The Stibbert Museum is one of the most fascinating and surprising places in Florence. In the museum-house, created by its owner, Frederick Stibbert (1838-1906), are gathered and arranged according to an exciting and rich with drama disposition, its exceptional collections which Stibbert left upon his death to the city: in particular the famous collection of arms, but also objects of art and daily life from the European, Islamic and Far Eastern civilizations, especially the Japanese one. The museum is testimony to the taste and intelligence of an individual and at the same time it represents the synthesis of the highest cultural values of the 19th century: an interest in the past, a glorification of art and a passion for the exotic. This villa, lying on the slopes of the Florentine hills, was transformed by Stibbert into a neo-Gothic castle, with spacious rooms on the ground floor meant to house the collections in the spectacular style and the sequence conceived by him. The other part of the building houses the sumptuous private apartments, furnished and decorated according to the nineteenth century standards, which made every room re-evoke a different style: neo-Renaissance for the ballroom, Rococo for the parlors, Empire for the bedrooms. The same eclectic taste, the same curiosity for the past and the exotic characterize the park which surrounds the villa.Groves, pavilions, statues, fake ruins and a small Egyptian temple mark or are the destination of naturalistic and/or evocative itineraries, only apparently casual: a romantic vision of the garden that bears witness to Stibbert’s further adhesion to the cultural ambience of the time.

The armory
In a large Gothic style hall, deliberately designed, the 16th century knights, closed in their suits of armor, bring to life an imposing cavalcade, in which the poses of the warriors and their horses draw inspiration from large equestrian monuments or historical personages, such as Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy or Emperor Maximilian of Austria. Another small army, dressed in precious fabrics and mail, bears witness to the diverse conception of armament typical of the Islamic world, which stretches from north Africa, to Central Asia as far as India. Equally suggestive is the section dedicated to Japan, with its colored and fantastic warriors and the extreme elegance of clothes and furnishings. In addition to the suits of armor, the arms and the horse harnesses, the collection includes bronzes, costumes, lacquer ware: for its richness and the quality of its pieces, it is considered one of the most important collections outside of Japan.

The other collections
If the armors of the various peoples are used to testify to the victories and the defeats that have marked and determined history, on the other hand, the daily or artistic objects that accompany them serve to restore their life and their meaning. Stibbert collected everything, but especially what was relevant to a person and formed one’s image of them, revealed one’s value, such as the garments. He bought important paintings but preferred those, also by unknown artists, that illustrated the history of costumes, the arms worn, and the clothes in the style of suits of armor . The tapestries which decorate the walls of the villa were chosen for their subjects with the same illustrative criterion. Some absolutely exceptional examples, such as the 16th century garments,the accessories and the suit worn by Napoleon for his coronation as the king of Italy can be found among the clothing (photo 1). Exceedingly rich is the collection of objects from the applied arts which Stibbert used to furnish his museum-house, especially in the private apartments, which includes furniture, majolica, fabrics, 17th century stamped and painted leathers and sacred hangings which complete a collection absolutely unexpected by the visitor.

essential bibliography

Il Museo Stibbert: la casa-museo - The Stibbert Museum: House and Museum
AA.VV., Livorno, Editore: Sillabe, 2003

Le porcellane europee della collezione de Tschudy
AA.VV., Firenze, Editore: Giunti, 2002

European Civil and Military Clothing. From the First to the Eighteenth Century
Stibbert F., New York, Editore: Dover Publications, 2001

Dress for the Body: Body for the Dress: When Islamic and Western styles meet all’Islamic Art Museum 2000
AA.VV., Kuala Lampur, Editore: non disponibile, 2000, note: catalogo della mostra

Le armi del Museo Stibbert: La collezione europea e islamica-The arms of the Stibbert Museum : The European and Islamic collections
AA.VV., Livorno, Editore: Sillabe, 2000

Museo Stibbert – Firenze
Museo Stibbert, Firenze, Editore: Polistampa, 2000

Museo Stibbert – Firenze
Museo Stibbert, Firenze, Editore: Polistampa, 1999

L'abito per il corpo, il corpo per l'abito: Islam e Occidente a confronto
AA.VV., Firenze, Editore: Artificio, 1998

Tra oriente e occidente: cento armi dal Museo Stibbert
AA.VV., Livorno, Editore: Sillabe, 1997, note: catalogo della mostra a Palazzo Vecchio 1997-98