Page 8 - Reside Magazine Briggs Freeman

Up Front
Up F r ont

INTERIORS

Wall Art

Many Tuscan palaces, castles and
villas still bear the creative fruits
of their Renaissance-era guests

Tuscany is a confluence of so many beguiling
things. It’s the birthplace of the Renaissance,
where artistic ambition has been nurtured
over centuries; a collection of impossibly
spectacular vistas; and a stand-in for a slower,
more graceful pace of life. But while its rolling
vineyards and olive groves provide a painterly
backdrop, much of the region’s enduring
allure lies behind closed doors: in the
palazzos, villas and castles that punctuate
the golden countryside. Most of us will never
hold the heavy, metal keys to such long-held
family estates, but a new book, “Tuscan
Rooms,” offers a rare glimpse inside them.
Photographer and author Antonio
Monfreda invites the reader into 22 homes
across the region: a rainbow-hued Florentine
palazzo once owned by fashion designer
Emilio Pucci; a treasure-filled 1,000-year-old
castle that has remained in the same family
for 34 generations; even the skeletal ruins of
a Gothic church. “The houses that dot the
landscape—from the stately Medici villas to
the more humble yet charming farmhouses—
are not simply structures but symbols of
a way of life, a lasting testament to the fusion
of architecture, nature and art,” writes
Martina Mondadori, founder of the lifestyle
brand Cabana, in her introduction.
In the countryside near Florence, there
is the ancestral home of the Ginori porcelain
dynasty, who have lived in their San Lorenzo
estate since the 16th century. While originally
“rather subdued in decoration,” Monfreda
writes, “over the intervening years, the
sparsely furnished white-walled interior
became ever more opulent.” This reached its
apex in the 17th century when the house was
extended. At this time, it was lavishly adorned
with Flemish tapestries and the signature Photos: © Antonio Monfreda.
Doccia porcelain of the manifattura—or
family-founded factory—while also being
painted with intricate verdure murals.

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