17th century Italian hand-carved and gilded crown bejeweled with rutile quartz crystals and baroque pearls. It is mounted on a coordinating gilded fragment with a metal crown base that is surrounded by larger pieces of rutile quartz crystals. Rutilated quartz is a rare type of crystal that contains inclusions of rutile which look like gold needles intersecting through the crystal quartz. The crown was originally from a historical Italian church. The distressed aspects of the crown are decorated with the rutile quartz crystals to look as though the piece evolved together over time.

This piece is part of The Crown Collection, which is exhibiting with the Museo de' Medici in Florence, Italy from May 27th until June 28th. The collection is displaying in Museo de' Medici’s Cappella dei Nobili in the former monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The event will coincide with the museum’s reopening of the chapel. The Cappella dei Nobili was built in the 14th century and was originally created as an elegant devotional space for the monastic community. All of the elements of the chapel converged to create one of the most exquisite expressions of Florentine late Gothic art and architecture. The Museo de’ Medici is devoted to preserving the history of the Medici family and exhibiting precious collections of works of art, historical relics, original documents, faithful reconstructions and multimedia installations.

This collection pays homage to the Medici dynasty - the powerful Italian banking family and political dynasty that rose to prominence in Florence during the Renaissance. They had significant influence for centuries, not only in Florence but also across Europe, through their wealth, political power, and patronage of the arts. They are a monumental reason the Renaissance flourished in Florence and can be thanked today for their contributions towards artists and the rich history of art we can appreciate today.

The crown has been preserved and transformed with the natural specimens to create a figurative, organic, and historical sculptural piece.