The Stibbert Museum has unveiled one of its most secret and fascinating places: the restored Library, now finally housed in the ancient Stables, which have been completely restored and given a new cultural purpose. This moment marks a turning point in the history of the Montughi museum, bringing to light the intellectual and cosmopolitan spirit of its founder, Frederick Stibbert, and reopening a dialogue between memory and the future.
Where history returns: the Library in the Stables
For the first time in decades, the Library has found a home that does it justice. The two large rooms on the ground floor of the Stables give the volumes the space and dignity they deserve. Here, amid subdued lighting, restored furnishings, and walls that speak of an equine past, the books can breathe, live, and be consulted.
During Stibbert’s lifetime, his books traveled from room to room in the Montughi villa: they occupied the Library Room, the Red Living Room, some nearby rooms, and even the town house in Via Santa Reparata.
Upon his death, they were gathered and cataloged by Alfredo Lensi, who counted over 2,700 works in his inventory. Since then, the Library has continued to move, adapting to the needs of the museum and the conditions of the buildings.
Today, in the restored Stables, the Library has found a home. And a voice.
The heart of the collection: Frederick Stibbert’s mind between research and curiosity
Opening the cabinets of the new Library means entering the mind of a man who knew how to look at the world with methodical wonder. The historical collection, which contains books that belonged to Stibbert, is an intellectual diary made up of research, passions, and insights. His main interest—the history of civil and military costume—guides the structure of the Library, which consists of specialized works, technical manuals, atlases, iconographic collections, and rare publications.
But among the volumes there are also traces of everyday life: historical novels, European fiction, and books probably intended for the ladies of the house, such as French serial novels. It is the library of a gentleman, cultured but not rigid, curious and perfectly in tune with the cosmopolitan sensibility of his time.
The absolute treasure of the Library is the monumental collection of Richard Bull, seven folio volumes containing almost 3,000 prints and over 600 drawings dedicated to the costumes of the world. Stibbert purchased them in 1885, sensing their extraordinary documentary value. Today, this unique collection is once again on display in its new location.
The Scuderie are reborn: a restoration that restores identity
The rebirth of the Library is part of a larger project: the restoration of the Scuderie building. Here, where the Stibbert family’s horses once lived, where smells, noises, and movement filled the spaces, carefully restored rooms now open up, designed to house offices, collections, and now a library.
Since 2019, the Municipality of Florence has invested over €650,000 in the structural and plant restoration of the building. The work has restored safety, stability, and functionality to the spaces, equipping them with modern ventilation, air conditioning, and security systems, which are essential for book conservation.
The design was overseen by the Servizio Belle Arti e Fabbrica di Palazzo Vecchio, a team that worked with finesse and attention to detail to preserve the nature of the building without distorting its history. In 2023, the management offices will move into their new home here; now the Scuderie are completing their transformation.
The contribution of Fondazione CR Firenze: supporting culture as a shared vision
A fundamental role in the project was played by Fondazione CR Firenze, which has been supporting the Stibbert Museum for over twenty years. With a contribution of €150,000 for the restoration of the historic furnishings, the conservation of the volumes, and the installation of the systems, the Foundation has made possible an intervention that has not only preserved memory but has made it accessible once again.
As Vice President Maria Oliva Scaramuzzi recalls, the collaboration with the museum stems from a cultural agreement that looks to the future: enhancing the Stibbert heritage means “giving voice back to a cultured, curious, and deeply European vision.” A vision that today speaks again through his books.
A new space for Florence: between research, meetings, and community
The restored library will not be a silent, closed place, but a meeting space. The two rooms of the Scuderie, equipped and accessible, will become a cultural center dedicated to presentations, conferences, scientific activities, and events open to the city.
It is a transformation that places the Stibbert Museum at the center of the contemporary cultural fabric, not only as the custodian of a precious collection, but as an active promoter of research, dialogue, and dissemination.
A new beginning for a precious legacy
The reopening of the Library of the Stibbert Museum is an act of restitution. It restores a unique heritage to the city, restores an intellectual heart to the museum, and restores Stibbert’s vision to its rightful place.
With its nineteenth-century shelves, rare volumes, unfindable documents, and rooms restored to their former beauty, this Library is no longer just a place of study: it is a place of inspiration. An invitation to look at history with a contemporary eye, to allow oneself to be surprised, to continue searching.
A story that is reborn. And that today truly begins again.
