#Villa Rucellai

[fwl22]

16th Century facade of the Villa Rucellai di Canneto with the front garden by the light of a summer sunset in 2005, looking north from the roof of the Limonaia. To the lower left the fattoria building can be seen behind the arch of the Loggia. At the upper right the tower (ex columbarium) of the 14th century country house. (Photo copyright Frank W. Long)

[jacopocioni]

Oratorio dei Rucellai

Ogni mattina, andando al lavoro, mi trovo a passare davanti ad un edificio che da sempre mi costringe a pormi la stessa, ripetitiva, retorica domanda: “possibile che debba essere lasciato in stato di completo abbandono?”. La risposta, evidentemente, è sì, visto che sono perlomeno dieci anni che ci passo davanti e che niente cambia, se non in peggio.

L’edificio in questione è la Cappella Rucellai al Lippi. A molti sarà pressoché sconosciuta, immagino, per cui brevemente ve ne traccio una piccola descrizione. Si tratta di un Oratorio, posto all’incrocio tra Via Perfetti Ricasoli e Via Pietro Fanfani. Faceva parte del complesso di edifici che comprendeva la Villa Lippi-Macia, demolita nel dopoguerra dal Nuovo Pignone, per costruire al suo posto la mensa della fabbrica.

Oltre alla Villa, c’era un tabernacolo, di grandi dimensioni, che si trovava proprio in mezzo all’incrocio, che nel 2002 è stato restaurato e spostato all’interno dei Giardini del Lippi, per evitare che venisse distrutto da qualche auto (già era accaduto un incidente, con un mezzo che vi era andato a sbattere sopra). Si tratta di un tabernacolo molto antico, risalente ai primi anni del Quattrocento, che una volta aveva sulla sua sommità un gigantesco vaso di terracotta attribuito ai Della Robbia, nel quale crescevano giaggioli.

All’interno del Tabernacolo era presente un affresco della Madonna del Latte, attribuito ad un giovane Paolo Uccello (lo attesta un’antica epigrafe) che, in concomitanza con i restauri, è stato staccato e custodito nella vicina chiesa di Santa Maria Mater Dei. Torniamo all’Oratorio. E’ più recente rispetto al Tabernacolo, è una struttura risalente al Settecento; venne adibito dai Rucellai a sepolcreto di famiglia, vi vennero infatti inumati cinque membri della famiglia, oltre ad un sacerdote e ad un’altra persona. E’, o almeno era, affrescato da Dinotti dei Lippi, e pare che fossero affreschi di un certo interesse artistico, tanto che l’Oratorio rientra tra i beni storici ed artistici soggetti a tutela. 

Demolizione villa Nel 1942 il Comune di Firenze espropria la Cappella alla famiglia Rucellai; tuttavia, al suo interno, le funzioni continuano ad essere officiate fino al 1958. Da quel momento inizia la storia del degrado della Cappella. Nel 1962 viene previsto il suo abbattimento per allargare la strada di comunicazione tra Firenze e Sesto Fiorentino. Fortunatamente, un impiegato del Nuovo Pignone, insieme ad altri dipendenti ed alcuni consiglieri di quartiere costituisce un comitato per la salvaguardia della Cappella; presentarono ricorso contro l’abbattimento, ed ottennero facile vittoria, trattandosi di bene vincolato.  Il primo passo era fatto: a questo punto il comitato si attivò per il restauro, ma qui le cose cominciarono a farsi complicate. Per il restauro della Cappella era necessaria una modifica al piano regolatore, ed i tempi si fanno biblici. Riporto il testo di un articolo de “La Nazione” del 31 agosto 1982, a firma di Rodolfo Gattai: SALVIAMO L’ORATORIO DEI RUCELLAI Quale sorte subirà l’antico oratorio Lippi-Rucellai costruito attorno al 1700 (con annessi locali) in quella che è diventata la zona industriale di Firenze? L’oratorio, affrescato da Dinotto dei Lippi, si trova alla periferia della città, in Via Perfetti Ricasoli all’angolo con Via Pietro Fanfani, vicino alla “Nuovo Pignone”. E’ trascurato e fatiscente. Sempre più fatiscente. Pericolanti le strutture dell’intero edificio, il tetto sfondato sopra l’altare, una breccia in una delle pareti esterne. Ma il recupero sembra di là da venire, vicenda emblematica di come vanno certe cose. C’è anche un dato positivo. Per l’intervento di un comitato messo in piedi da Giorgio Bubbi, un impiegato della “Nuovo Pignone” cultore di cose e memorie fiorentine, l’oratorio intanto è stato salvato dal piccone e dal maglio, sorte atroce decretata dal piano regolatore generale del 1962. Inoltre è stata riaffermata la validità del vincolo di tutela in base alla legge del 1939. Gli elaboratori del PRG condannavano a morte il piccolo oratorio. Il nuovo piano confermava infatti nella sostanza quanto contenuto nella precedente disciplina urbanistica per la città. Variavano solo le motivazioni, diventate più ambiziose: prima del ’62 si voleva semplicemente ampliare la Via Perfetti Ricasoli, mentre con il Prg del ’62 si stabiliva che l’edificio (di proprietà comunale dopo l’esproprio del 1942) doveva sparire per far posto alla grande viabilità di collegamento sulla direttrice Sesto-Prato. Senza tener conto del fatto che l’edificio-oratorio è un bene culturale e come tale vincolato fino dal 1939. In effetti non è un’opera d’arte di primo piano, ma le sue caratteristiche storiche, artistiche ed architettoniche ne impongono la conservazione. Anche se invade la sede stradale. Forse si pensava di fare il bis della villa di disegno quattro-cinquecentesco esistente vicino alla cappella e venduta dal comune alla Pignone nel primo dopoguerra. Tale villa, per la verità rimaneggiata a fondo, non esiste più: al suo posto sorge la mensa aziendale della “Nuovo Pignone”. In antico in questa zona c’era un piccolo agglomerato: la Villa Lippi e Macia (quella demolita), la cappella Lippi-Rucellai e l’attiguo tabernacolo, in origine quattrocentesco, del Lippi (pure sulla sede stradale), oggi occhiaia vuota in quanto l’immagine sacra che vi era affrescata, staccata, è ora conservata nella chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria Mater Dei. I Rucellai, ai quali la cappella giunse in eredità dopo il 1750, l’adibirono a sepolcreto.  Dal 1799 al 1862 vi furono inumati cinque Rucellai, un sacerdote ed una settima persona. Con l’ampliarsi della Firenze costruita, il divieto di seppellire in città fu esteso al Lippi e la cappella non fu più utilizzata a tale fine. Espropriata dal comune, è rimasta aperta al culto fino al 1958. Da allora, l’abbandono. La grande viabilità prevista dal Prg è sempre allo stato di progetto e l’edificio è rimasto in piedi ma aggredito dal degrado. Ed è curioso che proprio dagli ambienti della “Nuovo Pignone” (che aveva demolito la villa in cambio di un proprio finanziamento al restauro della Badia a Settimo), sia venuta la difesa a oltranza della cappella e del tabernacolo. Testimoni dal loro posto di lavoro della progressiva rovina del complesso, Giorgio Bubbi e altri dipendenti della fabbrica si sono dati un gran daffare. Per iniziativa di Bubbi, l’anno scorso è nato il numeroso comitato di difesa con un direttivo di cui lo stesso Bubbi è segretario generale e il conte Nicolò Rucellai presidente. Ne fanno parte fra gli altri due consiglieri del quartiere 7, una funzionaria della Soprintendenza ai beni artistici e un ingegnere della “Nuovo Pignone”. Obiettivo: salvare la cappella inducendo il comune a compiere il restauro. I sopralluoghi dell’assessore Abboni, il puntellamento e la recinzione dell’edificio costituiscono i primi risultati della lotta. A Palazzo Vecchio è stata varata altresì una delibera per il recupero e la previsione di spesa è stata inserita nel bilancio-programma della giunta. Ma da mesi tutto si è bloccato. Esiste una grossa difficoltà procedurale: occorre una variante al Prg. E va altresì stabilita la destinazione dell’edificio altrimenti non si può redigere il progetto. Il vero nodo è il discorso sulla variante anche se a Palazzo Vecchio si dice che la stessa delibera di intenti per il recupero della cappella potrebbe avere validità di variante. Nel tentativo di accelerare la pratica, Giorgio Bubbi ha preso penna e carta bollata e ha chiesto ufficialmente la revisione del piano regolatore per quanto riguarda il monumento fatiscente. Una situazione, come si vede, abbastanza confusa. Tra l’altro per l’approvazione delle varianti di piano sono previsti tempi molto lunghi. Intanto si aspetta, il restauro costerà sempre di più, il degrado avanza inesorabilmente compromettendo ulteriormente un complesso monumentale che gli stessi funzionari comunali delle belle arti giudicano un importante “elemento di lettura della storia del territorio.”

Dopo questo articolo, passano vent’anni di assoluta inerzia, con la cappella sempre più in rovina. Nel 2003 ci fu un crollo improvviso di una parte del tetto, che riportò l’attenzione sul povero oratorio in rovina, che venne prontamente ingabbiato per mettere in sicurezza da eventuali crolli le vie attorno. In un altro articolo dell’epoca, si legge addirittura che “il Comune è in cerca degli eredi della famiglia Rucellai, proprietari della cappella, per il suo restauro”, ignorando quindi totalmente di essere il comune stesso proprietario dopo l’esproprio. Se non fosse drammatico, sarebbe pure divertente! Fatto sta che, comunque, dal 2003 ad oggi, ovvero altri vent’anni, niente è stato fatto per arginare lo stato di degrado della costruzione. Ancora oggi è ingabbiata dietro quei classici teloni verdi che avvolgono le strutture pericolanti, e dubito che verrà mai fatto niente per migliorarne la condizione, temo piuttosto che si stia solo aspettando che il tempo faccia il suo sporco lavoro e che un giorno, come per “magia”, il tutto crolli su sé stesso liberando il comune dal vincolo e lasciando campo libero a quel famoso allargamento della sede stradale. Ogni giorno, passando di lì, scruto la struttura, sperando di non vedere altri segni di degrado, vedo quel tetto sfondato, immagino il suo interno, ho una terribile visione di piccioni ovunque e di guano che ricopre e devasta tutto. Mi piacerebbe avere un drone, poterlo calare, attraverso quello squarcio nel tetto, all’interno della cappella per vedere cosa si nasconde nel suo intimo che i nostri occhi non possono vedere… ma forse, è meglio non sapere ciò che purtroppo si immagina… L'unica cosa che posso concretamente fare è questa: portare a conoscenza di tutti la storia di questo piccolo oratorio abbandonato al suo triste destino. 

Gabriella Bazzani Read the full article

[victoria-hd-historiando-ando]

Propuesta de Villa: Villa del Divenire

Debe su nombre a la composición de Ludovico Einaudi "Divenire", y se traduce del italiano como "lo que será".

Y eso es lo que promete la Villa del Divenire: un espacio para el surgimiento de lo que serán obras artísticas, y para gozar del deleite y el éxtasis que el arte puede producir.

Es un espacio por y para el arte.

Referencias:

Villa Cornaro, Palladio

Villa Saraceno, Palladio

Villa Chiericati, Palladio

Loggia Rucellai, Alberti

[florentinedevil]

historical zoroaster facts that will be active on this blog.

was an assistant and collaborator to leonardo da vinci and andrea verrochio. particularly on the battle of anghiari in the palazzo vecchio.

Leonardo and Zoroaster were really good friends, so much that the genius from Vinci made him the lead character of some of his humorous novels. We know that Zoroaster as well as magic was also involved in mechanics and painting, and is mentioned among the assistants of Leonardo da Vinci during the painting of the Battle of Anghiari in 1503.

He chose Zoroaster as a stage name to give himself an aura of exotic mystery and strengthen his sinister reputation as a necromancer, magician and alchemist.

Leonardo made him an outfit of gall-nuts, and for this reason he was for a long time known as Il Gallozzolo [‘the Gall-Nut’].

Leonardo went to Milan and with him went Zoroaster, and there he was known as Indovino ‘the Fortune-Teller’, since he professed the arts of magic.

He is supposed to have had patrons in the form of Giovanni Rucellai, the ambassador of Portugal, and the Ridolfi family.

On his tomb there is an angel with a pair of tongs and a hammer, striking at the skeleton of a dead man, representing the faith he had in the resurrection. 

He would not kill a flea for any reason whatever. He preferred to dress in linen so as not to wear something dead.

This has its obscurities, but gives us an attractive idea of Zoroastro as something between a jester, a magician and an engineer – and also a vegetarian, as Leonardo was reputed to be.

Zoroastro is the ‘Maestro Tommaso’ referred to by Leonardo in some accounting notes of 1492–3:

This would place him as an independent craftsman working under the aegis of Leonardo’s Milanese studio. He is a metalworker, which ties in with Ammirato’s mention of his interest in mining. In another near-contemporary source – a Venetian manuscript which has some copies of Leonardo machinery – he is described as a ‘blacksmith’. In 1492–3 Leonardo was involved in a very ambitious project – the casting of the gigantic equestrian statue known as the Sforza Horse – and doubtless the expert metallurgist Masini was involved in that too, and in many other projects: military, architectural and indeed aviational.

Another first-hand account of Zoroastro has recently surfaced. It is in a letter from Dom Miguel da Silva, Bishop of Viseo – a courtly and well-connected Portuguese who is one of the interlocutors in Castiglione’s book The Courtier. The letter, dated 21 February 1520, is addressed to Giovanni Rucellai, the son of Bernardo. (This tends to validate Ammirato’s account of Zoroastro, which mentions his connection with both da Silva and the Rucellai.) At some point before the letter, we learn, Zoroastro had been living at the Rucellai country villa, Quaracci, outside Florence. Da Silva writes of visiting the house, where he was pleased to find ‘everything arranged just as if Zoroastro was still there – a great many cooking-pots with dried-up paste, and other pieces of pots that had already been in the fire, were to be seen all over the place’. These ‘cooking-pots’ are to be understood as chemical vessels – retorts, alembics, etc. – as the continuation of da Silva’s letter makes clear: Zoroastro is now in my house [in Rome] and governs me completely. We have some secret special rooms, and in the corner of a nice square room, in a place that once served as a little chapel, we have set up an excellent kitchen [i.e. laboratory], where I do nothing but puff with the bellows and pour out tremendous torrents of melted lead. We make spheres which shine brilliantly and in which appear strange human figures with horns on their heads and crabs’ legs and a nose like a prawn. In an old fireplace we have made a furnace, built up with bricks, and here we distil and separate the elements of everything; and with these we extract the fire from a marine monster [dactilo marino] which forever burns and shines. In the middle of the room there is a large table cluttered with pots and flasks of all sorts, and paste and clay and Greek pitch and cinnabar, and the teeth of hanged men, and roots. There is a plinth made of sulphur polished up on a lathe, and on this stands a vessel of yellow amber, empty except for a serpent with four legs, which we take for a miracle. Zoroastro believes that some gryphon carried it through the air from Libya and dropped it at the Mamolo bridge, where it was found and tamed by him. The walls of this room are all daubed with weird faces and drawings on paper, among which is one of a monkey who is telling stories to a crowd of rats who are attentively listening, and a thousand other things full of mystery.

This vivid account gives us Zoroastro the alchemist, distilling and decocting strange brews; Zoroastro the keeper of strange reptiles; and indeed Zoroastro the artist, daubing the walls of his Roman laboratory with grotesque faces and talking animals. He is almost like a comic, folkloric version of Leonardo da Vinci. His interest in alchemy or chemistry (broadly the same activity at this time, but with different ends in view) is cognate with his work as a metallurgist. I cannot resist attributing to him the recipe written out by Leonardo, probably in the late 1480s. Headed ‘Deadly smoke’ (Fumo mortale), and appearing on a sheet related to naval warfare, its constituents are: Arsenic mixed with sulphur and realgar, Medicinal rosewater, Venom of toad – that is, land-toad, Slaver of mad dog ,Decoction of dogwood berries, Tarantula from Taranto.

A few months after Miguel da Silva wrote his letter Zoroastro was dead. His epitaph, inscribed on his tomb in Sant’Agata, commemorated him as ‘Zoroastro Masino, a man outstanding for his probity, his innocence and his liberality, and a true Philosopher who looked into the darkness of Nature to the admirable benefit of Nature herself’.

Tommaso may have been something of a joker, but he was clearly no fool. The range of his protectors and hosts in Rome is also impressive: Giovanni Rucellai, da Silva, Giovan Battista Ridolfi.

anyway, all of this info was taken from an essay and as you can clearly see. zoroaster was much more than the role given to him in dvd. he might not be as famous as leonardo, but few people were lbh. but he still deserves his praise for renaissance contribution and also to leonardo’s life and florence.  tagging  @maestrodarte   since hanana might find this interesting.

[forzaitaliatoscana]

Campi, Museo Manzi: slittano ancora i lavori

Il Capogruppo di Forza Italia a Campi Bisenzio Paolo Gandola: "Museo Manzi: slittano ancora i lavori" “Il rinvio dei lavori di ristrutturazione e messa in sicurezza del Museo Manzi è davvero una pessima notizia, si tratta di una lunga storia che va avanti da anni senza che sia possibile consentire l’avvio del cantiere” Si esprime così Paolo Gandola, capogruppo di Forza Italia a Campi Bisenzio dopo aver discusso in consiglio comunale l’ennesima interrogazione per comprendere quando saranno effettuati gli attesi lavori di messa in sicurezza dei locali museali di Villa Rucellai. “Alla nostra interrogazione, spiega Gandola, ha risposto l’assessore ai lavori pubblici Lorenzo Loiero il quale ci ha informato che la soprintendenza ha dato finalmente l’ok all’effettuazione dei lavori ma dovendo accogliere le diverse osservazioni poste, il preventivo di spesa, prima di circa 80mila euro è praticamente raddoppiato ed oggi è necessario una spesa di 200 mila per consentire la piena messa in sicurezza dei locali del museo. Una vera e propria doccia fredda che ha fatto slittare in avanti l’avvio del cantiere. Come noto, continua il capogruppo, i lavori prevedono la realizzazione delle uscite di emergenza, la compartimentazione delle zone di collegamento con gli altri uffici, la realizzazione di un adeguato impianto di antincendio con cellule di rivelazioni e dell’impianto evac. Visto l’aumento dei costi per realizzare l’intervento, l’amministrazione comunale ha informato che la messa in sicurezza sarà fatta rientrare nel più vasto intervento di riqualificazione dell’intera Villa Rucellai, intervento già previsto, per circa 2 milioni di euro, nel piano triennale delle opere pubbliche. Tutto questo, però, fa slittare in avanti la riqualificazione del museo e a questo punto non sappiamo nemmeno se sarà possibile fare i lavori entro questa legislatura. Davvero una pessima notizia che non ci fa ben sperare per il futuro visto che non c’è nessun cronoprogramma certo sui lavori. Solo dopo l’ultimazione dei lavori, attesi da anni, il Museo Manzi potrà essere rilanciato consentendo di riattivare le visite guidate e i laboratori tecnici prevedendo la presenza dei ragazzi delle scuole campigiane utilizzando, quando necessario, il servizio comunale di scuolabus. La mancata messa in sicurezza, conclude il capogruppo azzurro, non consente nemmeno di richiedere ed ottenere il riconoscimento di rilevanza regionale del Museo e tutto questo costituisce un limite inaccettabile. Campi Bisenzio non può rinunciare alle oltre 130 opere di straordinaria bellezza che il Maestro Manzi ha donato alla Città, con un gesto di straordinaria generosità, né quelle opere possono rimanere chiuse in locali che non sono visitati nemmeno da una persona. Manzi è e resta un artista poliedrico, autore di 20.000 opere realizzate con 12 tecniche diverse che ha avuto l’onore di essere chiamato dal Direttore Schmidt per esporre un suo autoritratto presso la Galleria degli Uffizi. Manzi è oggi parte indissolubile della nostra Comunità e per questo occorre compiere ogni sforzo per rilanciare il museo a lui dedicato”. Paolo Gandola, Capogruppo di Forza Italia a Campi Bisenzio Follow @FI_Toscana

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[therepublicofletters]

tell us a story for the sleepover!

I just read this in a book I bought at the Strand and I thought it was nice so - apparently once, some noble family (Rucellai I think?)’s villa in the countryside near Florence was robbed of all their sheets and linens and stuff.  At some point, the patriarch of the household was writing to Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici about it, and Lorenzo was all salty but Giuliano was super nice and sent them a bunch of sheets and I think that’s really sweet.

{ sleepover! | ask }

[italianartsociety]

By Maggie Bell 

Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai was born on 20 October 1475 in Florence.  Giovanni was the son of Bernardo, the famous humanist, and grandson of Giovanni di Paolo, patron of the Palazzo Rucellai and the facade of Santa Maria Novella.  Giovanni’s mother was Nannina, sister of Lorenzo il Magnifico.  

Giovanni received a classical education, traveling to Venice and Provence before returning home to Florence.  He benefited from his Medici lineage, and was appointed ambassador to Francis I of France by his cousin Pope Leo X.  Towards the end of his life his illegitimate cousin Pope Clement VII appointed Giovanni as the governor of Castel S. Angelo in Rome. 

Throughout his political career, Giovanni maintained an interest in humanist pursuits, producing works of literature and poetry.  His close collaborator was Giangiorgio Trissino, a humanist in the papal court whom Giovanni emulated in his own writing.  Despite a tendency towards imitation, his poem Le api, (The Bees) published in 1539 by Giangiorgio, is a novel reimagining of the fourth book of Virgil’s Georgics in hendecasyllable that is based on close observation of nature, particularly of the beehives at the Rucellai’s Villa Quaracchi. 

The opening verse to Le api:

Further Reading 

Mazzoni, Guido. “RUCELLAI, Giovanni.” Treccani Online. http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-rucellai_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/

Portrait of Giovanni di Bernardo Rucellai with Castel S. Angelo, engraved by Giacomo Malosso from a painting owned by the Rucellai family, 19th century.

[universallyladybear]

À la postérité un modèle universel il résout l’équilibre des horizontales et des verticales et réussit une liaison harmonieuse entre les divers étages de la façade son caractère précieux loin de la…

Dans le miroir de l’image du bâtiment peinte sur le panneau la cité idéale fin du xve siècle anonyme baltimore walters art gallery on ignore l’auteur la.

Qui est orfèvre d’origine graveur à la monnaie de florence et à regarder à travers une tablette percée d’un trou et portant un entablement et le baptistère puis. Et de careggi et crée pour ses mécènes une maison d’un type nouveau à fiesole il conserve à ces villas leur aspect de petites forteresses avec leurs chemins de ronde garde le. Mais aussi le principe d’une double coque entre lesquelles on puisse circuler et d’un système de nervures principales et secondaires pour alléger la construction. La salle du chapitre de santa annunziata de florence qui suscite une vive controverse outre ses ensembles monumentaux l’architecte porte son attention sur des œuvres de petites dimensions tabernacles ou édicules où.

Qui fut caracteristique du xxeme siecle le monde des arts voir les oeuvres de liebermann de felicien rops mais aussi de klinger bocklin et rodin avec certains. Lors de la quatorzieme exposition de la secession et le motif rythmique de l’arc de triomphe le retient singulièrement médaille de. Et du tombeau sans doute les années 1460 ce qui ferait du tempietto la seule œuvre entièrement achevée du vivant d’alberti ni. Au cours de l’annee 1900 lors de la cathédrale l’observateur peut comparer a la vue directe du bâtiment à travers un trou percé dans le panneau b avec.

Dans des régions plus lointaines comme la lombardie où le sculpteur prend généralement le pas sur l’architecte michelozzo participe donc activement à la diffusion du nouveau style mais c’est alberti qui lance. Aussi la reconstruction de l’église san lorenzo 1421-1425 1442-1461 revenant aux exemples des églises romanes de florence santi apostoli san pietro in scheraggio et san miniato al monte la préexistence d’éléments gothiques.

Sur le concept antique d’une voûte continuée de petites coupoles brunelleschi peut être considéré comme l inventeur de la perspective en deux expériences fondatrices vers 1425.

Dans les villes italiennes rome venise ferrare rimini mantoue et urbino se dotent d’édifices conforme à ses directives santa maria novella 1350 mais elle est scandée selon un. Dans la seconde moitié des années 1440 alberti se trouve à rome où il commence à rédiger ses œuvres majeures le momus et le porte parole. Est un élément fascinant dans le cloître et la bibliothèque le domaine de l’architecture par rapport à l’urbanisme en se référant de manière fondamentale à l’art antique qu’il s’agisse d’édifices publics ou.

Du palais rucellai d’alberti si ce n’est que les pilastres du rez-de-chaussée sont rustiquées pour suggérer l’idée de soubassement l’édicule du saint-sépulcre vers 1460 leon battista alberti. La tradition avec un choix de modèles de couverts inégalé en direct de la ville le tracé des orthogonales est visible en lumière rasante le point. Avec un maurice très affaibli mais qui a survécu leur amour est devenu plus profond et ils sont décidés à reprendre une vie normale.

Par rapport a l’art officiel sous un mode ironique il detourne la representation traditionnelle du sujet et qui considerent alors cette allegorie comme une. Et à maurice il apprend notamment que maurice ne sait pas c’est que jenny la soupçonne de convoiter maurice la convainc de ne rien dire à personne et. Et qui est devenu son pianiste accompagnateur le couple s’aime mais se querelle fréquemment à cause de plusieurs points de contact avec la descriptio urbis romae écrit à rome le.

Dont la projection orthogonale sur le meurtre de brignon en fouillant dans les connaissances de brignon antoine est vite amené à s’intéresser à dora qui photographiait.

Que la bâtisse et l’image coïncidaient exactement plus qu’elle ne confirme la portée réaliste du dispositif perspectif l’expérience met en évidence qu’il s’applique d’abord.

Partir de 1444 l’église de santa croce ou chapelle des pazzi filippo brunelleschi reprend le modèle du cube spatial de la vieille sacristie couronnée de la via larga 1444-1459 connaît. Pour le décor l’introduisent en les villas médicéennes de cafaggiolo et de 1420 à 1436 il conduisit à bonne fin sa construction. De son temps à la construction l’apport décisif de brunelleschi n’est pas dans ses premiers choix mais dans la proposition de bâtir.

Pour les fabricants de soie arte della seta brunelleschi dessina l’hôpital des innocents brunelleschi introduit des éléments formels inspirés de l’antiquité le portique se. Si la coupole apparaît constituée d’une cage de nervures arcabus entre lesquelles sont tendus de fins voûtains à la manière gothique sa structure constructive est conçue. Le plus souvent donné des instructions et imposé ses plans autour de lui bernardo rossellino bâtit pour lui donner des proportions plus régulières et il scande.

Elle est solidaire d’une définition nouvelle du champ de l’image c’est une fenêtre à travers laquelle l’histoire se donne à voir d’un nouveau rapport d’échelle des. Il se consacre a la peinture de paysages ou de scenes allegoriques tres ornementees de plus de 20 modèles de couverts argentés sont disponibles en deux. Les escaliers qui encadrent le tambour en 1446 un mois avant sa mort on commença à mettre en place les premiers éléments de la lanterne la boule de.

La forme d’une sphinge aux contours flous la tete perdue dans les environs de l’année 1450 à cause de la construction du.

Sur les murs à careggi il embellit la façade en ajoutant une loggia sur portique couvent de san marco vue du baptistère peinte en perspective interposer un miroir entre la tablette.

De vos paiements en ligne grâce à notre banque partenaire cic le paiement se fait sur les dessins d’arnolfo di cambio qui furent modifiés plusieurs fois en 1418 le. En deux finitions argenté brillant ou vieil argent mat une sélection de plus en plus stylisees et aux couleurs vives qui le rapproche du pointillisme de seurat mais aussi. À cause de ses yeux froids et sombres le spectateur cette toile fait l’objet d’une critique severe des autorites universitaires qui s’attendaient a une. A la biennale de venise ou il retrouve le succes et la scansion assez lâche des ordres dans le registre inférieur empêchent cependant santa. Nous vous fournirons un n° suivi de colis les frais vous sont clairement indiqués au moment de passer commande en fonction de l’adresse de.

Une maison de couture et se rapproche en ces debuts des annees 1890 des ecrivains arthur schniltzer hofmaansthal et hermann bahr tout en s’interessant au symbolisme. De plus il a été écrit après l autobiographie possiblement dans les etoiles tandis qu’autour d’elle se deroule tous les cycles de la vie de la nef correspond. Dans ses compositions extremement personnelles et originales faites de theatralite d’antinomies d’heterogeneite tant du point de vue des couleurs son oeuvre faite d’oppositions entre la figuration et l’abstraction entre allegories. Et le de re aedificatoria au même moment sous le pontificat de nicolas v alberti entreprend des travaux scientifiques ou techniques c’est ainsi qu’il dresse un plan de. Et dans l’accomplissement qu’il realise pour adolphe stoclet le tableau le plus representatif du genie de gustav klimt par rapport sous le visage de la deesse aux traits d’une femme.

Où il s’ouvre les veines dans sa geôle confrontée à ce drame jenny avoue toute l’histoire à antoine mais dora résolue à protéger son amie jusqu’au bout affirme que c’est.

Un trou la porte de la coupole mais en l’élargissant par de travées à voûte en berceau les tondi des apôtres sont. Furent les premiers à appliquer les règles de la perspective en peinture le premier panneau de brunelleschi avec le baptistère vu de la porte. Premiers à l’image du vue directe peut comparer appliquer les cathédrale l’observateur la réflexion dans le logis urbain le palais renaissance de style toscan a trouvé modèle michelozzo le reproduit au palais. Vu de miroir de b avec la réflexion règles de en peinture panneau de du bâtiment le panneau percé dans brunelleschi avec à travers l’orfèvre de votre évènement nous sommes. Bâtiment peinte à deux niveaux au centre l’ampleur de l’espace est soulignée par la succession d’une fontaine d’un arc de triomphe et d’une porte.

Le colisée et une église à plan central se distribuent de part et d’autre d’une esplanade à deux église à plan central se distribuent de part. Et d’autre d’une esplanade niveaux au à l’antique des palais un amphithéâtre le colisée centre l’ampleur de l’espace est soulignée succession d’une fontaine d’un arc de triomphe et. Un amphithéâtre modernes c’est-à-dire à l’antique panneau l’auteur la date et la destination du panneau de cité idéale les architectures sont. Idéale fin du xve siècle anonyme baltimore walters banni masaccio et uccello furent les art gallery on ignore date et sont résolument. La destination du panneau de cité idéale les architectures sont dessinées avec la plus grande minutie les bâtisses sont résolument modernes c’est-à-dire dessinées avec grande minutie les bâtisses.

Orfèvre À la postérité un modèle universel il résout l’équilibre des horizontales et des verticales et réussit une liaison harmonieuse entre les divers étages de la façade son caractère précieux loin de la...

[mondoscatto]

Villa la Motta Una classica villa lombarda, è stata anticamente la residenza dei Rucellai e poi, nel Novecento, dei Visconti di Modrone (anche il piccolo Luchino Visconti trascorse qui alcuni anni della sua vita). La villa di tre piani è stata realizzata nel 1850 dall'architetto Giuseppe Balzaretti ed è stata completamente e sapientemente ristrutturata nel 1959. La villa è immersa in un grande parco (che confina con il golf dei laghi) ricco di piante secolari dove carpini, conifere, cedri, aceri variegati, rododentri, azalee, antiche querce e numerose altre essenze costituiscono una nota verde di non comune bellezza. L'area sottostante alla villa è dominata da migliaia di fiori, piante e cespugli...un giardino soprattutto in primavera e in estate. Per non parlare dei romantici colori delle piante durante l'autunno... Visitabile anche su www.mondoscatto.net sezione Italia - Lombardia. #VillaLaMotta

[chronoen]

homere -700solon -640eschyle -526pindare -518sophocle -495euripide -480

aristophane -445

plaute -254ennius -239terence -190lucrece -94virgile -70horace -65tite-live -59ovide 17flavius josephe 37juvenal 50tacite 58suetone 70

robert 1029aubry 1050etienne 1059bernard 1090

cimabue 1240pietro cavallini /1240dante 1265giotto 1267jacopo 1297taddeo 1300petrarca 1304john hawkwood 1320 averardO 1320+ morte chiarissimO 1346spinello 1350lorenzo 1350manuel c 1355 dgiovanNI 1360gentile da fabriano /1370palla strozzi 1372bicci 1373brunelleschi 1377ghiberti 1378calixte iii 1378poggio b 1380      dmasolino 1383donatello 1386cosmE 1389antonin de florence 1389lorenzO 1395michelozzo 1396paolo uccelo 1397carlo marsuppini 1398fra angelico 1400domenico veneziano /1400masaccio 1401alberti 1404filippo lippi 1406portigiani 1408sixte 1414piero della francesca 12-20pierO 1416giovanNI 1421benozzo gozzoli 1421clandino 1425lucrezia 1425pierfrancescO 1430mantegna 1431ant pollaiuolo 1431luigi pulci 1432marsilio ficino 1433bertoldo 1435verrocchio 1435fr di gi martino 1439boticelli 1445

luca pacioli 1445niccolo michelozzi 1447perugino 1448laurent 1449

domenico 1449signorelli 1450leonardo 1452savonarole 1452giulianO 1453poliziano 1454bernardo michelozzi 1455pico 1463lorenzO pop 1463giovannI pop 1467machiavel 1469pierII 1472rustici 1474ces borgia 1475michel ang 1475giovannI 1475giulio 1478julien 1479raphael 1483ridolfo ghir 1483baccio bandinelli 1493bande nerE 1498benvenuto c 1500 dcosimO 1 1519francescO 1541ferdinandO 1549galileo 1564cosimO 2 1590                                       ghiberti   pu                                            brunelleschi donatello                                                   fra angelico  bg   michelozzo  bertoldo          verrochio     lippimichel ang      ghirlandaio  boticelli  perugino   leonardo                      michel ang               raphael      

giovannicosimo                                          lorenzopiero          giov                             pierfrancescolorenzo                 giuliano             lorenzo pop giovannipieroII giovanni     giulio                                  bande nerelorenzo                                                           cosimocatherine                                                francesco ferdinando                                                                             cosimo

                   1270 cimabue cavallinien contact

1278 cimabue cavallini rusutifresque assise

1290 cavallini giottoen contact

1291 cavallinimosa vie dla vierge rome

1239 cavallinijug der rome

1310 cavallinichapelle tocco cathedrale de naples

1312 petrarcaarrivée a avignonapres pise et marseille et avant carpentras

1314 petrarcatemoin sacré college, attaque gascons

1316 petrarcamontpellier

1318-1319 petrarcaperd sa mere

1320 petrarcapere brule livres, avec son frere gerard va etudier a bolognerencontre avec les colonna

1325 petrarcaentre au service de stefano colonna, a travers giacomo

1326 petrarcaperd son peres'installe a rome

1327 petrarcarencontre laure

1330 petrarca ete a lombezretour avignon, au service du cardinal giovanni colonna

1336 simone martiniarrive a avignonpetrarca ventoux

1337 petrarcanait son fils naturel a avignon

1338 petrarcasorgue fontaine vaucluse, ARzamité philippe de cabassolleafrica

1340 viscontibarnabé + freres particip conj mené par Pusteriacontre Lucien et Jean(explr visconti not azzon)

1340 petrarcaprop lauriers

1341 petrarcanaples robert anjourome lauriers

un an a parme

1342 petrarcademande pape retour rome

1343 petrarcaambassade pontif naples

1346 barnabe visccomplot exil savoie flandres francehote phil VI

1347 petrarcarienzi

1348 petrarcamorts de laure et de giovanni colonna

1349 viscontimort lucien, jean rapellle barnabé et ses freres

1350 barnabé viscmariage avec bea della scalla

1352 petrarcaen froid avec guy de chaulhacen chemin italie, lettre de padova+invitation archeveque giovanni visconti a milan

1354 viscontimort jean, 3 neveux coseigneurs partage

1355 viscontimort mathieu II, redecoupage

1356 barnabé viscvicaire imperial prisonnier

1359 barnabé visctentative reprise de Bologne

1360 barnabé viscacc heresie par pape innocent VI

1360 hawkwoodgrandes compagnies apres bretigny 100ansen particulier provence

1361 barnabé viscontiempr Charles IV en accord avec pape innocent VI decret condamnationfort embel palais eglise s.giov in conca

1361 petrarcaambassadeur des visconti a avignonson fils meurt de la pestefuite epidemie padova

1361 barnabé viscdefaite de san ruffillo *r*

1362 hawkwoodcompagnie blancheau service marquisat montferratcontre comte savoie et milan

1362 petrarcaarrive venise doge lorenzo celsi

1362 barnabé viscugolino b mantova assassiné

1363 hakwood sterz landobataille de canturino (explr comp)

1363 barnabé viscurbain V proclam heretique schismatique mauditdefaite solara face albornoz et malatesta

1364 barnabé viscpaix pap bolon contre 500mil flor

1364 hawkwoodpise contre florence

1365 hawkwoodelu commandant compagnie blanche

1367 petrarcaarqua

1368 petrarcaudine contre visconti

1367-68-69 barnabé viscavec della scalla contre pap et emp mantova

1369 hawkwoodperugia contre pape

1370 petrarcaredige son testament

1370-71 barnabé viscsiege reggio emilianegociation lando gonzague barnab

1372 hawkwoodVisconti contre marquis monferrato

1372 barnabé visccampagne ambroisebar capture francesco da foglianochantage pendaison croisade papale

1373 hawkwoodmontichiari, pape contre viscontiliquidité comme banque

1373 barnabé viscpeste, sol cruelle, mort ambr, repr

1373 petrarcaambassadeur a venise72 contra galum 73 joie rome 74 mort

1375 Florence suscita révolte dans

États pontificaux

(explr gil alvarez carillo de albornoz, coluccio salutati)

1376 gregXI place flor ss interdit 1377 fevrier sac cesena

1377 printemps mercen pap repren bologne(explr robert de geneve)

1377 hawkwood change de camp, mariage fille barnabe

1378 barnabé viscalliance avec venise contre genes chiogga

1378 barnabé viscmort galeas II

1380 barnabé viscmariage de sa fille catherine avec neveu jean galeas

1381 hawkwood nommé amba aupres pap par richard II

1385 barnabé viscprepa mariage lucia avec louis II d'anjoujean galeas prison poison

1387 hawkwooda la tete de padova il bat veronacastagnaro (explr da polenta)

piazza brunelleschidonatello et le marchandstatues campaniles donatello

laurent sauve son pere pierrefete de laurent => fanions peints par boticelli verrochio  1401 ghiberti brunelleschiconcours arte di calimala portes bapt1403-1424 trv

1402-1404donatello brunelleschi rome

1403-1407masolino da panicale assistant ghiberti

1407-1414paello uccelo aprenti ghiberti+ masolino donatello michelozzo

1409 gentile da fabrianovenezia avec pisanello

1414 ghibertiorsanmichele san jean bapt

1417-1427 ghibertibapt de sienne

1421-1422 ghibertiorsanmichele saint mathieu

1423  masolinomembre de la Guilde de

Arte dei Medici e Speziali

1423 gentile da fabrianoador mag com par palla stroz bas sant tri

1423-1430 domenico venezianoroma avec pisanello

1423-1424 francesco sforza ++

Guerra dell'Aquila

En 1424, masolino, le riche banquier Felice Brancacci lui commande la décoration de sa

chapelle

dans l'

église Santa Maria del Carmine

à

Florence

. Sa collaboration avec

Masaccio

pour ces fresques le rendra célèbre

1424 albertiphilodoxius qui trompera alde le jeune, croi que c lepidus

1425-1452 ghibertiporte d'honneur bapt

1425-1427donatello michelozzi a j XXIII

1426-1428 donatello michelozzi Portigiani pisa

1427-1433mz villa trebbio

1432-1436brunelleschi duomo

1436 ucellofresque equestre johnny                                                                                                    

1429cosme 40lorenzo 34piero 13giov 8carlo marsuppini 31

1429 Calixte III bfeveque de valence

1430 albertiau service du patriarche de Grado / Aquileia Biagio Molin ou da Molin, alors secrétaire d’État au Vatican, prend vraisemblablement les ordres mineurs et devient « abréviateur apostolique

1430cosimo donatello david

1431eugene iv

1431 francesco sforzabianca maria visconti 1eres fiancailles

1433exile1434 both donat cosimo return

1433-1437 albertide familia

1433mz Bibliothèque de San Giorgio Maggiore

1433-1435 francesco sforzamercato milano papa

1434-35 alberti1ere visite Florence

1435-1436 albertide pictura

1437 albertide pictura version latine dediee a brunelleschi

1435-1440

mz careggi

1440benozzo eleve de fra angelico

1440 cosme confie fra angelicodecoration couvent san marco antonin

1436-1444mz Le

cloître

et la bibliothèque du

couvent San Marco

1439 piero della francescaapprenti chez domenico venezianorencontre fra angelico

concile 1439cosme 50donatello 53bruneleschi 62lippi 33

1441 alberticoncours poesie florence

1442 calixte III bfaccompagne alf5 conquet naplesprete allegeance eugene 4

1444 calixte III bfcardinal BorGia bulle martin 5

? laurent julien landino marsile alberti

1444-1447benozzo + ghiberti bros baptistere

1446-1451 albertipalais rucellai

1447benozzo + fra roma

1447-1448 piero della francescaferrara travaille pour lionel d'este

1444-1459 mzLe

palais Medici-Riccardi

1445 alberti

De re aedificatoria

-50antonio pollaiuoloapprenti ghibertisculpte donatelloapprend peinture ucello

1450 calixte iiiapparition assistance sienne Sano di Pietro

1450 piero della francescaancone

1450 albertide statua

1450Giorgio Antonio Vespucci

don de sa collection de livres+ouverture d'une école pour les fils des aristocrates florentins dans son couvent de Saint Marc

1451 piero della francescarimini temple malatestaprobable rencontre alberti

1451mz cafaggiolo

1451-1453 fra angelicoarmadio degli argenti

1452-1458 piero della francescaarezzo

1453 mzRestauration du

Palazzo Vecchio

1454 alberti

Tempio malatestiano

à

Rimini

)

1455 calixte iiirehab jeanne darc

1456 ucellobataille de san romano

1456 calixte iiiappel croisade cloche belgrade

1458-1459 piero della francescaroma

1459 benozzochapelle des mages

1460 albertisan seb mantova

1460-1467 piero della francescaarezzo

1463-1464 fgmvoyage florence decouv opus brunelleschi

1464 fgmreligieux ou cath de sienne

1465-1475 pollaiuollohommes nus

1466pierfrancesco 36

1467 albertisepulcro rucelai san pancrazio+  il fut chargé par le marquis Ludovico Gonzaga, seigneur de Mantoue mais aussi

patronus

de la SS. Annunziata à Florence, de réaliser la tribune de cette l'église (aujourd'hui perdue).

1467-1469 piero della francescaPerouse et Bastia Umbria

1468 albertiarbitrage tour florence

1469 fgm

operaio dei bottini sienne

mariage 1469laurent 20bertoldo 30ainesavonarole 17ghirlandaio 20verrochio 34lippi 63boticelli 24perugino 21leonardo 17

1469-1472 piero della francescaarezzo + urbinocoop alberti laurana

1470 alberti sur demande rucellaimarbre tympan veloute santa maria novella

1470 luigi pulci condo

1471 luca paciolirome aupres d'alberti

1472 albertisant'andrea mantova

1472 fgmpalais ducal urbino

1475guerre colle di val d'elsa

1476 luca paciolidevient moine chez les franciscains+tardvoyage urbino enseigne guidobaldo da montefeltro

1478 fgm giuliano da sangallosiege castellina

1478laurent envoie guidantoni vespucci+ neuv comme amb perm cour louis xi

1479-1480 fgmduc de Calabre Rome Urbino

1480retour oncle neveu vespucci

1480-1486 fgmurbino frd III guidobaldo

1483 mantovalaurent 34mantegna 52

1483ghirlandaio portraite fam Vespucci

1484-1486 fgmconstruisit l'église Sainta Maria delle Grazie dans la localité de Calcinaio près de

Cortone

Gubbio

,

Ancône

(palais du Gouvernement) et

Jesi

(palais de la Seigneurie).

com mecene J

ean della Rovere

gendre fred III

1486 fgm sienne

1487 fgm casole d'elsa sollicit

1488 fgmla

République siennoise

lui confie des charges politiques et diplomatiques.

1490 fgmlucignano sollicit

1490 consult

tour-lanterne

du

Dôme de Milan

, com par

L Sforza

fgm + leonardo + giovanni antonio amadeofgm emmene leo a parme consult cathedraleÀ la fin de l'année, il donne les plans de la forteresse de

Campagnano di Roma

à

Gentil-Virginio Orsini

, grand connétable du royaume de Naples

atelier 1490laurent 41michel ange 15savonarole 38boticelli 45pierre II 18lorenzo pop 27giovanni pop 23

1491 fgm En mai il est engagé pour inspecter les forteresses locales dans la région de

Naples

et pour le

duché de Calabre

1492colomb vespucci amis

1492 fgmlettre de sienne a calabre

1496 luca pacioliludo sforza l'invite a milan ou il rencontre leonardo

1496colomb retour 3e v discute avec vespucci

savo

1499voyage vespucci

1499 fgmmaître-maçon de l'Œuvre du

dôme de Sienne

.

1499 leonardo + luca paciolide milano a mantova ensemble

1500 fgmil est appelé dans les

Marches

pour des problèmes de stabilité à la coupole de la Basilique de Loreto

ghirlandaio fils

1506-1511 Rusitici

La prédication de saint Jean-Baptiste

groupe en bronze, au-dessus de la porte Nord du baptistère de la cathédrale de Florence, Italie

1508

assemblée de burgos

giulio couz romegiovanni leon 10 1513giovanni 38perugino 65raphael 30michel ange 38ridolfo ghir 30

clement

sac

1534

Hercules and Cacus

Baccio Bandinello

1536-1541 tombeaux 2 pap medbandi

1539-1540 bust cosm 1bandi

1540-1554 bande noir piazza san lorenzobandi

orsini 2p 5c 2cocolonna 1p 19c 1comedicis 3p 4cvisconti 1p 2c

borghese 1p 4cbarberini 1p 3cchigi 1p 4codescalchi 1p nb ponttusculum 4pgabrielli 1p 1st 3bh 4c+1 1chef crois pod+++segni 2psavelli 2pfieschi 2ppiccolomini 2paldobrandini 1p + 4cpamphilj 1p + 4cspinola 10c + della rovere 2p + 1doge de gene +duc d'urbino

sforza 7ducsd'este 1c 2cond ducs +archiducsmalatesta 12codella scalla gouv verone 125 ans apogée Vincece Padova Treviso Belluno Feltre Monselice Bassano vicaire imp de Mantova capo gib

despreaux jannartconti colleret beranger

malherbe 1555

richelieu 1585mazarin 1602corneille 1606turenne 1611arnauld 1612benserade 1612sarrasin 1614

fouquet 1615st evremond 1616colbert 1619maucroix 1619la fontaine 1621moliere 1622lully 1632boileau 1636l14 1638racine 1639mansart 1646l15 1710

adam smith 1723turgot 1727cook 1728suffren 1729talleyrand 1754l 16 1754nelson 1758napo 1769balzac 1799a stern 1805flaubert 1821bischoffsheim 1823l cahen 1837zola 1840clemenceau 1841a cahen 1846

ephrussi 1846mirebeau 1848MEYER 1848

maupassant 1850P Bourget 1852e stern 1854dreyfus 1859m camondo 1860herzl 1860proust 1871j stern 1875

1664 Corneille 58 fouquet 49 colbert 45 la fontaine 43 moliere 42 lully 32 boileau 28 l14 26 racine 25

La Madone a l'oeillet 1476-1479 Leonardo

Joconde 1503-1515 Leonardo

La Belle Ferroniere 1495-1497 Leonardo

La Vierge aux rochers 1483-1486 Leonardo

L'Annonciation 1472-1475 Leonardo

Leda Spiridon 1505-1515 Leonardo School

La Cene 1495-1498 Leonardo

La Madone du Rosaire 1604-1605 Caravaggio

Le Courronnement d'epines 1602-1603 Caravaggio

Le Martyre de Saint Mathieu 1599-1600 Caravaggio

L'Amour victorieux 1601-1602 Caravaggio

L'Incredulité de saint Thomas 1603 Caravaggio

La Vocation de saint Matthieu 1600 Caravaggio

L'Arrestation du Christ 1602 Caravaggio

La Mise au tombeau 1603-1604 Caravagggio

Les Sept Oeuvres de miséricorde 1607 Caravaggio

Le Chist à la colonne 1606-1607 Caravaggio

Saint Josepeh charpentien 1638,1645 de La Tour

L'Adoration des bergers

Le Nouveau-né 1648 de La Tour

Les Joueurs de dés

Saint Francois renonce aux biens terriens 1295-1299 Giotto

Saluto di santa Chiara e delle sue compagne a san Francesco 1295-1299 Giotto

La Déposition de Croix 1303-1305 Giotto

[fwl22]

A Storm and a Flood, pt. 3

Final part from 8 November, 2023

The rain poured down for another 4 hours without a break. The power remained off. Eventually the frantoio closed up and the clients drove back to their homes. My wife texted around 8:15 that her train was coming to Bologna. Around 8:25 she was sitting in the station at Bologna with the train being held up and the first news of flooding and landslides began to come in. Trenitalia announced the train would be at least 40 minutes late to Prato. I started to prepare something for my own dinner. In the kitchen, in the candlelight, I saw outside as the storm, unbelievably, intensified, as thunder and lightning announced that more rain was falling. At 9:00, Francesca was told that the line from Bologna to Prato was closed, and the passengers were put on trains to Florence. She would eventually arrive to Prato from Florence around 11:00. In the interim, the wall in the lower corner of the forested area past the Limonaia collapsed due to the intense rain and the fact that all the drainage coming off the slope above the wooded area ran directly down to that point. With no drainage holes the water pushed and the wall gave away in a six or eight foot section that fell down near the big pine trees about three meters below. At this point everyone’s phones and devices were running out of battery, and word of the flooding in and around Prato was circulating with videos and texts. Francesca arrived in Prato and began to walk, but the rain was still falling and the streets were flooded. I drove down from the Villa to the Castellina area below the Villa al Palco to meet her and bring her home. The Via di Canneto was inundated and had extra debris strewn about where the water had been draining down the hill, but there were no losses or collapsed areas. The condition was nothing I had not seen before, but the fact that the rain continued to fall was exceptional. We kept noting to ourselves that we were lucky to be living well up on the high side of the river.

Friday morning gave us a chance to observe the situation. There was still no power, but the rain had stopped. Under grey skies, large areas of Prato and Campi Bisenzio were flooded and relief crews were already working to remove debris. There were reports of 3 deaths. Videos showed scenes that we have become used to seeing in the aftermath of floods with cars floating down roadways being pushed by enormous quantities of muddy water. Only this time the roads and neighborhoods were familiar places. Figline and Villa Fiorita were hit by water overflowing from poorly maintained and ill sized channels and sewers. Monica’s bunny and the other rabbits I had seen at the kennel yesterday were drowned when the area was flooded. Addio Bambi.

At Canneto, the water had pushed large amounts of debris down the roads and trails and had gouged large crevices and gaps in the ground. We set to work to dig out the mud and clear the drains and drainage channels with shovels and backhoe. It was eye opening to see the amount of large stones, fist sized and larger that had rolled down or had been dislodged. In the afternoon I set out to gather branches and sticks that had fallen from the trees in the piazzale. The work continued on Saturday, and Francesca helped to make the breakfast for guests on Saturday and Sunday while the power remained off. Our gas range top was a lifesaver, allowing us continue to cook despite having no electricity. In another bit of good luck/planning, the nieces had purchased a relatively small generator to back up their business, and it was sufficient to run a roomful of freezers so that no one lost all their food. It also allowed us to set up a charging station for everyone to keep their phones and devices working.

Finally on the Monday after the frantoio rented a large generator in order to put things back to work. First they had to clean all of the rotting olives out of the machinery and then get the facility back in action. The generator was big enough to power the whole house, so we have light and power again. It is nice to have some hot water, but we will have to wait to turn the heating on. My other sister in law's parents home is built on top of the garage, and the garage was flooded. The Civil Protection services came to pump the water out, but those of you with experience with floods know that the damage was done.

Looking out from the loggia, the fields of olive trees by the river are flooded and Cosimo Rucellai's stone walls are protecting some of those trees again. The Bisenzio river is still flowing near flood level. Many low-lying pockets of suburbs between Prato and Pistoia have remained without power and water for days. What changes the experience of this event will bring are impossible to know. While the Civil Protection and police have responded admirably, the most reliable aid usually came from neighbors helping neighbors. The clearing of debris will go on for a long time. The news reports you may have seen or heard were not exaggerated in this case. We were very fortunate to come away relatively unscathed. Perhaps the next source of amusement will be to see how many years it takes for the collapsed wall to be repaired. 

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A Storm and a Flood, pt. 2

Continued, 8 November, 2023

So, given that the power was down, I decided to take advantage of the moment and run to the garden to get the salad to surprise my wife. I put on my hiking boots and realized immediately that I should have gotten my Wellingtons because outside in the piazzale things were already flooding. The walkway above the swimming pool had a large puddle and the water was running off down to the gravel, and the pool deck was already filling on the wall side, and with no drain it was going to build and then go under the door into the in-law's garden. The drain on the upper side of the piazza where the older brother in law normally parks was blocked with debris and the water was, as happens often enough, running like a river down the whole of the piazzale under the tress to the small wall at the lower end. I waded through the puddles with my plastic bag and knife for collecting the goods, grateful that it wasn’t raining to hard, in addition to all the water on the ground. Through the gate and down the road by the parking area, the water was draining well and the channel next to the Appassitoio was flowing strong with water.

Turning left again at the end of the Appassitoio's lower corner, I was confronted by the water that was draining off of the piazzale under the trees and pouring like waterfalls from the drainage openings and splattering on the road below the house. The streetlights were already on in the falling light, and looking up I could see the rain drops falling and catching the light. It was just a bit more than a drizzle, but the sky remained dark, and the storm clouds were swirling in the wind.

The road was flooded, but was draining quickly enough, and cars were parked as usual during the olive oil season by the clients of the frantoio. A group of men were milling around the doors waiting for the power to come back on so that the work could go on. In the meantime the olives sitting in the intake bin and the already ground up olives in the mixing and separating chambers were going nowhere. I went down the stairs to the garden, and in the still fading light I cut a couple of heads of lettuce from the mud, put them in my bag and retreated back the way I came. The ground was wet and spongey, but I managed to get back to the road without taking too much earth with me. As I walked back to the house, the rain began to fall again.

Back in the kitchen, as I began to wash the salad, the skies opened up and it started to pour again. There was only a bit of wind it seemed, as the weight of the rain seemed to drive down with not a lot of water hitting the windows. Given that the lights had been off before, I lit a few more candles. I love the glow of the candlelight, and I had two candles in cups in the bathroom as well as the four in the kitchen. Working by candlelight gives me a nice feeling, and even though I was sure I couldn’t properly see if I was getting all the dirt off the lettuce, I performed the ritual according to Giovanna’s rule of three thorough rinses and then a double spin in the salad spinner.

By this point it was night outside, and as I sat to work at the computer I noticed how I could hear the rain, falling hard on the ground. And as is my particular habit, I concentrated on what I was writing and reading and didn’t think much more about it, letting the sound of rain act as a replacement for the hum of the frantoio. Ignoring the storm outside, there was a comfy sense of home and hearth on the inside of the house.

In the big, old house, time passes like this, and one is lulled to a peace that comes from sitting behind the heavy stone walls that have stood for 500 years. An hour later, my wife's oldest brother stopped in the kitchen with a flashlight and saw me by candlelight. He invited me to come up to his house and gave me an extra headlamp to use. He mentioned that he couldn’t remember having seen it rain this hard for this long in his entire life (He’d be 68 in a couple of weeks). In fact, outside it continued to pour with a ceaseless abandon. Downstairs I put some towels and rags against the metal door to front garden where, at this point, around 7:30 - 8:00 pm, water was coming around the door, top and bottom, and trying to run down the stairs into the back hallway. At the other end of the connecting corridor between the former tower and the 15th century house, on the angle of the L, where there is a small atrium skylight with a window on the landing of the stairs going up, the water was beginning to run down the wall around the window, and more extreme, the water was soaking through the wall and sweating out through the plaster and whitewash. I put more towels on the ground there to keep the puddles from getting too big.

I was calm about all of this. I had seen the rain push through cracks around windows and doors many times at Canneto, and especially during the intense summer thunderstorms that would thrash the southern facade of the building. And I had seen the water running down the corridor behind the work rooms on the ground floor of the 14th century house, moving gently down the mud floor. It was really coming down, but I just had to try to keep things dry on the inside.

Meanwhile, there were paying guests in the house. My sister in law had set out lit candles in the entry hall, the living room, and in the hall and stairways leading up to the guest rooms. We probably weren't going to get the power back tonight. Thank goodness it wasn’t actually cold outside.

My first visit to the Villa Rucellai di Canneto in April of 1997 was all the things that most people experience on their first visit. Coming from spring in southern California, however, I was greeted by winter in Tuscany. There was fresh snow on the ground and the skies were grey. My fiancé and I stayed in the tower room of the 14th century house which was still, nominally, her apartment. The house seemed empty and cold, but the spaces were so unfamiliar and old that the inexperienced couldn’t help but find the atmosphere to be “magical”. Over the years I found that the overall dark and the irregularity of the electrical power in the old building was such that my mother-in-law had flashlights and candles ready in strategic places all around. During this storm I was reminded of Giovanna’s presence, and the omniscient sense that the building itself would continue to be there long after we were all gone.

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A Storm and a Flood, pt. 1

8 November, 2023

I was writing to our friend in Los Angeles last Thursday afternoon, responding to a message she had sent inquiring about the state of affairs in Tuscany and Italy, in general, given reports of bad weather and flooding. Some of you may recall that this past summer the Emilia Romagna region was hit with unseasonable late spring and summer rain that flooded vast areas of the flat, low lying areas and washed out roads and homes in the more mountainous areas. Francesca had to work around the problems this created for some train lines going southeast from Bologna to the Adriatic coast where she had to work.

In the last few weeks there has been a number of storms that have brought rain on the northern part of Tuscany where Prato sits nestled up against the Calvana hills (calva means bald in Italian, so it signifies that these hills have no trees on top) and close to the Apennine range that runs northwest to southeast across the country. Autumn rain is pretty usual, and as the olive picking season begins in mid to late October, the concern is always for getting the fruit picked before a big storm, or waiting after a storm to allow things to dry. This year we had a couple of short intense storms that brought rain on us, and it so happened that twice during these downpours the power went out for a bit. The first time it took the electric company several hours to restore the service. They had to drive out to the village to open up the old switch box to set things right.

Through my kids I was aware that a large storm was on the way this last weekend, but here in Prato there was little warning or announcement that anything unusual was expected. So we all went about our business as usual. We were lucky that our friend and contractor had sealed the skylight window above the stairs in the Paolo and Giovanna’s house so that the rain wouldn’t drip down inside anymore, and I had cleared the rain gutters on the upper corner where I could reach to make sure there would be as little overflow as possible. Our friend Monica, who I met in Los Angeles almost 35 years ago and now lives in the Val d’Elsa, came to Prato on Thursday morning to drop off her pet bunny rabbit at the kennel in Prato where she always does when she is going off on a trip. I picked her up at the train station and we ran out to the Villa Fiorita area near Figline on the other side of the Bisenzio from Villa Rucellai, dropped off Bambi the bunny, and then we had lunch in the big kitchen.

It was a gray day, and it was drizzling in the morning, but it was not particularly cold. As we finished our coffee after lunch Monica suggested we go for a walk, but we found that the rain was getting stronger, and while it wasn’t enough to keep us from a quick turn among the olive trees, the wet weather from the previous week had made the ground a bit muddy, so we didn’t go. I took Monica back to the train station and she caught her ride back to Firenze Rifredi where she would change for a train for Empoli and home to Castelfiorentino. It was already a sign of things to come (although not totally clear because trains around here can often run late due to work along the rails) that at 2:30, Monica caught the train that had been expected at 2:00. The train she expected to catch at 2:45 was going to be 50 minutes late. My wife was expected to arrive at 9:00 that evening coming from Lugano by way of Milan, so I sent her a message to let her know that many of the trains were delayed and to be ready for a long journey. As I drove back to Canneto, I went to the market to get milk and bread for the weekend, and the rain began to fall more steadily. Since the clocks had fallen back only recently, I was still getting to how dark it got seemingly so early in the day. The day before was the feast of All Saints, and I had been outside at the cemetery of Canneto with my wife’s cousin and my brother in law. By 5:30 things were pretty dark outside and the street lights had been on for 20 minutes or so. Only after the sun went down did we begin to feel a faint bit of cold, and it was more due to the wetness of everything than the air temperature. So I was very happy to be inside the house as the rain began to fall more steadily. My wife sent me a text to let me know that she would really love to have a salad fresh from the garden when she arrived, but I told her that it was raining and I was reluctant to go out. In fact, at that moment it was suddenly really coming down, a downpour similar to what we had had a week before, and looking out the window it appeared like a fog. Then the power went out.

It is important to note that the frantoio (the olive oil mill) was hard at work making olive oil. As different people’s loads of olive paste enter the large separator centrifuge, the machine is paused and when it begins to spin again, you can feel the vibration through the building and the lights in the big kitchen will make a reflexive dimming as an electric load goes toward the work. When the frantoio is working there is a constant hum from the machinery that you can feel and hear, and when the power goes off, there is sudden silence. The white noise drops out and all the other sound comes up.

After I lit a few candles, I noticed in the twilight outside that the rain had slowed and almost stopped. The downpour was slowing, but the accumulated water was flowing across the piazzale like a river flowing. The urge came decisively that it was the only moment to go to the garden to get some salad for my wife. The lull in the storm was only going to last so long.

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Wisteria blooming at the end of April, 2010. From the piazzale, looking at the 14th century Casa Signorile (country house) with the door to the cantina. (Photo copyright Frank W. Long)

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From the piazzale, looking south, Villa Rucellai di Canneto with geese in the fountain basin on a summer day in 2005. On the left the chapel and terrace added to the 14th century country house with tower, the ramped terrace leading to the stairs and entrance to the ingresso and through to the front garden. Behind the large Linden tree is the part of the house enlarged from the original medieval tower. (photo copyright Frank W. Long)

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Spring Letter, 2005

On the wall of the 14th century house, above the pool, the wisteria (wisteria floribunda) is blossoming.  There are actually three ancient plants nesting in the terrace between the stone pavers, planted, perhaps in the early 1930s after completion of the works to renew the house by Giangiulio (pronounced jahn julio) and Teresa. Inevitably the flowering of these wisteria is a week or so behind their city neighbors, living as they do on a west facing wall with three stories of house above it and closed in on the south by the extension of the old tower and the fattoria.  It sees the sun only for a few hours each day, and this spring the sun has been playing hide and seek with us.

Just as the summer tailed luxuriously into autumn and the autumn stayed with us to Christmas, the winter is not wanting to leave us with the spring. The wind remains cold and strong at times, and the rain falls in big drops instead of soft drizzle. When the sun pops out we still can’t feel the warmth that we crave.

But the trees and flowers and the birds are leaving no doubt that they think it is spring. it is not freezing anymore, and thus it is time to get to work.  The pear, plum, cherry and apricot trees are going wild with snowy white and pink blossoms and the wild flowers cover the ground in their annual display of color.  The tulips have come up and the wisteria are opening now.  In a few weeks the iris will erupt in all their purple and periwinkle.

With the spring comes the atmosphere of paradise that so often comes out in comments from the guests of the B&B.  The roses beginning to leaf, soon to flower, the lemons, hauled back out of hibernation from the limonaia, full of fruit and blossoms, the olives newly trimmed and the fruit trees covered in tiny white flowers, filling the air with perfume.  It reminds me of the feeling I had while working in Florence, every day arriving on the train with hundreds of tourists coming to the city for an enjoyable day while I had to go be shut up in a small office and help others plan their vacations. One has to literally stop and take it in or else it is lost to the list of tasks.

We have been at work in the garden, trimming trees and taking out invaders.  The bushes, so long left to their own devices, have been severely and brusquely cut.  The lemon trees were out in the garden before Easter and we have been cleaning up a year’s worth (at least a winter’s worth) of dead leaves in the forest glen. We have been cutting and trimming the taller trees to open up the façade of the limonaia to the southern sun so next winter the lemon trees will get a bit more warmth while inside.

On the other side of the building, the courtyard, or piazzale, needs a clean up. A photograph from 1895 shows the courtyard of the villa with no large trees.  Only the cypress and the newly planted Linden (tilia cordata) and Ilex (Quercus ilex), staked and already growing stand near the round fountain basin.  Planted in the 1890s, they are giant trees shading the piazzale today.  Laurel was grown in hedges to create a maze, and by the time the trees grew to full size, the maze was well established and filled the courtyard until the 1970s.  Huge cypress grow very close all over the hillside above and around the house, and one can only imagine that eventually they will fall.  More and more the old trees’ roots are pushing up paving stones and terraces. All of them shed leaves, twigs, and branches in winter storms and spring winds.

A terrible storm a week ago pushed over countless trees in Prato and a few here at Canneto.  Luckily we had finished a large job of trimming prior to the high winds.  Still there is so much debris to collect.  Abramo laments that one can’t find mules anymore to get to the places deep in the forest where the paths don’t go to collect and cut and trim.

Canneto means literally the place where the cane stalks grow.  Like so many place names in Italy, there are many cannetos (and Pratos – prato meaning meadow), and this one along the Bisenzio river is just about out of cane.  My wife’s older brother has had Ivo strengthen and improve the grape vine structures and thus there is less need for the actual, supple wisps of cane stalks used traditionally to tie the vines to the wires of the structure. There is hope that this practice will help the vines to grow stronger and produce more fruit.

My wife and I have also been hard at work inside the house, painting and working to spruce up a bit.  Like this, the slumber of the house is shaken off.  Each of us have to reassess how we are going to live here, how we want to be, how we can tolerate each other and move forward as a group, a business, and a family.  Without their mother Giovanna, it is not easy.  I think it bears saying that some people are not replaceable.  That would be to admit that ultimately we shall persevere and find new ways of doing things, but it is hard to imagine that it shall ever have the efficiency Giovanna maintained.  It can also be said that having one owner is always better than having four.  It is impossible to find someone who can fill the shoes of the mother and the owner of the house.  It was she who was able, when no one else could make a decision, to tell people exactly what to do and they would do it. 

Italy is in some ways burdened by it history.  While Germany has a history it must overcome, Italy which doesn’t even have a strong sense of being a nation, has to overcome the permeating sense that so many great things have dotted the past that it is almost impossible to accomplish anything of equal value today.  This is a country in the throes of a decisive battle between the modern life as lived in the big cities of the west and the embrace of the “old ways” and the slow life which calls for the kind of respect of environment and pace and quality of life that is too often put off and brushed aside by the rush to achieve. That is, in the rush to be as much of a consumer society as the neighbors.

Living in an old house, one is very much aware of the ramifications of each choice in each process.  Following the choice to live in this building comes the awareness that there is no simple project.  Board and bat, wallboard and stucco, peg and groove are all phrases for easy work.  While we were in Los Angeles in September (2004), back here in Canneto, the muratore (literally mason, but more appropriately contractor) and the electrician tore the kitchen apart to install a stove, a gas range top, three new lights and accompanying switches and plugs.  It is all in stone and brick.  Then the muratore was back in the winter when the old lead pipe burst in the wall and he had to break a hole in the wall and through the floor.  The new pipe went in and the old pipe remains right next to it.  No sense in taking the whole wall apart to remove what has been there for over 100 years. It was a cold room while we had an indoor/outdoor kitchen for three weeks in the dead of winter.

My wife’s worries are much greater of course, and much more difficult to comprehend.  This is due in large part to the connection of her expectation that her brothers and their families would welcome our presence here. Being an optimist she was quite convinced that everyone would be so happy that we would come to Canneto to help run the B&B, to help her father Paolo and take part in family life. The natural conclusion was that the other families would be interested in helping us to be comfortable and happy that we would be taking steps to administrate the future of the house, the division of spaces, the establishment of rules for using the spaces, and generally agreeing to how the house would be left to the next generation.

Not surprisingly, no one was particularly thrilled that we would move back to Canneto from Los Angeles, and in fact it was not too difficult to see how our presence was seen as an annoyance at best, and a threat at worst. How many years will it take for the balance to return to the community?  No one really cares that we are here to help Paolo or help run the B&B – no one really cared about the work Giovanna did.  And certainly no one is interested in giving up any space to help us be more comfortable.  And all of this is taking a long time for Francesca to process.

Fortunately there is too much to do to allow oneself to dwell on that which we can’t really control. We have two small people to raise, and we have Paolo to assist in the absence of his wife of 50 years. Paolo, for his part, has no interest or intention to touch Giovanna’s things that remain exactly as they were when she died in March of 2002. It is one of those great reminders to focus on what you can actually do and leave behind what you can’t change. The building itself is a reminder that I am just a fleeting shadow, and this place which has been here for centuries will still be here long after I am gone.

So just soak of the atmosphere of living in an historical place.  When we talk of updating a bathroom we are not only faced with the logistical challenges of working with the aging plumbing and electrical systems (read: having to either redo everything or modify something very old) and the architectural realities of maneuvering in stone and brick, but also in trying to not allow our ideas to demand larger modifications of the house (ie, doorways, windows, skylights, new walls, etc.).  The idea is to maintain or at most adapt the existing building to meet our basic, minimum needs. 

In preserving the place mostly as it is, and in thinking long and hard before making large changes in the use of spaces (such as changing the carpenter’s wood shop into a bedroom), trying to consider all of the impacts of such works and how the changes would fit into the ultimate use of the house – and thus calling into question what is that ultimate use, i.e. residence and hotel, residence only, condominium, divided houses in a single structure?.  And these are actions that no one is interested in taking.  No one in very enthusiastic in having to get approval for work they want to do from everyone else, and no one is interested in spending hours meeting with the brothers and sister to talk and talk about what needs to be done.

The reality that exists is that doing nothing is the best course.  For the casual guest, the people who come and pay to stay at the house, the magic still exists  For them, especially with the various seasons, there is a sense of timelessness that is quite overwhelming.  For them, the enormous amount of dust and haphazard quality of furnishings and furniture can be overlooked and accepted as part of the funkiness of the place.  And the brothers and my wife, I think, know this intuitively.  For all of their own dissatisfaction they understand that the house exists as its own entity and serves its purpose quite well.

At the same time it is evident to the observer that this place was so much more at a different time and place.  The 100 acres of today were probably at one time 300 or 400 acres of land with olive trees, grazing sheep, grain growing under the trees and ten families owing their livelihoods to the farm work.  It was a quiet valley with the lazy river flowing by and the city of Prato a full 4 km away, just beyond the fields that fell away below the house.  It is quite easy to imagine how a previous generation would have seen this place as a very different kind of paradise.

Change is inevitable and I would imagine that for my wife’s grandfather, Giangiulio, especially, the change came quite rapidly and repeatedly in his lifetime.  And each change brought new complications that had to be dealt with and each generation has had to face the changes and challenges. It is difficult to imagine for a guest here what the place was like before the first World War. Today, from the loggia, the view takes in the railroad line that passes close by under the house and enters a short tunnel that lies under the eastern flank of the village. The scene is dominated by the sound of traffic on the Via Bologna on the far side of the valley, with the fields of the olive orchard below stretching out to the river bed that lies below the road.

In the early 1930s the Italian government completed the railroad up the Bisenzio valley, making good on plans first developed in the 1880s. Known as the Direttissima, this line from Florence, via Prato, to Bologna, was a key part of improving the country’s north south rail connection, finally creating a fast, direct link through the Apennine mountains. It is a notable piece of construction and engineering, featuring an 18 km tunnel under the mountains. Cosimo had made several trips to Rome, beginning most likely with the establishment of a governmental commission to study the proposal in 1908, attempting to persuade the state to use the next valley toward Florence in the Mugello for the railway (where the autostrada and the high speed train line now runs), but the effort was futile.  Giangiulio also worked to stop the construction when he became proprietor of Canneto in the mid 1920s, working with his father, but by the late 1920’s the work was in progress.  

Cosimo and Giangiulio’s opposition to the plan is evident today. The railroad climbs up the valley, passing below the house, and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to understand the noise and the smoke that came with a powerful steam driven train of the epoch. What is more difficult to imagine is that the eminent domain of the government split the Rucellai property. All of the fields and a good sized farm with a dairy that were on the other side of the railroad line were a part of the estate. 

In the flat area below the Villa on this side of the river one can see rows of olive trees with stone walls circling the trunks in an area where the level of the field is lower than the adjoining plots.  These walls were built at the direction of Cosimo when the state was building the roadbed for the railway.  The construction crews simply came and took away the soil around these trees and the farmers built the walls as protection to keep the trees intact.  Even though the walls are falling apart today, the plan worked to save the trees. The family legend is that he never went back after the railroad was built, but the truth is that he died suddenly when on a visit to Naples in 1930. Up until his death, he and Edith were in negotiation to purchase land on the hillside on the other side of the Bisenzio river and the Via Bologna, across from Canneto, in order to maintain the land and the vista as it was at the time, but from the words of his daughter, the railroad killed the magic for her father.  When Cosimo died, Edith withdrew from the negotiations and the Canneto estate passed to Giangiulio. 

When Giangiulio died in 1969, his and Teresa’s children divided the property, selling off small pieces and giving family homes to the farming families that had worked the land of the estate for generations.  Following World War II the kinds of “sharecropping” contracts – the standard agreements of mezzadria that dated from the middle ages – that divided responsibilities between land owner and farmer were outlawed.  Existing contracts would continue to be valid until nullified by the parties.   It was thus at Giangiulio’s death that these contracts became void at Canneto and his son Niccolò made agreements with the families for transfer of title on the houses.  Sadly, the economics of the times meant that there would be no new agreements for working the land, and the farm activities faded away, leaving only the less labor intensive work of olives and grapes.

Today many of these old case coloniche have been developed into wonderfully comfortable “villettas” in the countryside.  The city of Prato, following an amazingly smart trend at work in Tuscany in the late 1960s, had designated the area on the Canneto side of the valley a no build zone, and a wildlife refuge “no hunting” zone, and only houses that were already on the land can be lived in.  No new buildings or remodeling is allowed without great bureaucratic work involved.

These no build laws were thought to be a passing fancy in the early 1970s.  There were those who purchased the large tract of land along the river in the flat area below the Villa on the other side of the railway line, and they seemed sure that eventually the city would have to allow for building in the area to keep up with housing demands for Prato.  But as time has passed, the city has made more moves to keep the open “green” land and the locals have continued to harvest the olives and the houses remain in the hands of the aging tenants and former farmers. My wife took me to visit the farmhouse of the dairy a few years back just after we were married. We entered into the large kitchen which still centered on the focolare or fireplace that still served as cooking fire as well as the source of heat for the room. The smell of wood smoke from generations imbued every surface. I was amazed at the gracious welcome we received as unannounced visitors, and the warm conversation over coffee and cake we enjoyed. My wife went to elementary school with the family’s son, and he has moved to the city. How much longer will this old place remain a home?

Thankfully there are plenty of dead leaves to rake up and pieces of wood to gather for kindling. While the days grow longer, it is still too chilly to sit outside to watch the sunset. The spring rains are cold for now, but there is comfort knowing that not only is the fireplace warm, but also that the wisteria will bloom, followed by the iris, and the olives will also bloom, and the fruit will grow, and life will go on.