In September 2024, Florence will return to being the world capital of fine antiques and collectibles. The city of the Renaissance is preparing to host the 33rd edition of the BIAF, International Antiques Biennial, a rigorous selection of the best ancient art galleries in the world.

It is an event that for over 60 years has offered the best research and quality available at an international level, and attracts the attention of collectors from all over the world, who also take the opportunity to visit one of the most fascinating cities in the world, Florence. The event will be hosted as usual in the baroque spaces of Palazzo Corsini, from 28 September to 6 October 2024, 80 international galleries are preparing to exhibit on the banks of the Arno, among stuccos and frescoes, with many returns and as many world premieres, for offering the best of ancient, modern and contemporary Italian art.

After two days reserved for the Vetting Committee, the BIAF will open its doors to the press on the morning of September 22nd. For this 2024 edition, we would like to point out the donation of the splendid altarpiece by Durante Alberti, depicting the Trinity and the saints Andrew, Mary Magdalene and Christina (oil on canvas, 373 x 192.5 cm) by Fabrizio Moretti and Eleonora and Bruno Botticelli, to commemorate the memory of their respective parents, at the Cathedral of Sansepolcro, compensating the church for a serious loss suffered in the past.

Thanks to the financial support of the Biennale dell'Antiquariato, the Richard Ginori Archive Museum Foundation of the Doccia Manifattura has started an important restoration campaign of a significant group of precious wax models, seriously damaged by humidity in the years following the closure and abandonment of the Ginori Museum, among these the group depicting Apollo and Marsyas, taken from a work by the Florentine sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini and the groups with Venus plucking Cupid and Leda with the Swan, whose bronze archetypes were to the invention of the late Baroque sculptor Massimiliano Soldani Benzi.

Cinello and Save The Artistic Heritage have been at the forefront for years to actively support the Italian and international artistic heritage through the digitization of the most important masterpieces in our museums. Precisely during the BIAF days, our spaces in via de Calzaiuoli will be open to offer a renewed selection of timeless works from the major Italian museums, together with an overview of the best contemporary digital art. 

The appointment is therefore in Florence for the Antiques Biennale, in September 2024, we are waiting for you!

PALAZZO CORSINI 

Palazzo Corsini sull’Arno, once the property of Grand Duke Ferdinando II, was purchased by Maria Maddalena Machiavelli, wife of the Marquis Filippo Corsini, in 1649. The Palazzo was initially known as a “Casino” – a little house (so-called as it was small and surrounded by a large garden that reached down to the banks of the River Arno), belonged to the Ardinghelli Family before passing into the hands of the Medici, and finally to the Corsini family.

The building is in late Baroque style, as can be seen in its entirety, from the stone statues rising up on the roof to the ancient terracotta crater urns enhancing the original open space in the center of the façade.

The two architects of Palazzo Corsini were Bartolomeo (1622-1685), son of Filippo and Maria Maddalena Macchiavelli, and Bartolomeo’s son, Filippo (1647-1705). The construction of the Palazzo required 50 years of uninterrupted work.

The decorations carried out inside the Palazzo from 1692 to 1700 are a reminder of the splendor of one of the most flourishing and intense periods of Florentine painting. Worth noting among the painters commissioned by the Corsini family to decorate the noble apartment on the first floor where the Aurora Gallery, the Salone, the Ballroom, and other rooms are found, are Anton Domenico Gabbiani, Alessandro Gherardini, and Pier Dandini.

It is precisely in this splendid setting of rooms, unique in Florence for their inventions and architectural features, that the International Antiques Fair is held every two years.