Villa Medici by Lappeggi
The Villa di Lappeggi is a former Medici villa in the municipality of Bagno a Ripoli , a few kilometers from the south-eastern outskirts of Florence .
The property of Appeggio or La Peggio belonged first to the Bardi , Bartolini Salimbeni , then the Ricasoli families and was sold by the latter to Francesco de 'Medici in 1569 . He had it rebuilt by his house architect Bernardo Buontalenti in the way that the lunette picture by Giusto Utens from 1599-1602 attests to.
Ferdinando I de 'Medici left the property to Don Antonio de' Medici (1576–1621), the son of Francesco I with Bianca Cappello . Camilla Martelli also lived here for a while after the death of Cosimo I de 'Medici .
Cardinal Francesco Maria de 'Medici was one of the later owners . He had the somewhat neglected villa completely redesigned. Architect Antonio Maria Ferri was given the task of emulating the splendor of the Villa Medici in Pratolino - albeit with limited resources. After all, the interiors were decorated with works by well-known painters of the Florentine Rococo: Alessandro Gherardini , Pier Dandini and Rinaldo Botti worked here. The cardinal celebrated glamorous parties in the house and in the - also newly designed - garden, there was also a theater, a ballroom and a pavilion, which is also called a coffee house in Italian .
The cardinal died in 1711 shortly after his return to the laity and his marriage to Eleonora Gonzaga. A sheet by the engraver Giuseppe Zocchi attests to the appearance of the villa at that time .
The long-lasting Cosimo III. de 'Medici , who lost his son and hoped-for successor Ferdinando in 1713 , gave the estate to his widow Violante Beatrix of Bavaria . This united artists and writers here and gave the villa another brief period of splendor.
Under the rule of the Lorraine , the former Medici estates were generally neglected and often sold. This was also the fate of the Lappeggi villa, which was given to the Capacci family in 1816. The top floor of the villa was subsequently removed and the garden was massively changed. The villa is still privately owned and can therefore not be visited. The sculptor Giovanni Dupré lived here in 1875 . Only the monumental outside staircase and a grotto in the garden are reminiscent of the villa's heyday .
literature
- Isabella Lapi Ballerini: The Medici Villas. Complete Guide. Giunti, Florenz et al. 2011, ISBN 978-88-09-76632-7 , p. 100 ff.
- Daniela Mignani: Le Ville Medicee di Giusto Utens. Arnaud, Florence 1993, ISBN 88-8015-000-6 .
Web links
- Villa Medicea di Lappeggi (German)
- Le ville di Bagno a Ripoli (Italian)
Coordinates: 43 ° 42 ′ 51 ″ N , 11 ° 18 ′ 35 ″ E