Friends of Florence | Florence Daily News

A fragile river god by Michelangelo has been restored after lying neglected in a basement storeroom below Casa Buonarroti in Florence for some 50 years.

The huge Neo-Attic krater known as the Medici Vase has been restored and is again ready for display in the Uffizi.

A new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, features the Luca della Robbia’s Madonna and Child, which was recently restored by Friends of Florence.

Many flock from all over the world to visit the Basilica in Santa Croce to admire both the church itself, and the artwork inside. The famous “Il Cristo Crocifissio del Maestro di Figline” has finally returned to the church, after a long restoration project that began in 2009. The restoration could not have been a success without the help of the Friends of Florence Organization.

It is returning to public view after a 27-year restoration, the “Gates of Paradise”, the masterpiece by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Made of bronze and gold for the Baptistery of Florence, the name of the “Gate” was given by Michelangelo. Removed to protect it from the Second World War in 1943,it was damaged by the flood of the Arno river in 1966 and replaced with a copy in 1990.