Rediscovering St Francis through the works of art housed in Anghiari

Rediscovering St Francis through the works of art housed in Anghiari | Palazzo Taglieschi Museum
 
Sunday 1 November, from 1.00 pm to 6.00 pm – Palazzo Taglieschi Museum
 
A three-part programme exploring the history, culture and traditions of the Valtiberina
 
The programme of events marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi continues. The Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions of the Upper Tiber Valley at Palazzo Taglieschi, in collaboration with the Pastoral Unit and Anghiari Town Council, invites you on Sunday 1 November to ‘Rediscover St Francis through the works of art housed in Anghiari’ with a guided tour exploring Franciscan historical and artistic heritage. The cultural walking tour – free to attend – will visit symbolic sites and will begin at 4.00 pm from the Palazzo Pretorio
 
At the town hall, the Councillor for Culture, Alberica Barbolani da Montauto, will extend an official welcome and explain the murals in the chapel, whose cycle includes the episode of the Stigmata set against the landscape of La Verna
 
The tour will then move on to Palazzo Taglieschi where, at around 4.30 pm, Director Marco Musmeci will guide visitors through the artworks held by the National Museum of Anghiari. These works span various periods and genres: from 15th-century frescoes to Andrea della Robbia’s ceramic relief of the Nativity, from Franciscan ex-votos to the grand 17th-century altarpieces – a succession of comparisons, dialogues and emotions between the different collections
 
The exploration of Anghiari’s cultural heritage will conclude at around 6.00 pm in the Church of the Cross, where the physical artefact most closely linked to the saint’s life will be presented: the relic of the habit, a fragment of fabric that tells of the ties between the community, the saint’s life and the subsequent Franciscan devotion in the Anghiari area
 
The initiative forms part of a wide-ranging programme of events, organised by Director Musmeci, aimed at celebrating St Francis, which had already featured the National Museum of Palazzo Taglieschi as its centrepiece, with a lecture by art historian Alessandro Marchi entitled ‘La Vita Beati Francisci in 13th- and 14th-century painting’. As early as last July, a parallel had been drawn between the biography written by Tommaso da Celano and the artistic depiction of episodes from the Saint’s life; now, a few months on, that theme is being revisited as a key to understanding Anghiari’s cultural heritage and, as it is the first Sunday of the month, thanks to an initiative by the Ministry of Culture, this heritage will be accessible throughout the afternoon with free admission for all
 
A triple cultural event, especially when one considers that, from 30 October to 1 November, Anghiari will host the ‘I Centogusti dell’Appennino’ exhibition and market: a delightful opportunity to combine local food and wine tourism with the rediscovery of the historical, artistic and traditional context that still shapes it today – a story that has been told for over 50 years by the National Museum of Palazzo Taglieschi and the Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions of the Upper Tiber Valley