Previously private the
Stibbert museum holds the name of its founder Frederic Stibbert, half Scotsman,
half Italian collector, artist, traveler, just to name a few of the titles of
this noble man.
Stibbert’s grand, personal
collection includes huge variety of exhibits such as clothes, pieces of
furniture, tapestries and paintings from 16th to 19th
century, which exhibited in his own Villa di Montughi. But this villa-museum is
mainly famous for the collection of arms and suits of armors that comprises an
incredible number of varying and rare pieces from 15th to the 17th
centuries. Majority of arms are European, although there are Oriental, Persian,
Indian and Islamic ones. One of the most stunning views for me was the parade
of fully equipped horses and riders that represented the Italian, German and
Islamic arms and suits of armors belonging to the 16th and 17th
centuries. Warriors on horses reminded me the warriors on display in the Museum
of Natural History in New York, but I must say the Florentine version was way
more impressive, due to the ambience of Stibbert museum itself.
The
method of display, with little artificial lighting and different objects from
various centuries gathered together in one room, might seem a little strange
for someone, but it definitely created a very special atmosphere inside the
museum – very intimate, historic and full of mystery. This approach, created by
Frederic Stibbert himself and preserved by the government of Florence, make
this museum and the collection worth seeing.
Kseniya.
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