ICONS OF POWER AND BEAUTY

The exhibition design for Icons of Power and Beauty stems from a close dialogue with the great gallery that hosts it: a monumental, frescoed, elongated space, marked by the temporary absence of the Idolino, the room’s original focal point. This void created the opportunity to rethink the exhibition sequence, introducing a threshold that guides visitors into a more intimate, almost ritual dimension, without interrupting the relationship with the museum’s permanent architecture.

The project takes shape as an ephemeral micro-architecture: a lightweight volume, calibrated to the gallery’s rhythm and defined by a semi-transparent membrane of draped mesh fabric. Its controlled transparency creates an enveloping interior while allowing the historic decorations to remain visible, generating a dual perception between temporary installation and permanent space.

Purple, an emblematic color of Roman power, becomes the conceptual backdrop of the exhibition, transforming the volume into a contemporary “sacellum.” Inside, five glass display cases organize the artifacts with a measured rhythm and a two-tier system that distinguishes key works from complementary objects, guiding the gaze and supporting a slow, attentive reading.

Location:
National Archaeological Museum of Florence

in collaboration with:
Fondazione Brescia Musei
and with
Opificio delle Pietre Dure

Director:
Daniele Federico Marras

Curated by:
Daniele Federico Maras
Barbara Arbeid

Exhibition Design Project:
DEFERRARI+MODESTI
Javier Deferrari | Lavinia Modesti

Graphic design:
TassinariVetta

Exhibition Design:
Legn’arté s.n.c.
Fratelli Edison s.r.l.

Year: 2025
Surface area: 40 square meters
–
Photographs by:
Alessandra Chemollo