Restoration Conversations at the Innocenti Museum. Girls in the Innocenti Archive: 1900-1921

In this episode of Restoration Conversations, explore the Innocenti Museum and Institute and its historical archive, which document and celebrate 600 years of history, as one of the world’s earliest foundling hospitals. Presenter and project coordinator Linda Falcone and museum director Arabella Natalini discuss the project ‘Girls in the Innocenti Archive: 1900-1921’, and the conservation, digitalisation and exhibition of 120 identity tokens tucked in the swaddling clothes of baby girls in the early twentieth-century, prior to their being left in the Innocenti’s care. These tokens of affection, for centuries the only shred of evidence whereby parents could reclaim their child, are now restored, along with the fascinating stories of the foundling girls, their unwed or poverty-stricken mothers and the female community who cared for them at the Innocenti, which continues to work for the welfare of children today. This episode was created in conjunction with the Innocenti Institute in Florence, for the project ‘Girls in the Innocenti Archives’ and the museum exhibit of the same name (13 November to March 15, 2025) at the Innocenti Museum. The project represents a partnership between the Innocenti Institute and the Calliope Arts Foundation, thanks to the generous support of donors Connie and Doug Clark and Margie MacKinnon and Wayne McArdle. It is further documented in Issue 8 of The Curators’ Quaderno, a collection of notebook-style publications, conceived by the Calliope Arts Foundation, in collaboration with The Florentine Press, to raise awareness of women’s contributions to the fields of art, science and culture. Video created by Cinestudio

Added 16 Aug 2026