Museums: Museo Stibbert (Part 2 of 2)

[This post is a milestone.  It is the 500th post of The 10 Year Plan blog.  Whether you have read one post or many, we thank you for following our blog and hope you find it enjoyable.]

Our visit to the Museo Stibbert continued with a visit to the rarely open Japanese collection.

Japanese Armour and Arms:

Also in the Japanese collection was a Chinese artifact--a traditional wedding dress from a much earlier era

Ancient Weapons (Swords, Spears and Crossbows):

Short swords for the left hand

Crossbows--instead of arrows, these crossbows fired rocks from a double stringed bow

Helmets:

Ancient helmets:   Etruscan (left) and Roman (right)

A helmet from the Napoleonic era

A helmet from the army of Pope Pius IX

Possibly a French helmet

Guess who.

 Firearms:

Empire Rooms: A group of rooms were devoted to the Napoleonic era and were decorated in the Empire style. 

A room decorated in the Empire style

Napoleon Bonaparte's cape as King of Italy

Napoleon's Cape: emblem on the shoulder

A small sculpture of Napoleon Bonaparte (life-size?)

Decoration:  The villa was beautifully decorated throughout, with paintings, sculptures, fine furnishings, chandelier and even hand-tooled leather wall coverings.  Susan imagined living in the villa and hosting parties and possibly a wedding there.

The ballroom

A beautifully decorated 10th century drawing room, with a harpsichord

The decorated ceiling of a smoking porch

Ceiling decoration with iridescent paint

Another ceiling decoration

A Murano chandelier

In the Medieval Room, the ceiling was covered with the flags of the 17 neighborhoods (contrade) of Siena.  The giraffe flag is pictured. 

Floor decoration--Il Giglio, the symbol of Florence

The water closet (aka squatty potty).  The villa is reputed to be the first in Florence with running fresh water. 

Thanks for visiting the Stibbert Museum with us.  Even if you are not a fan of armour and arms, the museum has something for everyone.  We greatly enjoyed visiting Museo Stibbert.

P.S.  Frederick Stibbert liked to dress in armour while entertaining guests at his villa.  Pictured below is one of the suits of armour he liked to wear.   We guess that he was a very interesting person.