The Palace of Antiquities

For ten days, the sumptuous rooms—the work of the interior designer, set designer and director Matteo Corvino—of the palace host the best of great Italian art, from the Florentine Renaissance to the great Italian and international twentieth century, but there is also no lack of opportunities for experts to enjoy the thrill of Roman, Etruscan and medieval sculptures and finds, perhaps displayed alongside examples of Italian and international design that have influenced and shaped the taste of the past century.

Bienniale of Antiques is the oldest market exhibition in the world and absolute event of reference for great Italian art

The President of the event is the Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, with Secretary General Fabrizio Moretti, assisted by a Steering Committee, and it is an unmissable opportunity to meet and exchange opinions with important antique dealers and international merchants ready to show off the best of paintings of every era, drawings, sculptures, furnishings, ceramics, jewels.

The romantic event that will open its doors for an exclusive press preview on September 22, with the traditional gala dinner, put together this year by Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura, the Michelin-starred restaurant run by co-executive chefs Karime López and Takahiko Kondo in the Gucci Garden in Piazza della Signoria, which will end the evening with a fireworks display to light up the Arno river.

A light show that the lucky guests at the dinner in Palazzo Corsini will admire from the terraces of the small palace, enjoying one of the most beautiful views of the city and Ponte Vecchio. The inauguration of the Biennale will be followed by a full programme of events.

There will be the viewing of Eternal Memories, the world's first docu-game designed to explain ancient art to young people through play. And again to experiment the combination of art and technology, EY Innovation (partner of this 32nd edition of BIAF) will display a corner dedicated to innovation and a museum space inside the Metaverse with works of art awarded in the previous editions of BIAF, enabling visitors to enjoy, even remotely, an immersive experience. The exhibition in the Metaverse will be enhanced by digital interactive activities. EY will also host a panel on the role of technologies in the world of art.

EY Innovation (partner of this 32nd edition of BIAF) will display a corner dedicated to innovation and a museum space inside the Metaverse with works of art awarded in the previous editions of BIAF

One eye on the future without forgetting the values of tradition and patronage that have always been pillars of the event. Patronage that includes this year the donation of the altarpiece by Durante Alberti, depicting the Trinità e i santi Andrea, Maria Maddalena and Cristina (oil on canvas, 373 x 192.5 cm) by Fabrizio Moretti and Eleonora and Bruno Botticelli—in commemoration of their respective parents—to the Cathedral of Sansepolcro, compensating the church for a serious loss suffered in the past. Thanks to the financial support of the Bienniale, the Richard Ginori Museum Archive Foundation of the Manifattura di Doccia has launched an important project to restore a significant collection of precious wax models, severely damaged by humidity in the years following the closure and abandonment of the Ginori Museum, among these the group depicting Apollo and Marsyas, taken from a work by the Florentine sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini and the groups with Venus Plucking the Wings of Cupid and Leda and the Swan, whose bronze archetypes were invented by the late Baroque sculptor Massimiliano Soldani Benzi.

Also not to be missed in Florence is the second edition of the Florence Art Week in Palazzo Corsini and around the city: The Maisons in Via Tornabuoni, the Galleries in Via Maggio, Via de Fossi, Borgognissanti and the boutiques of Ponte Vecchio will host activities and events reserved for VIP card holders. With the F.A.W.