Cristina Acidini is the new Chairman of the Opera di Santa Croce

'Santa Croce will resume its extraordinary role as a referral point towards the local community and an international audience that admires its treasures of both faith and art.'

This is how Cristina Acidini, the new Chairman of the Opera di Santa Croce, began.

The origins of the Opera di Santa Croce go far back in time. It was established as a "fabbriceria" in the fourteenth century by the Florentine Republic to oversee the construction of the basilica. Still today, the Opera has the task of managing, conserving and enhancing the artistic, historical and religious heritage of the monumental complex, which is owned by the Fondo Edifici di Culto of the Ministry of the Interior (FEC) and the Municipality of Florence.

Cristina Acidini, is a Florentine art historian, a former Superintendent of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and the Polo Museale in Florence, she also chairs the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno and the Casa Buonarroti and "Roberto Longhi" Foundations. Her activity and commitment are by now internationally recognized in both the field of art and restoration and also in the curatorship of museums and exhibitions.

She has also contributed to countless studies and publications in the artistic historic field. She was elected by the Board of the ancient Fabbriceria, in the first session that also saw the appointment, of the Cavaliere del Lavoro and accountant Aureliano Benedetti in the role of vice-chairman.

The session was coordinated by the Secretary General, Stefano Filipponi. On the new board, which sits free of charge and which was appointed in recent weeks by the Minister of the Interior, sits, together with Acidini and Benedetti, the university professor Andrea Bucelli, the lawyer Giulio Conticelli, the architect Maria Di Benedetto, the journalist Paolo Ermini and the notary Giancarlo Lo Schiavo.

To our new Chairman and the renewed Board our best wishes for their future work!