DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19776#0152
VILLA MONTALTO,
FLORENCE.
THIS villa stands high upon the hills, about
three miles from Florence on the road to
Ponte a Mensola. The greater part of
the house is modern, but the ground on
which it is built is full of interest and of old
associations. The small house and farm, which are
entered in old deeds as existing here in i 349,
belonged to Dolce, the widow of Bindo Buonaveri,
a noble Florentine, and were sold by her to a sister
of Cenni di Giotto, a relation of Florence's first
great painter. In the fifteenth century one Valori
owned the place. It was part of the grounds of his
large villa near, where he was visited by Pico della
Mirandola, Poliziano, Marsilio Ficino, Lorenzo him-
self, when all that brilliant company were gathered
at Villa Medici on the neighbouring slopes. In
1559 it was bought by Giacomo di Fea, the second
husband of Catherine Sforza, and nine years later
it was resold to the Baron del Nero. The little
house was arched and frescoed and given a sixteenth
century loggia, and the western front is still that
of the old villa of the Del Nero, but it suffered
considerably from the earthquake of 1895, at
which time it belonged to Mr. Hall, an English-
man, and then Count Fritz von Hochberg bought
it from Mr. Hall's widow, and turned it into the
magnificent place it now is. The Count was his
own architect and landscape gardener, and the
result of his planning is so successful that we feel
that posterity owes him a debt of gratitude for a
real attempt to create and hand down a really
beautiful Italian garden. Count von Hochberg,
who is a brother of Prince Henry of Pless, sold
the villa last year to Lord Mexborough.
Mrs. Ross, in a detailed account of the villa,
mentions that when the Count recast the interior
ot the building, he found pieces or fine old
sculptured friezes, portions of columns and ancient
capitals built into the wall, and that above the stone
vaults were remains of old carved wooden ceilings
with traces of painting. The present interior has
beautiful stucco-work, much of which is copied
from Sans Souci, and fine old pictures of fruit and
flowers are let into the walls.
The garden shows what may be done with a
clever gardener, intelligence, taste, and ample
resources, in the bounteous climate of Tuscany.
The rose-garden is a very teast of colour in the
springtime. Five hundred varieties of roses are
collected together and bloom in glorious profusion
—a mass of colour and perfume. The formal
garden is laid out with fountains and statues and
quaint spirals of box, masses of flowers bloom along
the terraces, or overflow from great vases, and are
reflected in stone-bordered tanks. It is almost
impossible to believe that six years ago no trace
of this garden existed, but the po<Iere, or farm land,
with artichokes, olives, and Indian corn, grew
up to the walls of the dwelling-house. The fine
Belvedere, of which there is an illustration, has
a magnificent outlook over the purple distance,
and all round lie white villas set in cypresses and
olives. The view extends from Vallombrosa on the
one hand to Carrara on the other, and at your feet
lies Florence with its dome and towers. Just below
are the machicolated walls of Poggio Gherardo,
with the tower which Sir John Hawkwood stormed.
To the left are the turrets of Vincigliata. On the
hillside lies the village of Settignano, and the house
where Michael Angelo passed his boyhood.
FLORENCE.
THIS villa stands high upon the hills, about
three miles from Florence on the road to
Ponte a Mensola. The greater part of
the house is modern, but the ground on
which it is built is full of interest and of old
associations. The small house and farm, which are
entered in old deeds as existing here in i 349,
belonged to Dolce, the widow of Bindo Buonaveri,
a noble Florentine, and were sold by her to a sister
of Cenni di Giotto, a relation of Florence's first
great painter. In the fifteenth century one Valori
owned the place. It was part of the grounds of his
large villa near, where he was visited by Pico della
Mirandola, Poliziano, Marsilio Ficino, Lorenzo him-
self, when all that brilliant company were gathered
at Villa Medici on the neighbouring slopes. In
1559 it was bought by Giacomo di Fea, the second
husband of Catherine Sforza, and nine years later
it was resold to the Baron del Nero. The little
house was arched and frescoed and given a sixteenth
century loggia, and the western front is still that
of the old villa of the Del Nero, but it suffered
considerably from the earthquake of 1895, at
which time it belonged to Mr. Hall, an English-
man, and then Count Fritz von Hochberg bought
it from Mr. Hall's widow, and turned it into the
magnificent place it now is. The Count was his
own architect and landscape gardener, and the
result of his planning is so successful that we feel
that posterity owes him a debt of gratitude for a
real attempt to create and hand down a really
beautiful Italian garden. Count von Hochberg,
who is a brother of Prince Henry of Pless, sold
the villa last year to Lord Mexborough.
Mrs. Ross, in a detailed account of the villa,
mentions that when the Count recast the interior
ot the building, he found pieces or fine old
sculptured friezes, portions of columns and ancient
capitals built into the wall, and that above the stone
vaults were remains of old carved wooden ceilings
with traces of painting. The present interior has
beautiful stucco-work, much of which is copied
from Sans Souci, and fine old pictures of fruit and
flowers are let into the walls.
The garden shows what may be done with a
clever gardener, intelligence, taste, and ample
resources, in the bounteous climate of Tuscany.
The rose-garden is a very teast of colour in the
springtime. Five hundred varieties of roses are
collected together and bloom in glorious profusion
—a mass of colour and perfume. The formal
garden is laid out with fountains and statues and
quaint spirals of box, masses of flowers bloom along
the terraces, or overflow from great vases, and are
reflected in stone-bordered tanks. It is almost
impossible to believe that six years ago no trace
of this garden existed, but the po<Iere, or farm land,
with artichokes, olives, and Indian corn, grew
up to the walls of the dwelling-house. The fine
Belvedere, of which there is an illustration, has
a magnificent outlook over the purple distance,
and all round lie white villas set in cypresses and
olives. The view extends from Vallombrosa on the
one hand to Carrara on the other, and at your feet
lies Florence with its dome and towers. Just below
are the machicolated walls of Poggio Gherardo,
with the tower which Sir John Hawkwood stormed.
To the left are the turrets of Vincigliata. On the
hillside lies the village of Settignano, and the house
where Michael Angelo passed his boyhood.