The rebirth of the Count Skotnicki monument after restoral

Michal Bogoria Skotnicki was a Polish nobleman animated by a great passion for art. He died very young in Florence and his funeral monument was commissioned by his wife Elzbieta to a talented but still little-known sculptor, Stefano Ricci.

This work represents the first memorial in Santa Croce that was reserved for a foreign citizen and has a very high symbolic value, since it refers to that cosmopolitan society, populated by noble and cultured personalities, who traveled around Europe often choosing to settle in Florence, where they animated the cultural and civic life of the city.

The elegance of the shapes combined with a great power of expression and the brightness of the marble from the Apuan Alps, make this monument an unicum that has always fascinated our visitors and that has regained strength and light thanks to a restoration intervention generously supported by the Firenze Medicea Inner Wheel Club and executed by the restorers Paola Rosa and Emanuela Peiretti.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the Firenze Medicea Inner Wheel Club which for over twenty years has supported the Opera di Santa Croce in its mission of safeguarding by contributing to numerous restorations within the complex, starting from the work in polychrome glazed terracotta attributed to the Della Robbia up to the most recent restoration of the Mino da Fiesole tabernacle inside the Castellani chapel, which also hosts the Skotnicki monument.