detonate. That number was initially 171 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: reported as roughly two hundred pounds, but that was revised 172 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: upward over the years based on the intensity of the explosion. 173 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: While the nighttime museum staff had not been on the 174 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: side of the gallery that faced this street, there were 175 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: people in the Torre del Pucci. Five people were tragically killed. 176 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: One was a student named Dario Capolichio, who died in 177 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: a fire that started after the bombing, and the remaining 178 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: four were a family who were buried in the collapsed tower. 179 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: Angela Ninchoni was the caretaker of the tower and her husband, 180 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: Fabrizio Ninchoni, and their two very young daughters, Nadia and 181 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: Katerina lived there as well, and the whole family was killed. 182 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: The museum damage was extensive. In addition to the building itself, 183 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 1: the Vasari Corridor was badly damaged. It was one of 184 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: the most damage pieces of architecture. So that structure is 185 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,359 Speaker 1: a seven hundred and fifty meter long elevated enclosed walkway 186 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,839 Speaker 1: and it was built in fifteen sixty five by Giorgio Vasari. 187 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: So that members of the Medici family could travel from 188 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,680 Speaker 1: Palazzo Pitti to Pala so Vecchio on the other side 189 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: of the Arno River, crossing alongside the bridge known as 190 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: Ponte Vecchio. This provided the Medicis a way to make 191 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: that crossing without having to deal with commoners or without 192 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: compromising their safety. The Villa Lambartesca, the street that runs 193 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:21,439 Speaker 1: perpendicular to the Via de Giorgofili, was covered in rubble. 194 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: There was a lot of damage to works of art. 195 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: A handful of their most famous pieces had a bulletproof 196 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: glass covering that protect them from projectile debris, but the 197 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:35,680 Speaker 1: vast majority did not. An estimated one quarter of the 198 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: Ufizi collection was affected. According to the website, the final 199 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,199 Speaker 1: count was one hundred and seventy three paintings and fifty 200 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: six sculptures in various states of damage and destruction. In 201 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 1: addition to that, because the building had so much damage, 202 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: a lot of works had to be quickly moved to 203 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: other parts of the facility. Leaving them where they were 204 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:01,199 Speaker 1: would have exposed them to the elements. The unharmed room 205 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: where Bonticelli's Venus and Primavera are housed, became the de 206 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: facto landing place for a lot of the art that 207 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,840 Speaker 1: needed to be moved. That led reporters to note that 208 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: it became the most impressive room of art in the world. 209 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: The museum staff and investigators took photos to document everything. 210 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: You can see a lot of those photos online at 211 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: the Fizzi website as well. Mad page will also be 212 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: linked from our show notes. At the time, there were 213 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 1: three paintings that were considered to be permanent losses, Adoration 214 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,840 Speaker 1: of the Shepherds by Gerardo del NotI and two by 215 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: Bartolomeo Menfredi. They were the Concert and the card Players. 216 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: So just like the corridor, Vasari also designed the main 217 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: Ufizi building. That name actually just means offices because it 218 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: was built to house the various governmental divisions that were 219 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: operating under Cosumo, the first to Medici. Cosumo tapped Giorgio 220 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: Vasari to design this building in fifteen sixty, but Vasari 221 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,599 Speaker 1: died in fifteen seventy four and the building was not 222 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 1: yet finished, and at that point Bernardo Bontalenti took up 223 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: the project early on in the building's existence. Once it 224 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: had been finished, the top floor of it was used 225 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: mostly to house the impressive Medichi art collection. They were, 226 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 1: as has come up on the show many times before, 227 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: significant patrons of the arts, and they commissioned a lot 228 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: of paintings and sculptures that are very famous today. Over time, 229 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: the Medici art collection grew and it took up more space, 230 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: and really that became the sole purpose of the Ufizi 231 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: was to house that collection. Anna Maria Luisa de Medici 232 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: born in sixteen ninety one, became the last of the 233 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: Medici line, and in a very famous and important move, 234 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: she signed what was known as the Family Packed and 235 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,479 Speaker 1: that basically left the Ufizi Museum to the government of Tuscany, 236 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: and it provided for the entire art collection to remain 237 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: in Offizi in perpetuity and to be made open to 238 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: the public. So she basically made it into a public museum. 239 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: This cemented the reputation of Florence as a nexus of 240 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: great art, and it was also something that was designed 241 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: to draw visitors to the city and keep its economy strong. 242 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: So the damage that the Afezi sustained in nineteen ninety 243 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: three was something that the entire city felt very deeply, 244 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: because that museum is a work of art in and 245 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: of itself like the building is considered a work of art, 246 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: and it is also the heart of the culture and 247 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: the identity of Florence. Michael Kemmelman of The New York 248 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: Times traveled to Florence to report on the situation several 249 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: weeks after the fact, and his description was printed in 250 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: papers around the world. One section describes a gallery that 251 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: looked over the street where the car had been parked, 252 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: and then reads quote through that enormous opening in the wall, 253 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: the view is breathtaking and horrific. Set against the backdrop 254 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: of the soft Tuscan hills and the great dome that 255 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: Bruneliski designed for the cataedl are the shattered red tile 256 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: roofs of the buildings across the street from the Ufizi, 257 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: and the crumbled shell of an ancient tower in which 258 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: a family killed in the explosion used to live. A 259 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 1: few household belongings can still be seen on what remains 260 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: of the tower's top floor, reduced to barely more than 261 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: a roofless platform. Historical agricultural archives housed in the tower 262 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: were destroyed. Initially, there was no real sense of who 263 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: the perpetrator or perpetrators might be, why they may have 264 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 1: targeted the museum, and even if the museum was the 265 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: actual target, the Ufizi is a squared off U shaped 266 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: building with a courtyard, so if someone really wanted to 267 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: damage it, that courtyard would have been the optimal place 268 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: to park the explosives, but the car bomb was parked 269 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: on the exterior part of the U. The incident sparked 270 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: both rumors and outrage. The day after the bombing, labor 271 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: unions in Florence called a four hour strike, during which 272 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: more than twenty thousand people took to the streets in 273 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: a demonstration to send the message that the city was 274 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: united against violence and intimidation. There were suspicions about the 275 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,360 Speaker 1: perpetrator being part of organized crime, or even an inside 276 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: job initiated by corrupt government officials. Quote. People might seem calm, 277 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: but they're angry. This is not crime, It is politics. 278 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: There is a war between people who want change and 279 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: people who don't want to lose power, and the only 280 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: way is to throw bombs and frighten people away from change. 281 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: The prevailing theory from early on among investigators was that 282 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: the mafia was involved. Just a few weeks earlier, there 283 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,880 Speaker 1: had been an attack in Rome against television talk show 284 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: host Marizio Costanzo after he aired anti mafia pieces on 285 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: his show. The journalists survived that attack thanks to lucky timing, 286 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: but twenty three people were injured, including his driver, and 287 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: an estimated one hundred families lost their homes in that blast. 288 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: But the most important details of the Rome bombing in 289 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: terms of how it related to the Safizi situation were 290 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,640 Speaker 1: that the explosive used in that bomb in Rome were 291 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,359 Speaker 1: the same as the ones used in Florence, and they 292 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: had been packed into a Fiat van just like the 293 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: vehicle outside the Afizi. The motive for the attack on 294 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: the Aufizi was retaliation. In the months and weeks leading 295 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: up to the explosion, Italian authorities had initiated a huge 296 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: crackdown on mafia activity and had arrested hundreds of people 297 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: in the process, including some very high ranking members of 298 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: the criminal organization. Many of those men were made examples 299 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,159 Speaker 1: of authorities put them in solitary confinement to show that 300 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: they could cut them off from the power structures that 301 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:51,200 Speaker 1: they depended on, and in response, the crime syndicate sent 302 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: the message that it could strike at Italy's art and history, 303 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: things that could not be replaced, that is, of itself horrific, 304 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: but could also recap the Italian economy, which really depends 305 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 1: on the tourism money that museums and historical architecture generate. 306 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: It took a year for authorities to conclusively tie the 307 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: mafia to the bomb, and finally, in nineteen ninety eight, 308 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,719 Speaker 1: several high ranking bosses within the organization were sentenced to 309 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: life in prison for it. Stepping away from the horrific bombing, 310 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 1: Eufizi was having some trouble already in the months before 311 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: the blast, for reasons that did not have to do 312 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: with the criminal underworld. In March nineteen ninety three, an 313 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: article from Reuters ran under the title push comes to 314 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 1: shove at Italy's Ufizi. Too many visitors, too little staff 315 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,639 Speaker 1: at famed museum, and that write up reported that the 316 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,880 Speaker 1: museum had become so popular without the support to run 317 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: it that quote. On average, a third of the gallery's 318 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: rooms are closed during the tourist season because of a 319 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: chronic staff shortage that famous works like those of Bonicelli, 320 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 1: the things that were drawing people to the museum, were 321 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: often off limits because that room like others was closed 322 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: to manage crowdflow because no one was available to just 323 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: keep an eye on the art. This was an issue 324 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: that government officials were, according to the article, frustrated by 325 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: Antonio Palucci, who was the municipal supervisor over Florence's museums 326 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: at the time, gave a statement to journalist John Fullane 327 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: that evidenced his frustration at the way people had to 328 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: elbow one another just to get a look at the art. Quote, 329 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: the pushing and shoving and the galleries is a barbarity. 330 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: Visiting a museum today has become a strain for museum 331 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: guards and directors. It's like trying to hold a trench 332 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: with fewer and fewer soldiers in the face of an 333 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: ever bigger offensive. The museum had reached a point where 334 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: it would sometimes borrow guards from other museums to try 335 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: to keep up with demand, but that meant that those 336 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: other museums often had too. There were proposals in discussion 337 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,679 Speaker 1: to ban school groups as one way to try to 338 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 1: mitigate this problem. The head of the UFIZI at the time, 339 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: Anna Maria petriol Tofani, told the press that the problem 340 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: stemmed from the fact that while bureaucrats in Rome were 341 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: happy to accept the income that the Ufitzi generated. They 342 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,919 Speaker 1: micro managed every move the museum tried to make to 343 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 1: improve the visitor experience and ensure proper running and upkeep 344 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: of the facility, and they were not approving any kind 345 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: of spending. So at the time, the UFIZI was estimated 346 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: to generate about five point five million dollars in income 347 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: each year, and yet they were only allowed seven curators 348 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: for their massive and historically significant collection. Other branches of 349 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,399 Speaker 1: their staff were similarly disproportionately small for what they were 350 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:53,199 Speaker 1: trying to do. The allocated budget for its upkeep was 351 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: tight enough that, according to newspaper reports, staff had to 352 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: buy their own stamps and office supplies. In the years 353 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: just before the attack, the museum proposed a fifty million 354 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 1: dollar project that would expand the museum's space by taking 355 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 1: over a handful of State Archives offices in the building 356 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,200 Speaker 1: that had been empty for five years after the operations 357 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: in those offices moved to Rome. The government approved it, 358 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 1: but then insisted on hiring their own contractors for the renovation. 359 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: Those contractors were not familiar with working on historic buildings 360 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,439 Speaker 1: and caused damage by injecting cement into the foundation and 361 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: that resulted in cracking. This project stalled. After that, we 362 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: are going to talk about how the Ufitzi recovered from 363 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: the blast and how that recovery has stretched into the 364 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: very recent past. After we hear from the sponsors to 365 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: keep stuff you missed in history class going. In the 366 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,679 Speaker 1: immediate aftermath of the bombing, the Ufizi was incredible quick 367 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: to form a plan of action for recovery. Curators and 368 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: other museum staff started clean up the same day as 369 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: the blast, mobilizing quickly to protect the art and to 370 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: assess the damage. In cases where canvases and sculptures had 371 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: been shredded by glass and other debris, staff members carefully 372 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: crawled the floors of the galleries to collect every possible piece. 373 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: They matched them to their frames and what was left 374 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 1: of the original art, and then they stored them all 375 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,400 Speaker 1: together for possible reconstruction. This meant that they were literally 376 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,679 Speaker 1: pawing through rubble to identify what debris was from a 377 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 1: painting versus a sculpture versus possibly a piece of the building, 378 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: and there was broken glass everywhere, so this was an 379 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,640 Speaker 1: act of dedication. As they worked, they sorted those collected 380 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: pieces into wooden trays to try to keep the various 381 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: works of art separated. It is really hard to imagine 382 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: how much determination and teamwork it took to clean up 383 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: the museum and reopen it, but he was incredibly organized 384 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: in this effort, and other museums in the city also helped. 385 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: While the Yufitzi was closed, some of the other museums 386 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: extended their hours so that tourists would still have access 387 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: to the city's art. Twenty days after the bombing, less 388 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: than three weeks, the museum was partially reopened. A lot 389 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 1: of the paintings from the damaged part of the building 390 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: were rotated into the reopened galleries so that people could 391 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: still see them, and then the remaining galleries were restored 392 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: and reopened over the course of the next four years. 393 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,159 Speaker 1: Because of the need for the museum to rebuild, the 394 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: logistical problems of space it had faced before the tragedy 395 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,880 Speaker 1: were able to be addressed in the aftermath of the bombing. 396 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: The response to the tragedy was so impressive that it 397 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 1: became a model for how museum recovery should be managed. Yeah, 398 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 1: I feel like that could be its own whole topic. 399 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,919 Speaker 1: There have been papers written about how they handled it 400 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: and how every other museum should study how they handled 401 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: it because they're bias for action was so great while 402 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: also maintaining an incredibly high level of care. It's quite cool. 403 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: In the years immediately following the attack, Menfrate's painting the 404 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:13,959 Speaker 1: Concert was restored as much as possible. It had been 405 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: shredded into fragments, but the recovered fragments were big enough 406 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:19,959 Speaker 1: that restorers were able to piece what they had together, 407 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: although it is not a complete picture. Then, in two 408 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: thousand and three, Gerardo de la Natti's Adoration of the 409 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: Shepherds was also restored, but the card Players remained as 410 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,360 Speaker 1: the one piece that was believed to be beyond repair. 411 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,959 Speaker 1: It was so damaged that it actually remained untouched for decades. 412 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: In the days and weeks following the explosion, the museum 413 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: staff had carefully taken what was left of it, which 414 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: was just hundreds of tiny, fragmented pieces, and covered it 415 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: with rice paper to protect it. Those pieces were placed 416 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: in an envelope that was stored along with the original 417 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: canvass and frame of the work. That particular painting had 418 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: not actually been in the Ufizi for terribly long when 419 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: the bombing happened. It had been in Palazzo Peti in 420 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: a storeroom until nineteen sixty nine, when it went through 421 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: a restoration, and then it was added to the Caravagesque 422 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: collection on display at the Eufitzi. Fast forward to twenty fourteen, 423 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: when Danielle Lippy happened across the fragments of the card Players. 424 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: She had studied painting restorations, starting all the way back 425 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: when she was nineteen, and from there she had started 426 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: working with Superintendenza that means superintendency, which is an office 427 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: within Italy's Ministry of Culture that focuses on conservation and 428 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: protection of important works. She described the moment when she 429 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 1: saw the card Players this way in twenty twenty three 430 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 1: in an interview quote, I was at the gallery's storage 431 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: rooms for an inspection when I came across the work, 432 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: in what was left of it. The work bailed on 433 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,919 Speaker 1: the frame had been placed in the entrance hall, and 434 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 1: on the table lay the envelope containing all the paintings 435 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:04,159 Speaker 1: spranggments collected from the floor. Among them, the fragment with 436 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: the playing cards stood out somehow, The identifying element of 437 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,440 Speaker 1: the represented subject had survived, but the fragments of painted 438 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,399 Speaker 1: canvas would become dust if left in that envelope. I 439 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 1: thought that through my work I could contribute in a 440 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: small way to saving a record of that dramatic event. 441 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 1: Lippi put together a detailed proposal describing her plan to 442 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: at least partially restore the badly damaged painting, and she 443 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,879 Speaker 1: got approval. But then the next hurdle was money. In 444 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: June twenty seventeen, the UFIZI, along with partners from the 445 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: Florence community, launched a fundraiser for the project, which was 446 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: called Culture against Terror through Crowdfunding and more than twenty 447 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: six thousand euros were raised, so at that point the 448 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 1: financials were in place and then began the actual work. 449 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 1: So keep in mind the six hundred and fifteen pieces 450 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: that Leapy and her team had to work with were tiny, 451 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 1: some of them just a centimeter or two in width 452 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: and height. So she was tasked with a very precious 453 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: jigsaw puzzle where all of the pieces were so damaged 454 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: and you could not try to match them edge to 455 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: edge to find their locations. She needed a good visual 456 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,880 Speaker 1: reference to try to match the colors and the shadings 457 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:24,119 Speaker 1: of the fragments too. The Ufitzi Archive had photographs of 458 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,399 Speaker 1: it that had been taken after the nineteen sixty nine 459 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,639 Speaker 1: to nineteen seventy restoration, but those were in black and white. 460 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:36,199 Speaker 1: But then Leby started searching the Scala archives. This is 461 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: a Florentine archive dating back to nineteen fifty three that 462 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: collects images of cultural history, including art, and then creates 463 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: very high quality digital versions that can be licensed, so 464 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: sort of like Getty Images, but for art and film. 465 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: And they had a high resolution photograph of the card 466 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,160 Speaker 1: players from nineteen eighty eight, so five years before the 467 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: attack and well after the prior restoration. Scala donated this 468 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: image to the project, and the resulting project is this 469 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 1: really cool marriage of technology and art because each tiny 470 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 1: piece was scanned and then the image of the original 471 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: painting was projected onto the canvas to enable the restorers 472 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: to visualize placement and kind of match up pieces to 473 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: their positions. Keep in mind, this painting was in the 474 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: style of Caravaggio, which meant that a lot of these 475 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: recovered pieces were just incredibly dark shades of brown and 476 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 1: plums verging on black. So discerning which tiny fragment was 477 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: gonna fit where required incredible concentration and care. As Leape 478 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: and her fellow restoration experts started carefully comparing what they 479 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: had in hand to that high resolution photo, they realized 480 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: that not all of the pieces were going to be usable. 481 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: Even with all six hundred and fifteen pieces, this would 482 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: have been a partial restoration, but some of those fragments 483 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: were so small or so damaged that they could not 484 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: be reincorporated into the piece. In the end, almost two 485 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: hundred pieces were deemed unusable. Each of the usable fragments 486 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: had to be very carefully cleaned. They were painstakingly stitched 487 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: together and affixed to a new backing canvas with special adhesive. 488 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: The ones that could not be used were affixed to 489 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 1: panels that are placed in a custom folder on the 490 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: back of the painting, so they will be available for 491 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: future analysis. In the end, right around thirty percent of 492 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: the original painting has been pieced back together. It's both 493 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: beautiful and heartbreaking to see the vast blank areas in 494 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: this frame. In a twenty twenty three interview with Scala Archives, 495 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 1: Leap you stated, quote the work thus recovered is not 496 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: brought back to an intact state, but has become a 497 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: document a memory and warning of that terrible affront. If 498 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: you were watching this on our Netflix channel and you're wondering, 499 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: why are you not showing us what this looks like? 500 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: It is that artwork that is part of Italy's cultural 501 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: heritage has special protections through the Italian government. So you 502 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: can use pictures of these works for like personal use, 503 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: but not for something like what we are doing where 504 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: we are putting a show on Netflix. But you can 505 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 1: see them on the Ufizzi's website. Yeah, if you do 506 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: an Internet search for Ufizi Manfredi, it's gonna come up 507 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 1: like I did that right before we recorded, and three 508 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:34,720 Speaker 1: of the top five results were images of this restored painting. 509 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: It's a very famous effort. When the partially restored painting 510 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,800 Speaker 1: was set to make its debut in twenty eighteen, the 511 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: Ufizi's director Iika Schmidt told The New York Times that 512 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: this whole project was really about much more than art. 513 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 1: Quote for Florence, Italy in the world, it was such 514 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: an important event of terror. We can't bring back to 515 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: life the people left dead or the heavily damaged paintings, 516 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: but we can build a memori for culture against violence 517 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: and terror. In addition to the Manfredie painting. When this 518 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,959 Speaker 1: debut happened, the museum also showed a documentary in the 519 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: gallery that showed the work that Leapy's team had done, 520 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 1: and it also included interviews with rescue workers who had 521 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: been on the scene following the blast in nineteen ninety three. 522 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: Since then, the partially restored the card players as well 523 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:28,280 Speaker 1: as the concert, have been displayed on subsequent years as 524 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: temporary exhibits marking the anniversary of the bombing. Yeah, I'm 525 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: not clear whether they do it every year. One thing 526 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,880 Speaker 1: that I read while I was in Florence made it 527 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: sound like this is an annual thing they do now, 528 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: But I couldn't find any clear evidence where they were 529 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: like now and you know, twenty twenty, and I don't 530 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 1: know what happened during like the really harsh period of 531 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,400 Speaker 1: the pandemic where they were they had just shut down 532 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: and weren't doing it or not. So probably they're you know, 533 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: I'm sure they will show it again and again. It's 534 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,880 Speaker 1: so cool. I have a listener mail that's also kind 535 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: of about art. Yeah, it's about greeting cards all good, 536 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: which I was delighted that people enjoyed our weird greeting 537 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,360 Speaker 1: card episode because that's one of those ones that I 538 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: was like, I'm into this. I don't know if anybody else, 539 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: but this is an email from our listener Kelsey, who writes, hello, ladies. 540 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 1: I've been listening to the show for many years through 541 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 1: many hosts. I started when I got my first iPod Nano, 542 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: when I was in college around two thousand and eight. 543 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 1: I love your banter and hearing about your crafty pursuits. 544 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: The recent podcast about greeting cards was particularly interesting. Over 545 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: last summer, I got into watercolor painting through a project 546 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,680 Speaker 1: where I illustrated a short story I wrote. I'm working 547 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 1: on self publishing it on Amazon. Since then, i've been 548 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 1: painting cards. They're a great small unit of art. As 549 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,440 Speaker 1: a teacher, I'm tired after work. Thank you for being 550 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,800 Speaker 1: an educator, and then Kelsey mentions the plan to get 551 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: back into crochet when there's more time available over summer, 552 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: and conclude, thank you for your hard work. I love 553 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: this email one because I always want to thank all 554 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: of our teachers because they deserve it, and especially in 555 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 1: this episode where we talked about museum staff needed to 556 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: buy supplies. I'm like just like teachers was how I 557 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: felt when I was doing the research. But also I 558 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: also have gotten into water color painting recently in the 559 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,200 Speaker 1: last year. When I was in Japan last year, my 560 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,319 Speaker 1: best friend is an artist. She's also who I went 561 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: to Italy with, and there was this one art supply 562 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:33,959 Speaker 1: store in Japan she wanted to go to and we went, 563 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: and I, on a whim bought art supplies. I bought 564 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 1: watercolor sets. I had not watercolor painted since I was 565 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:45,560 Speaker 1: a kid, and that wasn't real watercolor, that's just goofing off. 566 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: But these sets were so beautiful that I was entranced 567 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,960 Speaker 1: and I was like, must buy. And then earlier this 568 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: year I was like, I'm going to start using these 569 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 1: a little bit, and so I've been doing my own 570 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 1: little self directed watercolor study for the same reasons Kelsey mentions, 571 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 1: you can spend fifteen twenty minutes and produce something kind 572 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,720 Speaker 1: of cute. And also I've been using it in fabric design. 573 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 1: Oh nice. We all do a watercolor and then scan 574 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:13,319 Speaker 1: it in and incorporated into a fabric print. So I love. 575 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,680 Speaker 1: I want everybody to make art in whatever way makes 576 00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: sense to them, because I honestly think it is some 577 00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: of the best therapy you can do outside of actually 578 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,520 Speaker 1: having a therapist. I just think it's good for your 579 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: soul to make things. It makes your brain work in 580 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: a new way that we're not given the opportunity to 581 00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 1: do all the time, where you're just kind of playing 582 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 1: low stakes. Art is the best for your mind in 583 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 1: my opinion. Anyway, that's just me proselytizing that I want 584 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 1: everybody to please make art in whatever way they like, 585 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 1: because I think it's really good for your soul. Kelsey, 586 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: thank you so much for this email, because you made 587 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: me delighted and gave me an excuse to talk about 588 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:58,759 Speaker 1: the importance of art. There are also photographs of some 589 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: of the art that Kelsey's still and one says be 590 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,600 Speaker 1: a good plant, water yourself, and I just think that's 591 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:09,880 Speaker 1: charming as heck. And is a painting of a sunflower, 592 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 1: which I also love. And then there is another that 593 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 1: has some beautiful colored dragonflies in it, and another that 594 00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,359 Speaker 1: I am not one hundred percent commonent. I believe it 595 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: is a lion and that its main is the rainbow. Yeah, 596 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,959 Speaker 1: I think it's a lion with the rainbow main and 597 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,360 Speaker 1: not My first thought was is this a kitty that 598 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,959 Speaker 1: is just surrounded by a halo, like a kitty kitty, 599 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:38,840 Speaker 1: not like a lion. A little lions are kitties anyway, 600 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: These are very beautiful. Thank you for sharing your art 601 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:45,720 Speaker 1: with us. I love art. There's no surprise there, uh, 602 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: but I'm always delighted when people share their work with us. 603 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 1: So that's another thing. If you don't want to do 604 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: pet tacks, you can share your art. It's great. You 605 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,120 Speaker 1: can send us whatever you want. If you want to 606 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:57,319 Speaker 1: do that, you can do that at History podcast at 607 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio dot com. If you would like to check out 608 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 1: our source lists and our show notes, which we've mentioned 609 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,319 Speaker 1: a couple times in this episode, you can do that 610 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: at mistinhistory dot com. If you would like to subscribe 611 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:12,640 Speaker 1: to the podcast and you haven't done that yet, you 612 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,560 Speaker 1: can do that on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you 613 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:23,680 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History 614 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:28,080 Speaker 1: Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 615 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:31,840 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 616 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:32,880 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows,