Twenty tapestries, representing one of the greatest works of tapestry made in Italy during the Renaissance, are to be reunited in an itinerant exhibition next year: “Prince of Dreams: The Medici's Joseph Tapestries by Pontormo and Bronzino” (Il Principe dei sogni. Giuseppe negli Arazzi medicei di Pontormo e Bronzino).
The tapestries, which depict the biblical cycle of the History of Joseph, were commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1545 to Jacopo Pontormo and Agnolo Bronzino to be displayed at Florence's Palazzo Vecchio.
Since the late 19th century, the cycle has been split, with ten tapestries preserved in the Palazzo Vecchio, and ten in the Quirinale Palace in Rome.
The 20 tapestries, which together stretch for 80 meters, will first go on display in Rome in January; they will then be exhibited in Milan from April through September to coincide with Expo 2015. Finally, they will head to Florence, where they will be on display until January 2016.
Fashion house Gucci is the leading sponsor of the exhibition, which is organized in collaboration with the Presidency of the Italian Republic, the municipalities of Florence and Milan and Expo Milano 2015.
According to the fashion brand, "Each of the three capitals hold special significance to Gucci: Rome is the site of the company’s creative heart; Milan is its fashion hub; and Florence is where Guccio Gucci launched his eponymous leather goods brand in 1921."
