DOI Heft:
Nr. 148 (July 1905)
DOI Artikel:Studio-talk
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20712#0191
Studio-Talk
THE VILLA MEDICEA, CAREGGI
decorators of the sixteenth century ; the fertility of
his genius was equalled by the luminous ease of his
compositions. His mission should have been the
painting in fresco of great wall-surfaces; and I
need not remind my readers how he took upon
himself the unpaid task of decorating the north
wall of the New Hall of Lincoln’s Inn. But, either
through a failure of popular taste, or, as has indeed
been stated, owing to the climatic conditions of
London, this lofty ambition of his could not be
more fully realised. Peculiar interest, therefore,
attaches to the fresco painting which is preserved
in the Villa Medicea at Careggi. Permission to
reproduce this has been courteously granted by the
present proprietor of the villa, Professor Carlo
Segre. It is impossible precisely to fix the date of
the fresco, which is fortunately in fair preservation,
although at first sight it may appear somewhat
faded in tone.
But there is not much room tor error as to
the facts of Watts’s life. He was Lord Holland’s
guest at Florence for about four years, from 1843
to 1846—that is, between the first and the second
competitions for the decorations in the Palace of
Westminster; and Lord Holland, then British
Minister at the Court of the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, was living alternately at his house in
Florence, the Palazzo Ferroni, and at the Villa at
Careggi. Opening out of the beautiful little loggia
intended for the meetings of the Accademia
Platonica, and decorated by the inexhaustible
Poccetto, there is an alcove, used for some time as
a greenhouse, and now serving as a place for rest
or recreation if rain prevents the enjoyment of the
garden, which still preserves the harmony and
simplicity of Michelozzo’s days. Upon the inter-
vening partition-wall young Watts painted with
great dramatic power the companions of Lorenzo
dei Medici attempting to throw the physician Pier
Leoni into the well, he having been accused, on
the death of their patron, of having poisoned him.
Watts has reconstructed the scene for us, using
as a model the inner courtyard, where the stone
wall and the two pilasters, which are perhaps the
most ancient portions of the villa, are to be seen at
the present day. We owe it to Miss Julia Cartwright
173
THE VILLA MEDICEA, CAREGGI
decorators of the sixteenth century ; the fertility of
his genius was equalled by the luminous ease of his
compositions. His mission should have been the
painting in fresco of great wall-surfaces; and I
need not remind my readers how he took upon
himself the unpaid task of decorating the north
wall of the New Hall of Lincoln’s Inn. But, either
through a failure of popular taste, or, as has indeed
been stated, owing to the climatic conditions of
London, this lofty ambition of his could not be
more fully realised. Peculiar interest, therefore,
attaches to the fresco painting which is preserved
in the Villa Medicea at Careggi. Permission to
reproduce this has been courteously granted by the
present proprietor of the villa, Professor Carlo
Segre. It is impossible precisely to fix the date of
the fresco, which is fortunately in fair preservation,
although at first sight it may appear somewhat
faded in tone.
But there is not much room tor error as to
the facts of Watts’s life. He was Lord Holland’s
guest at Florence for about four years, from 1843
to 1846—that is, between the first and the second
competitions for the decorations in the Palace of
Westminster; and Lord Holland, then British
Minister at the Court of the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, was living alternately at his house in
Florence, the Palazzo Ferroni, and at the Villa at
Careggi. Opening out of the beautiful little loggia
intended for the meetings of the Accademia
Platonica, and decorated by the inexhaustible
Poccetto, there is an alcove, used for some time as
a greenhouse, and now serving as a place for rest
or recreation if rain prevents the enjoyment of the
garden, which still preserves the harmony and
simplicity of Michelozzo’s days. Upon the inter-
vening partition-wall young Watts painted with
great dramatic power the companions of Lorenzo
dei Medici attempting to throw the physician Pier
Leoni into the well, he having been accused, on
the death of their patron, of having poisoned him.
Watts has reconstructed the scene for us, using
as a model the inner courtyard, where the stone
wall and the two pilasters, which are perhaps the
most ancient portions of the villa, are to be seen at
the present day. We owe it to Miss Julia Cartwright
173