The State Museum of Palace Taglieschi
The historic Palcae of Taglieschi is found in what once was known as the "Piazza del Borghetto" and what is today called "Piazza Mameli". The place is an obligatory crossroad for those who want to venture the old streets of the antique burrough. One arrives from Piazza Baldaccio crossing Via Garibaldi passing in front of the Church of Saint Agostino. Meanwhile to your left you go down towards the walkway of the wall, where in front you will find the Palace of Marzocco and the uphill that takes you towards the Institute of Art and the Pretorio Palace.
Instead, on the right, you have Palace Taglieschi, property of the Anghiarian family to whom Lorenzo Taglieschi is the most illustrious, having left future generations almost all there was to know about Anghiari from its origins up until the 1600's. The Palace is readily recognized for its articulate facade. In fact the Palace was commissioned by Matteo di (son of )Antonio di (son of ) Bartholomeo Taglieschi, captain of venture, better known as Matteo "Dog" Cane. Being of a Renaissance Construction, Palace Taglieschi was created from a harmonious union of pre-existing tower houses, which is demonstrated by the occaisional presence of vaults of an acute arch, or of crossed cieling vaults, with its main body thrown on shelves of the facade. Here we must say that Matteo Cane was a warrior whose proud behaviour earned him the nickname of cane, which in English means "dog"(ca-neh), an animal which therefore began to even appear beside the family coat of arms. In military service with the Florentines, he commanded different forts in Tuscany, in Pisano as well as in Aretino. A local authority in Anghiari around 1470, here he inspired and affirmed a humanistic culture deriving from the Florentines. In the high Tibertiono Village famous names began to work, like, Andrea della Robbia, creator of the Nativity done for the Church of Badia and today arranged inside the Museum of Palace Taglieschi.
Guillaume de Marcillat, who did the glass windows of the Dome of Arezzo, and the Sculpturer Santi da Settignano, also worked for Anghiari. From Settignano other figures with curious names were added, like Subisso and il Diavolaccio. These presences together with the strength undertaken by the the corporation of brick-layers and stone-masons, imposed Florentine and Urbino style canon on Anghiari, of which Palace Taglieschi is expressed, with lines that seem to come close to the tradition inaugarated by Leon Battisti Alberti, which distinguishes it from other Anghiarian Palaces from the 1400's. You can in fact notice the discrepansies between the rectangular windows of Palace Taglieschi, begun in stone displays, and those window settings of different buildings nearby, with the exception of the building in front, Palace Marzocco, which was once also property of Palace Taglieschi.The noble aspect of the new buildings must not lead you to think that, during the artistic renewal, they followed a moral aspect as well.
The Piazza del Borghetto was in fact a theater of grave violenze perpetrating damage to the Taglieschi, like the murder of Ilionelo, (at the time the richest citizen whose house was deprived of all its worth) or the gun shots that assassinated Milano di Raffaello.Handed down many times throughout the years starting from the year 1500, it was in 1900 that the Palace began its sad degradation, when after World War II it hosted the less fortunate families of the village. The destination towards the museum structuring was owed to the work of its last owner, Don Nilo Conti, who collected many popular artistical works from the High Valley of the Tevere, later donating them to the Italian State with the committment of building the museum.After the last restorations in 1968, Palace Tagleschi soon after hosted the famous exhibition of Anghiarian firearms. More time was needed to restore the State Museum, inaugerated in 1976 by Giovanni Spadolini who at that time was the Minister of Cultural Welfare. The Museum is a fundamental stop inside of Anghiari, a path from the past to discover the orginization and the life inside a Renassaince Palace with its pillars, staircases, fireplaces, and its stupendous stone wash basins. Its twenty halls offer an exceptional collection of paintings by Ghiodini, Matteo Rosseti, Jacopo Vignali, and other great artists, sculputures and utensils (from Tuscany and Umbrian schools), all admired in extraordinary 1400 framings.
Quickly listing some of these objects, we can cite capitals (the upper end of a column or pier) from various epochs including the Roman, millstones and jugs to conserve oil and dye, antique bells, door locks from doors of the 1400's ( from which the famous Catorcio of Anghiari), sacred altar ornaments and vestments, furniture, frescos, terracottas (many from the shop of Santi Buglioni, from the school of Della Robbia).From major works of art let us rememberr the "Nativity" of Andrea della Robbia, mentioned earlier, an organ from the first half of the 16th century, a unique exemplary of its kind, coming from the Church of Santo Stefano, and, above all, the statue of the "Virgin Mary" by Jacopo della Quercia.
This sculpture in painted wood, was done for an Anghiarian church and commissioned by the Company of Saint Mary of Mercy. dall'autore di Fonte Gaia a Siena e del portale maggiore di San Petronio a Bologna. Its attribution is certain while its creation dates back to around 1420.Finally, we cannot forget the figure of Giuseppe Mazzi, illustrious Anghiarian expert to whom is owed the work of the precious collection for Palace Taglieschi.
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