The history of this villa and its park (
vs22)
is indivisibly linked to that of the Pistoian family who made their
home here. From its establishment until the mid nineteenth century
the complex belonged to the Puccini family and the last descendent
(
vi) left it to the health institutions that he had founded.
The villa, popularly known as "il Villone" by Pistoians, was built
in the early eighteenth century by Tommaso Puccini, anatomist and
doctor, who wanted a country house for his family who otherwise
lived in the city palazzo located in via del Canbianco. The architect
Gatteschi, who at the time was restoring several churches in the
city (
vs38/42),was
responsible for the villa's design. Painters were summoned from
those same restoration sites around the city in order to decorate
the villa's interior rooms. The noble hall and the adjoining rooms
were decorated by some of the best Florentine artists of the time
such as Gian Domenico Ferretti (
vs38/42),
to name just one, and his work shows the passage from late Baroque
to Rococo painting. The whole fresco cycie is composed of eight
mythological scenes of which the largest, painted on the vault of
the hall; represents Hercules in Glory and is the work of Niccolò
Nannetti. Almost a hundred years later the Puccini brothers Tommaso
(Director of the Royal Florentine Galleries) and Giuseppe, added
the Neoclassical elements that can be seen today. According to Cosimo
Rossi Melocchi's plan (
vs5)
the double-ramp stairway was added and the six column arcade built;
numerous works were carried out indoors as well. The new decoration
of decidedly Neoclassical taste was entrusted to the painter from
Prato Luigi Catani who carried out the monochrome paintings depicting
mythological themes in the atrium and the hall. Already in the eighteenth
century the villa had been enriched by an Italian style garden,
of which few traces remain today. But once the renovation of the
villa was complete, work on the park got underway. It is to Niccolò
Puccini that we owe the last decoration in the villa: the ground
floor rooms which had once served as stables were frescoed with
scenes taken from the! lives of artists and illustrious figures
of the Florentine Renaissance. In that period Florence had undergone
a Republican and anti-Medici phase that, according to the Pantheon's
creator, should serve as inspiration for those writers, artists
and patriots who met in the villa's rooms, leaving their mark on
nineteenth century Tuscan history through their ideas. After passing
into several hands among which the Vivarelli Colonna family whose
coat of arms decorates the entrance gate, the Villone today serves
as a home for the elderly, complying with Niccolò's will to use
his property for social services.
(n.) refers to the number of the file-card
(s.i.) means see information inside
Giuseppe
Bezzuoli,
Ritratto di Niccolò Puccini
Niccolò Puccini: Humanist and Patriot
Of the whole Puccini family, Giuseppe's son Niccolò
was certainly the most extravagant and original, not only for
the ideas he advocated but also for his physical appearance. The
evident malformation of his back has added to his legend over
time but it also caused him to be called "hunchback" by his fellow
citizens. I-le was a man of culture; his frequent trips overseas
inspired his many interests and provided him with ideas for the
projects he undertook back home (
vs22).
This love of art and letters made him, throughout his life, a
reference point for other men of culture who marked Tuscan history
with their ideas and who met from time to time in his villa. Philanthropist
and patriot, Niccolò remained faithful to his ideals until his
sudden death. He left his considerable patrimony - be was one
of the richest men in the region -to the orphange that he himself
had founded.
Chronology
|
1704
1725
1805
1837/42
1852
1862
|
The villa is under construction.
The Last decorations are added.
The Neoclassical renovation.
The old stables are renovated and frescoed.
Niccolò Puccini dies.
Puccini's estate is sold at auction. |
Bibliography
Cultura dell'Ottocento a Pistoia, la Collezione Puccini,
a cura di Mazzi - Savino, Pistoia 1977
Dominici - Negri, La villa e il parco Puccini di Scornio,
Pistoia, 1992
