XXIII Biennale. Mostra Mercato Internazionale dell'Antiquariato. Città di Firenze

The Mostra Internazionale dell'Antiquariato of Palazzo Strozzi was launched in 1959, after which it was held every two years in the prestigious premises of Palazzo Strozzi up to 1993 (the 18th Biennale).
The Fair was the brainchild of Luigi Bellini Sr., designed to attract to Florence the very best in the national antiques world and in the foreign markets, so as to create a gathering of antiquarians in a position to propose to the Italian clientele – children of the economic boom – an ample range of choice in the collecting and antiques sector.
The overwhelming success of the first exhibition, and of those which followed (in 1973 – the 8th Biennale – notched up the exceptional figure of over 122,000 paying visitors), marked the start of a market season increasingly oriented towards such Fairs. The Florence Fair was the first of an enormous number of similar events which then sprung up all over Italy.
Among the principal reasons for this success, we have to remember the selectivity applied to the antiquarians participating, which did not come second to the equally qualified selection of the visitors. The latter were attracted partly because this was the first post-war Fair in the world and more particularly by the fact that it was held in Florence, a city always close to the heart of the international world, and in one of the historically most famous and important palazzi in the city; beyond this it was also accompanied for the entire duration (the early Fairs went on for one month) by a series of highly attractive cultural and society events. The duration of the Fair has been modified over time, in line with the new demands of the market, since the proliferation of Fairs in all the major cities of Italy with a calendar so packed as not to permit the appropriate scheduling of attendance, made it necessary to shorten the opening period. In the meantime, the number of participants had expanded to excess, making the Fair overcrowded and more difficult to enjoy.
The decline of the event reached its lowest ebb when Palazzo Strozzi was no longer available as the premises (1995), and the Fair had to rapidly transfer to the Palazzo degli Affari close to the Station, a modern building totally unsuited to an Antiques Fair, with disastrous consequences in terms of loss of image and appeal.
The next two Biennali (1997 and 1999) were held in Palazzo Corsini on the Arno; nevertheless, the utilisation of this historic and highly suggestive Baroque palazzo failed to revive the forgotten glories of the past.