The Embassy of Italy and the Italian Institute of Culture in Washington DC invite you to this lecture with Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda, president of “Friends of Florence” and Fred Hiebert, Archaeology Fellow at the National Geographic.
Opening remarks by Ambassador of Italy to the U.S. Armando Varricchio, and Director of the UNESCO Office in New York and The UNESCO Representative to the United Nations, Marie Paule Roudil.
The role of private actors in the safeguard and rediscovery of mankind’s cultural treasures is increasingly important. This presentation will highlight the extraordinary efforts of the Friend of Florence foundation in some of its most important restoration projects, including Michelangelo’s David, Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, the Tribuna, the Botticelli and Niobe’s Rooms at the Uffizi Museum and numerous others. We will also learn about the National Geographic Society’s involvement at the Colosseum in Rome, one of the world’s most visited monuments.
This event is part of the “Protecting our Heritage” initiative, a program supported by UNESCO and organized by the Washington Network of the European Union National Institutes of Culture (EUNIC), under the 2016 Italian presidency, in order to raise awareness on the need to act against the growing threats posed to cultural heritage by wars, international terrorism, criminal organizations, climate challenges – or more simply, by neglect.
DOORS OPEN BETWEEN 5:30PM AND 6:25PM
PHOTO ID AND QR-CODE RESERVATION REQUIRED
About Friends of Florence:
Created in 1998 to restore and maintain the innumerable valuable artistic and cultural artworks located in Florence and throughout Tuscany, Friends of Florence is a Washington-DC based 501-c-3 non-profit. The organization identifies significant projects in need of conservation and restoration, secures funding, and then oversees the projects ensuring they are completed on schedule and within budget. Friends of Florence organizes numerous educational programs from multi-day trips to seminars and presentations in Italy and throughout the U.S. with expert historians and academics. Partnerships with the Aspen Institute, Stanford University, New York University and others institutions extend our work well beyond Florence. A Friends of Florence Restoration Prize was launched as a biannual event in Florence.
About Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda:
A winning combination of American know-how and Italian charm is the secret of Countess Simonetta Brandolini D’Adda’s success as founder and head of Friends of Florence.
Born in Georgia to an American father and a Roman mother, the bilingual Simonetta spent most of her childhood and young adulthood moving back and forth between the U.S. and Italy. Five years spent in France as a young child add to her international background. She was a teenager in Verona during the time her dad, an officer in the U.S. military, was stationed there with NATO.
Later, Simonetta attended Tufts University in Massachusetts, graduating with a double degree in Art History and Architecture. Her first experience living in Florence was during her junior year abroad with the Smith Program, during which she took a Caravaggio class at Florence University with Mina Gregori. While in Italy she met her husband, whose family are half Venetian and half Sienese. Together they founded “The Best in Italy” in 1982, the very first agency to rent luxury homes, an innovative idea at the time.
Because of her Venetian connections, Simonetta became involved with “Save Venice,” the organization responsible for raising funds to restore and protect many of Venice’s chief monuments and art treasures. At the beginning of the ‘90s, Simonetta became aware that no such organization existed in Florence, where it was sorely needed.
Being a practical American, Simonetta decided to do something about this situation, and she used her fundraising experience and her network of contacts to make her dream a reality. Her sister in Washington D.C. helped with the paperwork of getting 501/C3 charitable status, and in 1998 “Friends of Florence” was born.
Their first project was the two-year restoration of all of the sculptures in the Loggia de’ Lanzi, including the Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna. Their next project was the restoration of the 22 large panel paintings by Tuscan artists of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, which hang in the Accademia near the statue of Michelangelo’s David. Friends of Florence were also able to fund the David’s sprucing up, just in time for his 500th birthday in 2004.
Since its founding, Friends of Florence has completed hundreds of restoration projects and organized numerous educational programs. When asked whether she has a favorite restoration, Simonetta says diplomatically, “I fall in love with all of my projects.” Among her rich and famous “The Best in Italy” clients, Simonetta mentions Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler and Sting, who have become generous donors to Friends of Florence projects.
Looking toward the future for Friends of Florence, this attractive and dynamic woman is optimistic. She mentions both a growing awareness by Italians that their monuments need help from the private sector to survive, combined with the new “art bonus” the government has created to allow for tax deductible gifts.
What does Simonetta love about Tuscany? She replies, “Everything… I love the history, art, architecture, landscapes, culture, foods, wines and my life here. I founded Friends of Florence to give back to this glorious city and region of Tuscany.” (elizabeth wicks)
About Fred Hiebert
Fredrik Hiebert, archaeologist and explorer, has traced ancient trade routes overland and across the seas for more than 20 years. Hiebert has led excavations at ancient Silk Road sites across Asia, from Egypt to Mongolia. His excavations at a 4,000-year-old Silk Road city in Turkmenistan made headlines around the world. He also conducts underwater archaeology projects in the Black Sea and in South America’s highest lake, Lake Titicaca, in search of submerged settlements.
Hiebert completed his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University in 1992 and held the Robert H. Dyson chair of archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the National Geographic Society in 2003. He rediscovered the lost Bactrian gold in Afghanistan in 2004 and was the curator of National Geographic’s exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul which toured major museums in the United States and internationally.
As National Geographic’s archaeology fellow, he extends the enthusiasm for archaeology to the public in lectures, presentations, films, and museum exhibits. Hiebert also holds positions with the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Institute for Nautical Archaeology, and Robert Ballard’s Institute for Exploration. Among other honors, Hiebert received the Chairman’s Award from the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration in 1998.