FLORENCE.- Two towering bronze portraits of the Medici grand dukes Ferdinando I and Cosimo II have emerged renewed from an extensive conservation campaign at Florence’s Medici Chapels, bringing fresh clarity to works that have watched over the spectacular Chapel of the Princes for centuries.
The Museo delle Cappelle Medicee announced the completion of conservation and extraordinary maintenance on the monumental sculptures, together with a new presentation of historic reliquaries formerly displayed in the Medici Crypt.
Standing more than three meters high above the grand ducal cenotaphs, the bronzes form part of one of Florence’s most ambitious expressions of Medici power. The Chapel of the Princes, wrapped in elaborate expanses of colored marble and semi-precious stone, was conceived as a dynastic monument to the family that dominated Florentine political and cultural life for generations.
Although the Chapel was designed to accommodate monumental portraits of several Medici rulers, the project was never completed. Only Ferdinando I and his son Cosimo II received the imposing gilded-bronze statues originally envisioned for the space.
Pietro Tacca, who succeeded Giambologna as sculptor to the Medici court, worked on the two figures between 1626 and 1634. His statue of Cosimo II was finished in 1631. The figure of Ferdinando I remained incomplete at Tacca’s death and was eventually finished by his son, Ferdinando Tacca, in 1646.
Both rulers appear in elaborate ceremonial dress, surrounded by symbols of grand ducal authority. Swords, crowns, scepters and richly patterned cloaks transform the portraits into statements of political theater as much as sculpture. Selective gilding heightens details of their costumes and gives the bronzes a striking presence against the Chapel’s brilliantly colored interior.
Over time, however, dust, particulate matter and microscopic pollutants accumulated on the sculptures, obscuring their surfaces and changing the way visitors perceived the complex relationship between bronze, patina and gilding.
The conservation campaign sought to recover that visual balance while preserving the physical history of the objects.
On the statue of Ferdinando I, specialists carefully removed dust and selectively cleaned the bronze, including areas covered by older protective treatments. Some deposits had become embedded in later wax coatings and required the controlled use of steam to remove them safely.
One of the most revealing moments came when conservators temporarily removed the grand duke’s crown to make the cleaning more uniform. The process exposed a slight weakening in the anchoring system supporting the head, allowing the problem to be addressed before it became more serious.
The sculpture was subsequently protected with a new wax coating.
Ultraviolet examinations carried out during the project also showed that the surface contained different types of protective treatments from earlier conservation campaigns. Small samples were taken for laboratory study, giving specialists a clearer understanding of the materials previously applied to the sculpture and helping guide the current treatment.
Cosimo II required a lighter intervention. The sculpture had already undergone restoration in 2015, and its existing protective coating remained in excellent condition.
Conservators concentrated on removing dust and monitoring the surface. A localized area affected by changes in the bronze alloy was treated to remove corrosion and stabilize the material.
The cleaning also brought back into view traces of gilding on the ruler’s short ceremonial cape, details that had become difficult to see beneath accumulated deposits and altered protective material.
“The restoration of the bronzes of Ferdinando I and Cosimo II restores strength and legibility to two masterpieces that are an integral part of the monumental identity of the Chapel of the Princes,” said Andreina Contessa, Director General of the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze e Musei del Bargello.
She described the project as part of a broader responsibility to preserve major works for future generations while making their history and artistic qualities more understandable to visitors.
The restoration received support from the Basel-based SCULPSIT Foundation through Italy’s Art Bonus program, which encourages private patronage of publicly owned cultural heritage.
The bronzes are not the only change visitors will notice inside the Chapel.
A group of reliquaries formerly displayed in the Medici Crypt has now been moved into the Chapel’s apse, creating a new relationship between objects associated with dynastic devotion and the monumental architectural setting created to celebrate the Medici family.
Before the move, specialists examined and cleaned the reliquaries, monitored their condition and stabilized loose or vulnerable elements.
They are now shown inside three historic display cases that were previously located in the crypt. Museum officials reorganized the objects with the aim of making the collection easier to understand as a unified group rather than as a series of isolated works.
For Contessa, the new arrangement helps reconnect objects, architecture and Medici history.
“The reinstallation of the reliquaries allows us to reconstruct more coherently the relationship between the works, the dynastic history of the Medici and one of the most extraordinary spaces in our heritage,” she said.
The two projects are part of a much larger conservation effort undertaken throughout the Medici Chapels during 2026. Work has extended to cenotaphs, marble decoration, furnishings, display cases and other areas of the complex, combining routine monitoring with cleaning, consolidation and preventive conservation.
In a space built to project permanence and dynastic grandeur, the work is also a reminder that even bronze and stone require continuous care. Four centuries after Tacca began shaping the monumental Medici figures, Ferdinando I and Cosimo II once again command the Chapel of the Princes with much of the visual force their creators intended.
