Vestri’s book at the Vespucci-Colombo Library

For the afternoons of the Vespucci-Colombo Library, in collaboration with Erasmo Libri, on Wednesday 20th March, at 6.30 pm, in the Aula Magna of the Vespucci-Colombo Institute, via Chiarini, the book “Ufficio Belle Arti di restauri e di altre cose” by Franco Vestri (Sillabe editore) will be presented. Introduction by Laura Belforte.

In the volume, Franco Vestri retraces, through experiences, contacts, restorations… and more, the 35 years of his professional career from 1984, the year he joined the Florence Fine Arts Superintendence as a technical assistant, until his recent retirement in 2020. An extraordinary professional and human experience narrated with wisdom and lightness by someone who has directly experienced restoration sites on important Tuscan monuments.

The behind-the-scenes story of the different interventions and approaches, the battles won and the inevitable disappointments, unfolds with the pleasant Florentine flair that those who know Franco Vestri will recognize in his writing style. Always at the forefront is the passionate and selfless love for his city and for art, the perseverance and pride of having interpreted well the constitutional principles that bind the Italian State to the Cultural Heritage.

And the many tokens of friendship and gratitude, of which he keeps track, can only be the timely confirmation of a job well done.

Franco Vestri (Montevarchi, 1953) lives in Sesto Fiorentino. He has served as an official of the Fine Arts Superintendence of Florence, Pistoia and Prato, participating in the design and management of prestigious architectural restoration sites including, in Florence, the Loggia della Signoria, the Medici Villa at Careggi, the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Medici Chapels, the Brunelleschi Dome with the pictorial cycle by Vasari and Zuccari. In Prato, the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Carceri, the San Niccolò Convent, and the Cathedral of Santo Stefano with the pictorial cycle by Filippo Lippi.

In addition to publishing some scientific essays, he is the author of the autobiographical novel “Diario di un difettoso” (2015).