Fifty years after the river Arno burst its banks with devastating consequences, Florence will this week remember the Angels of the Mud who came to save the Italian city's artistic treasures.

The army of cultural rescue volunteers came from all over and, half a century later, the events of Nov 4, 1966 and its aftermath still burn bright in the memory of Antonina Bargellini.

"There is not one Florentine who is not moved when the subject of the disaster comes up," recalls the 72-year-old, whose late father, Piero, was mayor of the city at the time.