DOI chapter:
I. Florentine villas
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61216#0069
FLORENTINE VILLAS
to a long terrace planted with ilexes, whence there is a
fine view over Florence—an unusual arrangement, as
the bosco was generally above, not below, the flower-
garden.
If, owing to circumstances, the more famous pleasure-
grounds of Florence have lost much of their antique
charm, she has happily preserved a garden of another
sort which possesses to an unusual degree the flavour of
the past. This is the villa of the Gamberaia at Setti-
gnano. Till its recent purchase, the Gamberaia had for
many years been let out in lodgings for the summer,
and it doubtless owes to this obscure fate the complete
preservation of its garden-plan. Before the recent alter-
ations made in its gardens, it was doubly interesting
from its unchanged condition, and from the fact that,
even in Italy, where small and irregular pieces of ground
were so often utilized with marvellous skill, it was prob-
ably the most perfect example of the art of producing a
great effect on a small scale.
The villa stands nobly on a ridge overlooking the
village of Settignano and the wide-spread valley of the
Arno. The house is small yet impressive. Though
presumably built as late as 1610, it shows few conces-
sions to the baroque style already prevalent in other
parts of Italy, and is yet equally removed from the
classic or Palladian manner which held its own so long
in the Venetian country. The Gamberaia is distinctly
Tuscan, and its projecting eaves, heavily coigned angles
4
41
to a long terrace planted with ilexes, whence there is a
fine view over Florence—an unusual arrangement, as
the bosco was generally above, not below, the flower-
garden.
If, owing to circumstances, the more famous pleasure-
grounds of Florence have lost much of their antique
charm, she has happily preserved a garden of another
sort which possesses to an unusual degree the flavour of
the past. This is the villa of the Gamberaia at Setti-
gnano. Till its recent purchase, the Gamberaia had for
many years been let out in lodgings for the summer,
and it doubtless owes to this obscure fate the complete
preservation of its garden-plan. Before the recent alter-
ations made in its gardens, it was doubly interesting
from its unchanged condition, and from the fact that,
even in Italy, where small and irregular pieces of ground
were so often utilized with marvellous skill, it was prob-
ably the most perfect example of the art of producing a
great effect on a small scale.
The villa stands nobly on a ridge overlooking the
village of Settignano and the wide-spread valley of the
Arno. The house is small yet impressive. Though
presumably built as late as 1610, it shows few conces-
sions to the baroque style already prevalent in other
parts of Italy, and is yet equally removed from the
classic or Palladian manner which held its own so long
in the Venetian country. The Gamberaia is distinctly
Tuscan, and its projecting eaves, heavily coigned angles
4
41