Strata: Special Collections

This exhibit features a collection that has never been shown as a whole and that remains virtually unknown to the public and scholars alike. Because many of the objects have been in storage and need extensive work to stabilize, clean and restore them, the exhibition explores some of the challenges and issues involved in the care and preservation of such an old collection by showing some objects midway through conservation. Included in the exhibition is Donatello’s beloved marble relief (pictured) of Madonna of the Clouds and a signed bronze statuette by Giambologna. The exhibition also features such well-known masterworks as Antico’s bronze Bust of Cleopatra and long-forgotten sculptures such as St. John the Baptist by Giovanni Francesco Rustici. Other artists include Luca della Robbia, Mino da Fiesole and Bartolomeo Bellano.