The Florence Flood

Here is an article about the Flood on the mayor's website: Firenze ricorda l’alluvione di 45 anni fa (Italian only!)

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The 45th Anniversary of the Florence Flood of 1966 is today. It is a cool gray day here in Florence with rain in the forecast, and I am not sure what if anything is planned by the city this year. We are going to take a walk into the center and see if any ceremonies are happening, etc.

If there is anything going on I will get some photos and/or video and post it later in the day. I will also be posting a second album of Mud Angel photos later today or in the next few days.

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A rare screening of Franco Zeffirelli's only documentary film--a heartfelt call to action showing the effects of the 1966 flood that devastated Florence, Italy, and rallied art lovers worldwide--will be the centerpiece of a program hosted by the University of Maryland Libraries and the National Gallery of Art.

Florence: Days of Destruction will be shown at the National Gallery of Art, 4th and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., on Saturday, November 5, at 3:30 p.m. The event marks the 45th anniversary of the flood.

Produced by the famed Italian director in the weeks following the flood, the documentary urged support to help rescue Italian works of art. Actor Richard Burton, who was working in Rome as the disaster unfolded, narrated and appeared in the film and appealed for aid.

The University of Maryland Libraries hold the only known copy of the English-language version of the film in the United States. RAI, the national Italian radio and television company, makes the black-and-white Italian version available on its website. (read more: http://www.lib.umd.edu/Zeffirellifilm.html)

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The 44th Anniversary of the flood seems pretty quiet in Florence this year. I did not even notice the usual posting of pictures in shops, etc. as there seems to be each November 4th. Maybe with the "crisis" no one wants to remember! There was a ceremony in Piazza della Repubblica:

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Here is an article weaving the recent tragic earthquakes in L'Aquila with the flood of 1966:

Many will remember the Florence flood of 1966. Once the waters receded and the mud remained, thousands went to Florence to help. I was sent by my parents to volunteer. I was basically a kid who helped carry things and acted as a gofer. I later learned that I was technically a "mud angel." I had been a witness and, in my small way, I helped. But, perhaps of greater importance was that I became totally convinced that I would try in my career to help keep great works of art safe.

Archive link for this entry: A Family's Loss Leads to Life as a 'Mud Angel' | Comments

Random House was kind enough to put us in touch with Robert Clark, author of the new book "Dark Water". He answered a few of our questions below by email:

Florence Flood: How long were you in Florence researching the book and how did the grant process come about?

Robert Clark: I was in Florence, living in the Piazza del Carmine for most of two years. As I said (in the book), I'd gotten the fellowship before I came, and the book came, sideways as it were, as a result.

Continue reading "Interview with "Dark Water" author Robert Clark" »

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On Saturday Florence was buzzing with various exhibits, memorials and events surrounding the remembrance of the flood. Many shops had their own photos up in their windows, which was very interesting since many of the pictures are originals and not the shots you see over and over again in books and old postcards. The lavanderia on Via dei Neri had several interesting photographs, including one of the street decorated for Christmas that year - Christmas 1966 in Florence must have been a pretty somber event.

There was a mass at Santa Maria del Fiore, and a special exhibit by David Lees, a photographer for Life magazine at the time of the flood, opened in the Palazzo Vecchio. This exhibit is very moving and very well presented - I will be going back again before it closes.

At night, the banks of the Arno were lit, as were the bridges. The Ponte Vecchio and Ponte alle Grazie were bathed in a eerie purple light, and there were fog machines on the banks of the river producing a mysterious effect.

The Palazzo Vechhio and most of the statues in the Piazza Signoria and the Loggia dei Lanzi also had the purple light effect, while in the loggia itself there were video and slide presentations with scenes of the flood and the clean up efforts, set to some moody, techno-type music.

This is really just a cursory review of some of the things that happened on Saturday - there was also a large exhibit in Piazza Santa Croce of all the civil services, and there were speeches on the steps of the Palazzo Vechhio, as well as a full day itinerary that took place inside during the day for Mud Angels, etc. We'll keep posting news and updates as we here about things.

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Today is the day, 40 years ago, when the city of Florence awoke to a terrible deluge:

Mud Angels swarmed to city in '66 to save priceless heritage

(ANSA) - Florence, November 1 - At 5am on November 3, 1966 the skies over Tuscany opened and poured non-stop for 18 hours, causing an unprecedented artistic, economic and human disaster. The River Arno burst its banks, flooded the city and claimed 29 lives.

Mud and water swamped the museums, churches and libraries of the birthplace of the Renaissance, ruining many great works.

The damage caused was incalculable. But it was a fraction of the devastation the city would have suffered without the efforts of thousands of young volunteers who came from all over Italy and from abroad to save the art treasures and help Florence off its knees.

This week Italy is recalling the disaster and the efforts of those volunteers, nicknamed the 'mud angels', who did so much to limit its impact.

Over 2,000 of them are returning here to take part in some of the 100 events marking the 40th anniversary of the flood. These include a mass in Florence's Duomo in honour of the victims, which US Senator Ted Kennedy and Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli will attend on November 4. There are a number of concerts and exhibitions, including a show at Palazzo Vecchio of shots of the wreckage and the rescue work by Life magazine photographer David Lees.

All week Italian television has been broadcasting reports and documentaries remembering the events of 40 years ago.

One of the most fascinating clips features British actor Richard Burton making a public appeal for help. He made the appeal in perfect Italian, even though he could not speak the language, brilliantly repeating lines he had been drilled. "Florence needs us all because she belongs to the world," said Burton, who was in Italy with Elizabeth Taylor, his wife at the time. "Everything we can do, we will do, so that this city, which we all need so much, comes back to us".

Burton was also the narrator of a documentary on the disaster by Florentine film and theatre director Franco Zeffirelli, which will be screened here on November 5.

Zeffirelli said that November 4 1996 was a "very happy date" for him.

"It seems a crazy thing to say but on that day I was witness to an incredible Florence," Zeffirelli added.

"In a situation of extreme hardship, the Florentines threw themselves into the mud to put the city back on its feet.

"It shows how a city can pick itself up from a horrendous situation".

Among the masterpieces to be saved by the mud angels was the wooden Crucifixion by Florentine painter Cimabue (1240-1302), considered the last great artist of the Byzantine tradition. Experts managed to restore the priceless work, even though the fury of the flood water which swept into the Basilica di Santa Croce had wiped off most the paint. Another illustrious local, Wanda Ferragamo - the wife of celebrated footwear designer Salvatore Ferragamo and the president of the company he set up - also remembers the flood well.

"The power of the water was so strong that it swept away everything in its path and our company s shoes were found kilometres away days later," she said. "Ours was not an isolated case. The city's shopkeepers wept that day, when the Arno seemed to have taken away the future. Many people cried, but not in front of the TV cameras. "Rather than wasting time complaining, all the Florentines rolled up their sleeves, showing strength of spirit, solidarity, civic responsibility and, above all, love for the city".

Flood protection of the historic centre of Florence, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, has since been beefed up by a series of dams, civil-engineering projects and the construction of higher embankments in the city.

But experts warn that more still needs to be done to make the city and the surrounding area totally flood-proof.

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The Florentine is Florence's English language "newspaper". It is published every two weeks and can be (at times) a great resource for the English speaking community. They have a special issue out devoted to the flood which is quite well done - stories, photos, letters written at the time, etc. Unfortunately all they have on-line is a few sample pages - in PDF format (I would really love to see them develop their website more fully).

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The Comune, along with the offices of the Regione Toscana and the Provincia di Firenze have published a booklet of events surrounding the anniversary of the flood. The PDF file (Italian only) is here. There are dozens of things happening, including a full slate on November the 4th at the Palazzo Vecchio. Below is the cover image.

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I have been having a hard time finding news about upcoming events for the 40th anniversary of the flood but stumbled on one this morning:

New York University’s Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, and Villa la Pietra, NYU’s 57-acre campus in Florence, in a joint American-Italian venture with Mayor Leonardo Domenici of Florence and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori di Restauro will mark the 40th anniversary of the Florence Flood with an international symposium to be held in Florence, Italy. Entitled Conservation Legacies of “l’Alluvione,” the event will take place at the Villa la Pietra and the Palazzo Vecchio on November 10 and 11, 2006, and feature a keynote address by Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

On Saturday, November 11, Mayor Domenici, along with U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy and the mayors of New Orleans, Dresden, and Prague-cities that have experienced severe flooding-will sign a Declaration of Commitment to conservation and protection of art treasures in the wake of natural disasters. For a detailed program of events, visit: www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/ifa/Florence/florence.htm.

The whole release/article is here.

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