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Pratolino
The Villa di Pratolino was a Renaissance patrician villa in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. It was mostly demolished in 1822. Its remains are now part of the Villa Demidoff, 12 km north of Florence, reached from the main road to Bologna. History The villa was built by Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in part to please his Venetian mistress, the celebrated Bianca Cappello. Villa and gardens were designed by his court architect, designer and engineer Bernardo Buontalenti, who completed the construction from 1569 to 1581. It was sufficiently finished to provide the setting for Francesco's public wedding to Bianca Cappello in 1579. In its time it was a splendid example of the Mannerist garden. Francesco had assembled most of the property, which was not a hereditary Medici possession, by September 1568, and construction began the following spring. The garden was laid out along a perfectly straight down-slope axis passing through the center of the villa, which stood midway. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pratolino Utens
The Villa di Pratolino was a Renaissance patrician villa in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. It was mostly demolished in 1822. Its remains are now part of the Villa Demidoff, 12 km north of Florence, reached from the main road to Bologna. History The villa was built by Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in part to please his Venetian mistress, the celebrated Bianca Cappello. Villa and gardens were designed by his court architect, designer and engineer Bernardo Buontalenti, who completed the construction from 1569 to 1581. It was sufficiently finished to provide the setting for Francesco's public wedding to Bianca Cappello in 1579. In its time it was a splendid example of the Mannerist garden. Francesco had assembled most of the property, which was not a hereditary Medici possession, by September 1568, and construction began the following spring. The garden was laid out along a perfectly straight down-slope axis passing through the center of the villa, which stood midway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apennine Colossus
The Apennine Colossus ( it, Colosso Appenninico) is a stone statue, approximately 30 m high,Morgan, Luke (2015), p.12 in the estate of the Villa Demidoff in Vaglia, Tuscany in Italy. Giambologna (Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne) created the colossal figure, a personification of the Apennine mountains, in the late 1580s. It was constructed on the grounds of the Villa di Pratolino, a Renaissance villa that fell into disrepair and was replaced by the Villa Demidoff in the 1800s. Description of the sculpture The colossus is about highMorgan, Luke (2015), p.12 and is meant as a personification of the Apennine Mountains. It was the water source for the Pratolino, its fountains and secret water plays. The colossus has the appearance of an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake and is surrounded by other sculptures depicting mythological themes from Ovid's Metamorphoses including Pegasus, Parnassus or Jupiter. It is presumed that Giambologna was inspired by the description of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pavel Pavlovich Demidov, 2nd Prince Of San Donato
Count Pavel Pavlovich Demidov, 2nd Prince of San Donato (russian: Павел Павлович Демидов; 9 October 1839, Frankfurt am Main / Bad Kissingen – 26 January 1885, Pratolino, Florence) was a Russian industrialist, jurist, philanthropist and nobleman of the House of Demidov. He was the only child of Finnish philanthropist Aurora Karamzin and Prince Pavel Nikolaievich Demidov. Life Early life Paul Pavlovich was six months old when his father died. Paul was a sensitive, beautiful, lively and versatile young man with a varied and short-tempered character. His education was planned by his mother and supervised by a governor. Experts were hired to teach individual subjects. Paul became interested in horses as a child and he took riding lessons, having the privilege of riding the horse of Grand Duchess Maria, due to his mother's close relations to the Imperial family. He succeeded in obtaining a law degree in St. Petersburg in 1860. He worked for the state for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medici Villas
The Medici villas are a series of rural building complexes in Tuscany which were owned by members of the Medici family between the 15th century and the 17th century. The villas served several functions: they were the country palaces of the Medici, scattered over the territory that they ruled, demonstrating their power and wealth. They were also recreational resorts for the leisure and pleasure of their owners; and, more prosaically, they were the centre of agricultural activities on the surrounding estates. In 2013, the Medici villas were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list. History The first Medici villas were the Villa del Trebbio and that at Cafaggiolo, both strong fortified houses built in the 14th century in the Mugello region, the original home of the Medici family. In the 15th century, Cosimo de' Medici built villas designed by Michelozzo at Careggi and Fiesole, still quite severe buildings, but with additional recreational spaces: courtyards, balconies, and garden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giusto Utens
Giusto Utens or Justus Utens (died 1609) was a Flemish painter who is remembered for the series of Medicean villas in lunette form that he painted for the third Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando I, in 1599–1602. He moved to Carrara about 1580, where he married, and where later he returned and died. Medici villas The Medici villas illustrated by Utens from a bird's-eye perspective are: *Villa Medici del Trebbio *Villa Medicea di Cafaggiolo *Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli Gardens and Fort Belvedere * Villa Medici di Castello * Villa Medici La Petraia * Villa di Pratolino *Villa Medicea L'Ambrogiana * Villa di Lappeggi * Villa di Poggio a Caiano *Villa di Serravezza * Villa La Magia * Villa Di Marignolle * Villa di Montevettolini * Villa di Colle Salvetti The three missing lunettes are thought to be the Villa di Artimino and perhaps the Villa Medici di Careggi. In the early twentieth century an anonymous artist completed the scheme, based on eighteenth-century ''vedute'' illustrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grotto
A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden features. The '' Grotta Azzurra'' at Capri and the grotto at Tiberius' Villa Jovis in the Bay of Naples are examples of popular natural seashore grottoes. Whether in tidal water or high up in hills, grottoes are generally made up of limestone geology, where the acidity of standing water has dissolved the carbonates in the rock matrix as it passes through what were originally small fissures. Etymology The word ''grotto'' comes from Italian ''grotta'', Vulgar Latin ''grupta'', and Latin ''crypta'' ("a crypt"). It is also related by a historical accident to the word ''grotesque''. In the late 15th century, Romans accidentally unearthed Nero's '' Domus Aurea'' on the Palatine Hill, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaglia
Vaglia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about north of Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan .... It is home to Villa Demidoff, housing the remains of the Villa Medici di Pratolino. The communal territory also includes the Sanctuary of Montesenario, one of the most important ones in Tuscany. References External links Official website Cities and towns in Tuscany {{Florence-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernardo Buontalenti
Bernardo Buontalenti (), byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole ( 1531 – June 1608), was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist and inventor of italian ice cream. Biography Buontalenti was born in Florence. He entered the service of the Medici as a youth and remained with them the rest of his life. He is said to have been instructed in painting by Salviati and Bronzino, in sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, in architecture by Giorgio Vasari, and in miniature painting under Giulio Clovio. He executed a number of miniatures for Francesco, the son of Cosimo I. More than a painter, he was celebrated as an architect; in this role he was much employed in the design of fortifications, villas, and gardens and is considered one of the most important architects of the Mannerist period. He was also a great mechanic, and an excellent mathematician. In 1562 he travelled to Spain. His first known work is from 1568, the Palazzo di Bianca Cap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giambologna
Giambologna (1529 – 13 August 1608), also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small works in bronze and marble in a late Mannerist style. Biography Giambologna was born in Douai, Flanders ( then and now in France), in 1529. After youthful studies in Antwerp with the architect-sculptor Jacques du Broeucq, he moved to Italy in 1550 and studied in Rome, making a detailed study of the sculpture of classical antiquity. He was also much influenced by Michelangelo, but developed his own Mannerist style, with perhaps less emphasis on emotion and more emphasis on refined surfaces, cool elegance, and beauty. Pope Pius IV gave Giambologna his first major commission, the colossal bronze Neptune and subsidiary figures for the Fountain of Neptune (the base designed by Tommaso Laureti, 1566) in Bologna. Giambologna spent his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Organ
The water organ or hydraulic organ ( el, ὕδραυλις) (early types are sometimes called hydraulos, hydraulus or hydraula) is a type of pipe organ blown by air, where the power source pushing the air is derived by water from a natural source (e.g. by a waterfall) or by a manual pump. Consequently, the water organ lacks a bellows, blower, or compressor. The hydraulic organ is often confused with the hydraulis. The hydraulis is the name of a Greek instrument created by Ctesibius of Alexandria. The hydraulis has a reservoir of air which is inserted into a cistern of water. The air is pushed into the reservoir with hand pumps, and exits the reservoir as pressurized air to blow through the pipes. The reservoir is open on the bottom, allowing water to maintain the pressure on the air as the air supply fluctuates from either the pumps pushing more air in, or the pipes letting air out. On the water organ, since the 15th century, the water is also used as a source of power to driv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Landscape Garden
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a style of " landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical French formal garden which had emerged in the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The English garden presented an idealized view of nature. Created and pioneered by William Kent and others, the “informal” garden style originated as a revolt against the architectural garden and drew inspiration from paintings of landscapes by Salvator Rosa, Claude Lorrain, and Nicolas Poussin.Bris, Michel Le. 1981. ''Romantics and Romanticism.'' Skira/Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. New York 1981. 215 pp. age 17Tomam, Rolf, editor. 2000. ''Neoclassicism and Romanticism: Architectu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Villa Medici
The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and now property of the French State, has housed the French Academy in Rome since 1803. A musical evocation of its garden fountains features in Ottorino Respighi's ''Fountains of Rome''. History In ancient times, the site of the Villa Medici was part of the gardens of Lucullus, which passed into the hands of the Imperial family with Messalina, who was murdered in the villa. In 1564, when the nephews of Cardinal Giovanni Ricci of Montepulciano acquired the property, it had long been abandoned to viticulture. The sole dwelling was the Casina of ''Cardinale'' Marcello Crescenzi, who had maintained a vineyard here and had begun improvements to the villa under the direction of the Florentine Nanni Lippi, who had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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