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ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on reactions to the modernization and hygienist plans that transformed the city centre of Florence during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Particular attention is paid to the Associazione di Difesa di Firenze Antica, founded in 1898 to counter the second phase of the risanamento (sanitary planning) of the historic centre, and in close collaboration with the foreign communities living in the city. The protest against the destruction of ancient buildings gave rise to a new awareness, with the notion of heritage going beyond individual monuments to include the city as a whole. The article studies both the arguments advanced and the political and cultural context which were favourable to the preservation of the old urban fabric. Beyond conservation, the fight to save Florence provided an opportunity to outline an urban project based on the historical analysis of the existing buildings and the enhancement of local characteristics. The specificities of Florence – one of the first ‘art cities’, considered in the peninsula to be the Athens of Italy and linked early on to international tourism – made it one of the laboratories of a heritage urbanism linked to the international Art Public movement.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Fantoni, Gli anglo-americani a Firenze.
2 Weld, Florence, 13-14.
3 Pesci, Firenze Capitale, 462.
4 Vasic Vatovec, “L'ampliamento di via Calzaiuoli,” 66–89; Bologna, “Firenze vecchia,” 852.
5 Fei, Nascita e sviluppo di Firenze; Borsi, La capitale a Firenze; Manetti and Morolli, Giuseppe Poggi; Cresti, Firenze, 9–49.
6 Jarro, Firenze sotterranea; Cresti, Firenze, 100–129.
7 Zucconi, La città contesa, 32–33.
8 Ibid, 49–54.
9 Detti, Firenze scomparsa; Cresti and Fei, “Le vicende del risanamento,” 108–116; Fei, Firenze 1881-1898; Orefice, Rilievi e memorie; Sframeli, Il centro di Firenze; Fantozzi Micali, La Città desiderata, 95–137; Orefice, Da Ponte Vecchio a S. Croce; Cresti, Firenze, 80–134; Sframeli, Firenze 1892-1895.
10 Orefice, Da Ponte Vecchio a S. Croce, 7-12; Lasansky, The Renaissance perfected, 33–36.
11 Di Cagno, Arte e storia, 30–42.
12 Carocci, Il Mercato Vecchio; Carocci, Il Ghetto; Carocci, Firenze scomparsa.
13 Bologna, “Firenze Vecchia”, 65.
14 Il centro di Firenze; Orefice, Rilievi, 29–50.
15 Lamberini, “Herbert Horne”, 53–61.
16 Maggini and Tosetto, “L’Associazione”, 179.
17 “Conservatori in ritardo.”
18 Bollettino dell’ADFA 1, 13.
19 Lee, “Letter to the Editor”; Cenni and Bizotto, Dalla stanza.
20 Lamberini, “Herbert Horne”, 59–61.
21 Atti del consiglio comunale di Firenze, Le temute demolizioni, 6.
22 Letter from Violet Paget (Vernon Lee) to Eugène Müntz, Florence, October 21, 1898, Paris, BnF, département des manuscrits, NAF 11305.
23 "La Chronique des arts et de la curiosité," La Gazette des beaux-arts, October 29, 1898; see also Le Journal des débats, October 30, 1898, or Le Figaro, April 4,1899.
24 Bollettino dell’ADFA 1, 8–13.
25 Bollettino dell’ADFA 1, 6.
26 The paper was published in the Corriere della Sera on March 23–24,1899, under the pseudonym Polifilo.
27 Pasqual Villari’s intervention, Bollettino dell’ADFA 1, 12.
28 Bollettino dell’ADFA 1, 17.
29 Bollettino dell’ADFA suppl. 3, 6.
30 Carocci, “Dei provvidimenti,” 16.
31 Ibid, 18-19.
32 Ibid, 21–22.
33 Ibid, 23.
34 Ibid.
35 “Lettera del Presidente dell’Accademia di Belle Arti al Presidente della Associazione per la difesa di Firenze antica”, September 19, 1900, Bollettino dell’ADFA 2, 35–36.
36 Centauro, “Il ripristino,” 241–262.
37 “Deliberazione della Giunta Comunale di Firenze”, February 12, 1901, Bollettino dell’ADFA 2, 37–38.
38 “Relazione allegata al progetto per Firenze Antica,” Bollettino dell’ADFA suppl 3, 12–13.
39 Berti, “Il ripristino,” 241–262.
40 Benzi and Bertuzzi, Il Palagio, 189–230.
41 Renard, “Mémoires monumentales,” 56–70.
42 Bann, “Robert de la Sizeranne.” ; La Sizeranne, “Le prigioni dell’arte,” 76–77.
43 La Sizeranne, “Pro Florentia.”
44 Lee, Genius Loci; Lee, The Golden Keys; Lamberini, “Herbert Horne”, 53–54.
45 Institut de France, Dictionnaire, 427.
46 Checchi, “Firenze vive?” 68.
47 See Zucconi in this special issue.
48 Molmenti, “Per Firenze,” 79–80.
49 See other contributions of this thematic issue.
50 Bollettino dell’ADFA 1, 5.
51 Bollettino dell’ADFA suppl 3, 4–5.
52 Carocci, Firenze scomparsa; Bologna, “Firenze vecchia”.
53 Zucconi in this special issue.
54 Lee, “Letter.”
55 Journal des débats, October 30, 1898.
56 La Sizeranne, “Pro Florentia,” 65.
57 Guerzoni, “Firenze rinnovata,” 765–806.
58 Berti, "La nascita"; Pellegrino, La città.
59 Geymüller, “Lettera,” 61.
60 Ibid.
61 Geymüller, “Lettera,” 61.
62 Gebhart, Florence, 2.
63 Müntz, À travers la Toscane, 369; Lee, The Golden Keys.
64 Gebhart, Origines.
65 Passini, La fabrique.
66 Zucconi, L’invenzione del passato.
67 Gentile, La grande Italia, 9–20; Romanelli, Centralismo e autonomie; Brice, “Il 1911 in Italia”, 47–62.
68 Tobia, Una patria; Cavazza, Piccole patrie.
69 Porciatti, “Divagazioni architettoniche.”
70 Cerasi, “Dalla nazionalizzazione.” 906–907.
71 Cerasi, “Dalla nazionalizzazione.” 893-894.
72 “Società per l’Arte Pubblica.”
73 Smets, Charles Buls.
74 Fiori, “Charles Normand.”; Fiori, L’invention du Vieux Paris.
75 Revue de l’art public 1, 76.
76 Ibid, 52.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Thomas Renard
Thomas Renard is an associate professor in art and architectural history at the University of Nantes (France). His research interests include architectural and urban history and the quest for identity in Italy at the turn of the twentieth century. On this topic, he published the book: Dantomania, Restauration architecturale et construction de l'unité italienne (1861-1921) in 2019.