There will be a public unveiling on Monday, December 15, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. in the Organ Room on the second floor of Palazzo Taglieschi, home of the Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions of the Upper Tiber Valley in Anghiari, of the new museum displays dedicated to traditional Anghiarian ceramics in the rooms of Palazzo Taglieschi and to firearms at the Museum of Battle and Anghiari. The inauguration will be attended by Massimo Osanna, Director General of Museums of the Ministry of Culture; Stefano Casciu, Regional Director of National Museums Tuscany of the Ministry of Culture; Alessandro Polcri, Mayor of Anghiari; Alberica Barbolani da Montauto, Councillor for Culture; Elisabetta Borghesi, Director of the Museum of the Battle and Anghiari; Rossella Sileno, Director of the Museum of Palazzo Taglieschi; and curator Rosario Ruggiero Terrone.
The consolidation of an ongoing and structured dialogue between the two museum institutions has led to an in-depth reflection on the scientific need to update both collections in relation to the overall cultural offerings. The Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions of the Upper Tiber Valley, housed in Palazzo Taglieschi, represents the territorial museum par excellence of the Valtiberina, which collects and exhibits a wide and articulated heritage of historical, artistic and ethnographic evidence. The Museum of the Battle and Anghiari, located in Palazzo del Marzocco, on the other hand, is a thematic municipal museum that delves into the historical event of 1440 and its figurative interpretation by Leonardo da Vinci, as well as the historical, artistic and cultural contexts related to it.
The “Integrated Collections” project, launched in 2021 and aimed at the exchange and enhancement of the collections of the Palazzo Taglieschi Museum and the Museum of the Battle and Anghiari, is one of the first actions under the Enhancement Agreement, pursuant to Art. 112, paragraph 4, of Legislative Decree No. 42/2004 as amended and supplemented - Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code, signed on March 25, 2020 between the then Polo Museale della Toscana and the Municipality of Anghiari. Among the objectives of the agreement is also the exchange of works between the two museums, aimed at the creation of thematic arrangements capable of contributing to the achievement of the purposes of enhancement.
The project thus aims to complete and enrich both collections (Anghiarian traditional ceramics for Palazzo Taglieschi and historical weapons for the Museo della Battaglia) while respecting the homogeneity of the collections and coherence with their respective institutional missions, at the same time promoting scientific research, protection and conservation. The new exhibition routes intend to pay special attention to educational apparatus and multimedia communication. Educational opportunities are thus expanded, allowing visitors to delve more fully into the cultural and technological transformations of the periods in which weapons and ceramics, both of Anghiarian production and strongly linked to the territory, were made.
As part of this exchange, the Museo della Battaglia e di Anghiari is granting its collection of traditional Anghiarian ceramics on long-term deposit to the Museo di Palazzo Taglieschi, while the state museum is entrusting, also on long-term deposit, its entire collection of antique firearms to the Museo della Battaglia, where until a few months ago it was not on display.
The new exhibition dedicated to traditional ceramics at the Museum of Palazzo Taglieschi, created thanks to the support of the General Directorate of Museums of the Ministry of Culture, is spread over the three main levels of the building through eight showcases featuring a selection of about one hundred artifacts, including warmers, albarellos, soup tureens, piñatas, jugs, basins, and a fine cockerel-shaped whistle. The founder of the Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions in Anghiari, Don Nilo Conti, collected numerous examples of traditional Anghiarian ceramics between the 1950s and 1970s, which are now preserved and only partially displayed. The records of acquisitions also document purchases made at craftsmanship exhibitions held in the 1970s in Monte San Savino, in the province of Arezzo.
The exchange with the municipality of Anghiari made it possible to supplement the original nucleus with additional collections, evidence of the collecting of important protagonists of Anghiarian cultural life in the second half of the twentieth century and the work of master potters such as Arturo Luconi and Domenico Paci, considered the last potter. Of particular value is the Giuseppe Fontana collection, composed of artifacts documenting a phase of great vitality in Anghiarian ceramics, now on public view thanks to the generous donation of his son Emanuele Fontana. The display of the ceramics collection was designed by Rossella Sileno together with Raffaele Fuschino and Rosario Terrone and was made by Antica Maniera di Marco Santi, in collaboration with Falegnameria Pettinari Andrea. The lighting of the shop windows was provided by Tecnoelettrica Technologies & Solutions, while the graphic design was created by Annalisa Giovannini, a student at the University of Florence, as part of a curricular internship. On the occasion of the opening, Giulia Basilissi, a conservation restorer officer from the Regional Directorate National Museums Tuscany, carried out conservation maintenance on the ceramic artifacts on display. The exhibition itinerary is also enriched by short video-documentaries accessible via QR code, created by the Regional Directorate National Museums Tuscany with the technical support of Erica Andreini. The video contributions are the result of extensive field research, which included interviews with a collector, a ceramist, local scholars and a specialist in the history of ceramics.
The itinerary dedicated to antique firearms, set up in the 16th-century Palazzo del Marzocco, represents a coherent synthesis between the name and mission of the Museum of the Battle and Anghiari, with the aim of enhancing the historical, artistic and artisanal heritage of the area. Thus, the collection of antique arms of the Bank of Anghiari and Stia, that of the Regional Directorate National Museums of Tuscany and some arms owned by the Municipality of Anghiari converge in a single space, offering the public the opportunity to admire the most important exhibition of antique Anghiarian arms in existence, as well as one of the most significant collections in central Italy in terms of variety and quality.
The Museum of the Battle and of Anghiari, which has been recognized for eleven years as a “museum of regional significance” under Regional Law 21/2010 and an integral part of the National Museum System, was recently reopened to the public after lengthy upgrades for accessibility. The work, financed through a PNRR project m1c3.3, investment 1.2, dedicated to the removal of physical, cognitive and sensory barriers, aims to expand access and enjoyment of content. The new layout constitutes the first stage in a path of revitalization of the museum, following the works and an initial partial reopening, representing at the same time a point of arrival and a restart, as was for Palazzo Taglieschi the exhibition “The Firearms of Anghiari and the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines,” curated by Marcello Terenzi in 1968.
The Anghiari Municipal Administration, with Mayor Alessandro Polcri and Culture Councillor Alberica Barbolani da Montauto, who have been committed to supporting the development of the municipal museum for years, together with Elisabetta Borghesi, Anghiari Municipal staff, the Apennine Business Network, restorer Marco Santi, Andrea Pettinari and the volunteers who collaborated on the project, will present the new exhibition itinerary dedicated to a phase that is as mysterious as it is fascinating in local history. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, in fact, the workshops of Vallini, Cerboncelli, Matassi and Guardiani produced artifacts of extraordinary grace and quality in Anghiari’s historic center, destined to be traded throughout Europe and beyond.
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| New museum displays dedicated to traditional pottery and firearms open in Anghiari |
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