Villa Demidoff in Italy, resort Florence
Rating: 8,2/10 (1739 votes)  Villa Demidoff, also known as Villa Pratolino, is a country estate located near Florence. The villa was built in 1569-1581 commissioned by Francesco Medici for his mistress Bianca Cappello. The author of the project was Bernardo Buontalenti. A beautiful garden was laid out next to the villa, in the decoration of which Bartolomeo Ammanati and Giambologna participated. After the death of Bianca Cappello, the estate belonged to the Medici family. The most significant monument of art in the Villa Demidoff – sculpture « Allegory of the Apennines & raquo; by Giambologna. The sculpture was made in the form of an old man, symbolizing the Apennine mountains, where the master tried to achieve an organic fusion with nature. In 1737 the Habsburg-Lorraine house took over the villa. In 1739 the estate was visited by Emperor Franz I. The emperor showed no interest in the villa, and therefore it was rented out to Bernardo Sgrilla. Later the villa was inherited by Emperor Leopold II. Gradually, the estate began to decline, since the emperor did not allocate funds for its maintenance. Some of the statues were removed to decorate the Baboli Gardens. Ferdinand III – the son of Leopold II decided to reconstruct the villa, but the engineer Joseph Fix convinced the duke of the futility of reconstruction. In 1821, the building was demolished, and in its place, work began on the breakdown and improvement of the new park, in the English manner. In 1824, after the death of the Duke, work was temporarily suspended. In 1860, the villa was bought by Pavel Pavlovich Demidov. The prince immediately began to restore the villa, and in the meantime he settled in the `` house of pages '', which the architect Emilio de Fabrice turned into a worthy dwelling. In 1885, after the death of Pavel Demidov, the villa was inherited passed to Elena Trubetskoy – the wife of the prince. Later, the estate was presented as a wedding gift to Maria Pavlovna Demidova. Maria took care of the maintenance of the villa and the garden, for this she hired the Ornamental Stone Studio. In 1955 Maria died, and, according to her will, the princess's nephew inherited the villa – Pavel Karageorgievich, who sold the estate at the Sotheby's auction in 1969. We also recommend reading Dante's house in Italy, Florence resort Topic: Villa Demidoff in Italy, resort Florence. |
