Florence, guided tours to discover great women: intellectuals, artists, poets, muses and scientists

On the occasion of Women’s Day, a series of joint guided tours of the monumental complex of Santa Croce and the exhibition Women of the Sky: from Muses to Scientists, which opens at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale on March 8 and will be open until June 8, 2024, kicks off in Florence. Conceived by the Museo Galileo and organized with the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, the exhibition project is curated by Natacha Fabbri, Caterina Guiducci and Simona Mammana, and aims to propose an itinerary focused on the role of women in astronomical research and on the female images that recur frequently in representations of the cosmos from the Renaissance to the early 20th century. Works therefore scientific, literary and cartographic that reveal the presence of female interlocutors and authors in texts characterized by the association between women and celestial spheres, but also works that argue forintellectual and social equality between men and women.

The joint visits, promoted in collaboration with theOpera di Santa Croce, will be repeated on April 19, May 17 and June 7 (3 p.m. visits to Santa Croce, 4 p.m. to the exhibition).

The tour tells about another Santa Croce, that of the great women who are remembered through their memorials. Such as Florence Nightingale, born in Florence, who in London founded the world’s first school of nursing, or Blessed Umiliana de’ Cerchi, Florence’s first Franciscan tertiary, a spiritual point of reference for the people, particularly the Guelph side, or Sister Maria Celeste, mystic daughter of Galileo Galilei whom her own father described as a woman of exquisite wit and singular goodness.
The memory of intellectuals full of charm is also enshrined in Santa Croce. Such is the case of Luisa Stolberg Gedern, first wife of Charles Edward Stuart and later Vittorio Alfieri’s companion, who would give life to one of the city’s most popular literary salons. A passion for Risorgimento ideals and an exceptional ability to weave relationships distinguished the personality of Emilia Toscanelli Peruzzi, wife of Ubaldino Peruzzi, who was mayor during the years of Florence’s capital. Emilia’s red salon, so called because of the color of the upholstery, became one of the most important meeting places in the country.
The genius of women is then celebrated by the presence of Felicie De Fauveau, a sculptress who lived by her art. One of her works is located in Holy Cross: the tomb dedicated to the West Indian poet Louise de Favreau, who died very young.

Reservations, starting March 5, at www.santacroceopera.it

Pictured is the tomb dedicated to Louise de Favreau.

Florence, guided tours to discover great women: intellectuals, artists, poets, muses and scientists

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