For the first time ever in Italy, the public is invited to view a unique collection of jewellery: over 300 pieces created by creative masters such as Picasso and Lalique to Tiffany and Bulgari. Exhibited in the splendid rooms of the Museo degli Argenti in the Palazzo Pitti, these miniature works of art recount the artistic history of an era full of variation and creative impulse, from revolutionary and inspired art nouveau pieces born at the turn of the century to more daring contemporary flights of fancy. The exhibition marks important steps along the way by which an art form has developed its own identity and autonomy of expression through innovation, creativity, technique and the incessant evaluation of design and new materials. On display are some quite rare and extraordinary examples of jewellery which reflect the tastes of their time and the essence of those who created them: the painters, the sculptors and architects, the goldsmiths who transformed an ornament into a historical artefact of the century so recently come to a close. The jewels on exhibit at the Museo degli Argenti serve as a historical continuum, an idealistic epilogue of sorts. The Florentine museum has included the precious collection of Baroque and Renaissance jewellery which once belonged to Anna Maria Luisa, the last of the Medici princesses. Several 19th and 20th century pieces have been added to the original collection, including a diadem by Cartier in platinum, diamonds and amethysts dating back to 1900. The Exhibition