Museum of the New Lands
Seat of Medieval Power

San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy

2022

Famed as the birthplace of the much-lauded early Renaissance painter Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno is now home to the Museo delle Terre Nuove.

You’ll find the city of San Giovanni Valdarno in the central Italian province of Arezzo, in Tuscany. Nestled in the valley of the Arno River, it is a place steeped in history.

Founded by the Florentines in the 1290s, the design of the city’s historic center is usually attributed to the great architect and sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio – a man who also had the design of Florence Cathedral on his resume. Based on the typical organization of Roman cities, di Cambio’s design includes a large central piazza from which two main roads run perpendicular to each other. From these two main roads run other secondary streets.

Located in the Palazzo d’Arnolfo, the Museum explores the history of how new centers of settlement arose in Medieval Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries. In particular, it examines how statement architecture was used as a tool for consolidating political power in an era of change.

Working with project architects Guicciardini & Magni during the spring and summer of 2022, Goppion provided a range of new exhibit infrastructure. This included three Qv1 wall cases, connecting graphic panels, additional wall cases for temporary exhibitions, and other exhibit furnishings.

High conservation specifications were required for the showcases; many objects on display are rare and fragile items, including documents and artworks that reveal unique stories about the history of the city’s life and times. Many items are on long-term loans from other institutions, such as the Uffizi Gallery art museum in Florence.

Working within the logistical constraints of historic buildings is nothing new for Goppion. So we readily rose to the challenge of installing our showcases on the first floor terrace of the museum building, which partly dates from the 13th century. With internal access not permitted, all the material was safely transported inside the building using aerial platforms.

For the temporary exhibition area, Goppion created large panels with integrated ClimaBox display containers, which host different artworks, notably rare paintings. Q Class showcase technology allowed Goppion to deliver a high-performance installation for this unique museum that offers a rare window on medieval life.