On the hillside in the stunning town of Fiesole, close to Florence city, one of the best-kept Medici villas in Tuscany and one of the earlier Renaissance villas with landscaping is Villa Medici in Fiesole, a UNESCO World Heritage Location. Constructed during the mid-15th century. The Renaissance witnessed the dominant emergence of Italian gardens. Its garden also represents a model of Italian Renaissance gardens with its elements. The Medici family?s Florentine gardens provided a backdrop for Italy?s progress in creating magnificent garden landscapes.

Italian 15^th – Century Renaissance

The 15^th– century was a time of great discovery when innovative concepts and civilizations spread around the world at varying rates. Discoveries and new territories altered medieval worldviews. Europe became a major global force, with the early Renaissance centred in Italy (Boults, E and Sullivan, 2010). With Cosimo the Elder taking charge at first, the Medici family came to dominate Florentine politics. His attempts to bring the most brilliant brains of the day to his rural estates resulted in the villa Suburbana being considered a location for productive enjoyment. The Medici villa in Fiesole is a superb example of early Italian Renaissance gardens designed as contemplative havens.

The First Medici Villa from Scratch

The Villa Medici in Fiesole is a magnificent model of an Italian early Renaissance villa. Cosimo the Elder gave Michelozzo the order to construct and build the Medici Villa in Fiesole for his son Giovanni around 1450 (Sica, 2007). Giorgio Vasari claims that, despite this, the construction was not completed until 1458?1461. This was the first time the Medici villas were built fully from scratch, rather than adapting an existing structure. It is also the first illustration of a country home separating from the radical concept of a castle and fortress, turning into a stand-stone simple shape and design, replacing the earlier medieval style. This villa was not designed to be an extension of an existing structure. The building and garden were to be supported by a vast substructure that had to be constructed on the steep hillside, with the site selected for its panoramic outlook (Sica, 2007).

The Allure of Fiesole’s Hillside Villa: A Captivating Location

The Medici were experts in architecture and believed that buildings might be used as a tool for political expression. The Medici villas were run in a highly skilled manner. The villa concept served as a farm, providing food and earning money, among other things. The Villa Medici, Fiesole, is a hillside villa close to Fiesole in Tuscany. The villa was chosen for its panoramic view on a steeply sloping hillside rather than for any farming activity. The residence lacks military elements, and its layout is conventional and harmoniously proportioned. Ghirlandaio’s fresco, The Death of the Virgin (Florence, Santa Maria Novella, 1486?1490), which prominently displays the adjacency between the building and the surrounding landscape, is an example of the marvellous design in Fiesole Tuscany history. Vasari reports that the steep hill required the construction of a vast substructure to sustain the building and gardens, which came at a high cost. The villa?s site is approximately 250 meters above the Arno Valley, with a rocky hillside facing south in the back and steeply sloping terrain in front.

Layout of the Villa with the Terraced Garden Concept

Observing the villa from a distance, the facade contradicts the natural setting. A cube box structure models the Villa Medici architecture. The first fundamentally new component of the villa plan?s spatial concept was the absence of an internal court. Rather than looking inside, as an internal courtyard would suggest, attention is directed to what is outside the villa and towards distant and nearby sights. This lack of presence also suggests a completely original design that has nothing to do with finished structures or earlier models. No direct exterior access from the central reception area opens onto the two loggias on the east and west faces. Painted murals within reflect the exterior environment. The gardens of Villa Medici were planned using an innovative concept: a terraced garden contoured to fit the steeply sloping terrain. The design layout of the villa is essentially divided into three levels. The lower base level, which is on the same plain as the lower garden, and the ?secret garden? on the east side of the villa. As for the top floor, which has private apartments and bedrooms, and the middle level, which is the level of the garden on the west side and the two loggias. One could not go from one floor to another without going through the villa (Sica, 2007).

Ownership of the Villa Medici, Fiesole Over the Years

Some modifications resulted from historical events and subsequent transfers of ownership, and it’s still one of the most significant Fiesole tourist attractions. In 1469, Lorenzo the Magnificent acquired the villa and visited it with poets and intellectual individuals. When the villa?s modest size was just judged unsuitable for the opulence of court life, the Medici sold it in 1671. Following more ownership changes, it ended up being bought in the 1770s by an eccentric Englishwoman who happened to be Horace Walpoles?s sister-in-law, Lady Margaret Orford. A loggia was opened in the building?s new facade, which was changed by closing the arcade to the south, to give symmetry to the ends of the fa?ade. Above the doorway, we can see the change in masonry that marks the closing of this opening. After art enthusiast and collector William Blundell Spence bought the house in the middle of the 1800s, it started to host social events. In 1911, Lady Sybil Cutting had purchased the villa as well. Architect Cecil Pinsent, who was hired by the new owner, restored the garden. He also made the secret garden to the west, with a central fountain, flowering plants removed, and traditional lawns and box hedges. The Mazzini family inherited the villa in 1959 (Sica, 2007).

Sources

• A Platt, C.1894. Italian Gardens.
• Boults, E and Sullivan, C. 2010 Illustrated History of Landscape Design
• Formmel, S. Medici Villas as an Expression of a new way of life and perception
• Sica, G.2007. The Florentine Villa-Architecture History Society