The Florio Shield: the energy of a myth

The history of the oldest competition in the world is closely linked to the fatti and vicende of the florio family, which in 1799 moved from Bagnara Calabra to Palermo, becoming, in the middle of the XIX century, one of the most famous and powerful economic dynasties of Europe.
The Florio family is indeedalready present in the Museo Pietro Canonica, which displays the prestigious portrait of Franca Jacona di San Giuliano, the wife of Ignazio Florio and cognata of Vincenzo, the originator of the Florio Shield, a marble bust made with great skill by Pietro Canonica in 1904, in which is caught the volatile and proud character of the Sicilian noblewoman, celebrated for her beauty and attraction.
The exhibition displays for the first time prestigious testimonies of the history and the development of the “most ancient race in the world”, from Italy and abroad, which are fundamental to understanding this important fabric of art, culture and entrepreneurship, which the world of the Florio Shield has created and developed in the course of the last 100 years. A wide range of objects is on display to the public thanks to the co-operation of the Florio Shield Foundation, as well as other individuals and institutes. They include oils and tempera work by illustrious artists of the era, such as Anastasi, Boccioni, Bradley, Crosby, Gregorietti, Taquoy, bronzes and other sculpture of cars, motorcycles and associated items. Also on display are about 20 pamphlets and posters, works by Dudovich, Terzi and Marinetti and the first extremely rare copies of the magazine of the Shield Florio, Rapiditas, on which the greatest italian graphic artists and illustrators collaborated, including Duilio Cambellotti.
As well as the first shield, created by Lalique, shields in bronze by Cambellotti and Dropsy, works by Balla and Dottori, unpublished memoribilia and automobilia and the l’Alfa di Sivocci which gave rise to the “Clover” legend, are also on display.