I AM WHAT I’VE DONATED. Loriano Bertini, Collector.

From 3 July to 21 September 2025, the Museo del Tessuto of Prato will pay tribute to Loriano Bertini (Prato, 1930 – 2019), entrepreneur and collector of ancient and contemporary works of art. Bertini made the founding of the Museo del Tessuto possible with a generous donation of more than 600 antique textiles in 1975; this year the Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Created in collaboration with the National Central Library of Florence, the exhibition highlights Bertini’s main collecting interests and his calling to share them through prestigious donations: not only antique textiles, but also Renaissance majolica, rare editions of art and books illustrated by famous 20th century artists. The latter were acquired by the National Central Library of Florence, and today constitute some of the most important heritage at international level.

Bashful in the face of any form of gratitude, Loriano Bertini liked to paraphrase Gabriele d’Annunzio’s famous phrase, ‘I have what I’ve donated’ into the motto ‘I am what I’ve donated’, referring to the joy of giving. Numerous high-level museums and cultural institutions have benefited from Bertini’s donations, including the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Uffizi, the Museum of Palazzo Davanzati, the National Museum of Bargello, the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, and the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo.

His collection dedicated to illustrated books by international artists of the 20th century was extraordinary: an expression of his calling as an attentive bibliophile and admirer of graphics and modern art. Bertini began collecting them in the early 1970s, and over the course of 30 years he collected about 4,500 artist’s books and art editions. They were acquired in 2000 by the then-Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and later transferred to the National Central Library in Florence.

For the first time ever in Prato, 22 Italian and European artists’ books will be exhibited for the public, starting with Marinetti’s Futurism, passing through Picasso, Matisse, Mirò, Dalì, Duchamp, up to the artistic currents of the second half of the 20th century with Capogrossi, Fontana and Isgrò.

Loriano Bertini’s early collecting interests also included majolica, which he collected and studied starting in the 1960s. Some precious examples of Renaissance majolica he donated to the Museum of Ceramics in Montelupo have been loaned to Museo del Tessuto and are displayed in the exhibition: an earthenware pot, a bowl, a scalloped dish and a jar, all made in Montelupo between the 16th and 17th centuries.

The exhibition will feature a careful selection of fragments of various sizes of Florentine, Venetian and Genoese velvets, lampas and brocatelle. It also includes two extraordinary books with pages made of jacquard fabric in the finest silk yarn: the prayer book woven by J. A. Henry and first presented at the famous Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889 (winner of the Grand Prix) and the book ‘La Marseillaise’, which includes the musical score of the French anthem, made by the Lyon firm Chatel & Tassinari.

The Museo del Tessuto was established in 1975 thanks to Loriano Bertini’s donation, which included 612 fragments including Italian velvets from the 15th to 18th centuries, figured fabrics with liturgical subjects, embroideries, Ottoman fabrics from the 16th to 17th centuries, as well as damasks, brocatelle and lampas.

To celebrate this important 50th anniversary and to keep the memory of an act of great generosity and extraordinary strategic vision alive, the museum will name the hall for the exhibition of its historical heritage after Loriano Bertini, which will now be called the ‘Loriano Bertini Antique Textiles Hall’.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the National Central Library of Florence has produced a catalogue edited by David Speranzi, which is available to the public free of charge in digital format at https://bncf.cultura.gov.it/categoria_pubblicazioni/cataloghi-di-mostre/.