The Medici Gardens of the Renaissance - Patronage and Power in the 15th Century
Tuesday April 15th at 6pm GMT
Patronage and Power In the 15th Century
The Medici were the owners of the largest banking house in Europe, their power and privilege was displayed in their patronage of artists and architects. They developed a new form of princely residence dedicated to health, leisure and the arts. This rural villa and garden was to be copied not only across Italy but over Western Europe. No longer fortified castles or the more basic farms of their contemporary Tuscans, the Medici took up the idea of the classic villa model as outlined by Cicero. We will look at the early villas by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi as places for otium.
Tuesday April 22nd at 6pm GMT
The Utens Lunettes
In the late 16th century Giusto Utens produced a series of birds-eye view paintings of the Medici villas, their landscapes and gardens. They were commissioned by Fernando I Medici to decorate the Villa Artimino. Of the original seventeen, fourteen survive. We will take a detailed look at the fourteen paintings and the secrets that they hold. The muses on Mount Parnassus, tree houses, automated sculptures, cascades and caves can all be found on close examination. The wonderful detailing of the paintings reveals the ephemeral element of the gardens, the planting, which will be revealed and discussed.
Tuesday April 29th at 6pm GMT
Myths, Grottoes and Monsters in the garden.
Villa di Castello, Pratolino and the Boboli Gardens, these gardens contained grottoes, giants and monsters, all of which were part of an overall narrative. References to Ovid and his Metamorphoses can be found in the gardens and paintings commissioned by many of the Medici, especially Lorenzo de’ Medici. Niccolò Tribolo, Georgio Vasari and Bernardo Buontalenti were the main artists and designers, not all their work survives and nor indeed was it meant to, as their design skills were used for firework displays and stage scenery for plays or intermezzi that took place in the gardens.
Tuesday May 6th at 6pm GMT
Health, Wealth and Parties.
In our final session we discover how and why the gardens were used, and who was allowed access. Medici gardens were places of outdoor pursuits, hunting, jousting, games and parties. They contained menageries of exotic animals and birds. They were used as a ‘theatrical space’ for immensely sophisticated celebrations, with equestrian ballets, naumachias, there were incredible firework displays created by Bernardo Buontalenti (who probably would have preferred to have used his skills as a military engineer). Recent research has discussed the Villa di Castello as being designed as ‘a place of healthful resort’ where Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici would visit in times of ill health. Another role of the garden that John Dixon Hunt has proposed it that the gardens of the Medici were used as aide memoires to trigger responses in the garden visitor.
Information
COURSE COST
£100
4 WEEK ONLINE COURSE
Our online Zoom course will begin on 15th April 2025 from
6 pm-7.30 pm GMT.
All our Zoom courses are recorded and a link will be sent out with notes after each class.
Tuesday April 15th at 6pm GMT
Patronage and Power In the 15th Century
The Medici were the owners of the largest banking house in Europe, their power and privilege was displayed in their patronage of artists and architects. They developed a new form of princely residence dedicated to health, leisure and the arts. This rural villa and garden was to be copied not only across Italy but over Western Europe. No longer fortified castles or the more basic farms of their contemporary Tuscans, the Medici took up the idea of the classic villa model as outlined by Cicero. We will look at the early villas by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi as places for otium.
Tuesday April 22nd at 6pm GMT
The Utens Lunettes
In the late 16th century Giusto Utens produced a series of birds-eye view paintings of the Medici villas, their landscapes and gardens. They were commissioned by Fernando I Medici to decorate the Villa Artimino. Of the original seventeen, fourteen survive. We will take a detailed look at the fourteen paintings and the secrets that they hold. The muses on Mount Parnassus, tree houses, automated sculptures, cascades and caves can all be found on close examination. The wonderful detailing of the paintings reveals the ephemeral element of the gardens, the planting, which will be revealed and discussed.
Tuesday April 29th at 6pm GMT
Myths, Grottoes and Monsters in the garden.
Villa di Castello, Pratolino and the Boboli Gardens, these gardens contained grottoes, giants and monsters, all of which were part of an overall narrative. References to Ovid and his Metamorphoses can be found in the gardens and paintings commissioned by many of the Medici, especially Lorenzo de’ Medici. Niccolò Tribolo, Georgio Vasari and Bernardo Buontalenti were the main artists and designers, not all their work survives and nor indeed was it meant to, as their design skills were used for firework displays and stage scenery for plays or intermezzi that took place in the gardens.
Tuesday May 6th at 6pm GMT
Health, Wealth and Parties.
In our final session we discover how and why the gardens were used, and who was allowed access. Medici gardens were places of outdoor pursuits, hunting, jousting, games and parties. They contained menageries of exotic animals and birds. They were used as a ‘theatrical space’ for immensely sophisticated celebrations, with equestrian ballets, naumachias, there were incredible firework displays created by Bernardo Buontalenti (who probably would have preferred to have used his skills as a military engineer). Recent research has discussed the Villa di Castello as being designed as ‘a place of healthful resort’ where Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici would visit in times of ill health. Another role of the garden that John Dixon Hunt has proposed it that the gardens of the Medici were used as aide memoires to trigger responses in the garden visitor.
Information
COURSE COST
£100
4 WEEK ONLINE COURSE
Our online Zoom course will begin on 15th April 2025 from
6 pm-7.30 pm GMT.
All our Zoom courses are recorded and a link will be sent out with notes after each class.
Tuesday April 15th at 6pm GMT
Patronage and Power In the 15th Century
The Medici were the owners of the largest banking house in Europe, their power and privilege was displayed in their patronage of artists and architects. They developed a new form of princely residence dedicated to health, leisure and the arts. This rural villa and garden was to be copied not only across Italy but over Western Europe. No longer fortified castles or the more basic farms of their contemporary Tuscans, the Medici took up the idea of the classic villa model as outlined by Cicero. We will look at the early villas by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi as places for otium.
Tuesday April 22nd at 6pm GMT
The Utens Lunettes
In the late 16th century Giusto Utens produced a series of birds-eye view paintings of the Medici villas, their landscapes and gardens. They were commissioned by Fernando I Medici to decorate the Villa Artimino. Of the original seventeen, fourteen survive. We will take a detailed look at the fourteen paintings and the secrets that they hold. The muses on Mount Parnassus, tree houses, automated sculptures, cascades and caves can all be found on close examination. The wonderful detailing of the paintings reveals the ephemeral element of the gardens, the planting, which will be revealed and discussed.
Tuesday April 29th at 6pm GMT
Myths, Grottoes and Monsters in the garden.
Villa di Castello, Pratolino and the Boboli Gardens, these gardens contained grottoes, giants and monsters, all of which were part of an overall narrative. References to Ovid and his Metamorphoses can be found in the gardens and paintings commissioned by many of the Medici, especially Lorenzo de’ Medici. Niccolò Tribolo, Georgio Vasari and Bernardo Buontalenti were the main artists and designers, not all their work survives and nor indeed was it meant to, as their design skills were used for firework displays and stage scenery for plays or intermezzi that took place in the gardens.
Tuesday May 6th at 6pm GMT
Health, Wealth and Parties.
In our final session we discover how and why the gardens were used, and who was allowed access. Medici gardens were places of outdoor pursuits, hunting, jousting, games and parties. They contained menageries of exotic animals and birds. They were used as a ‘theatrical space’ for immensely sophisticated celebrations, with equestrian ballets, naumachias, there were incredible firework displays created by Bernardo Buontalenti (who probably would have preferred to have used his skills as a military engineer). Recent research has discussed the Villa di Castello as being designed as ‘a place of healthful resort’ where Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici would visit in times of ill health. Another role of the garden that John Dixon Hunt has proposed it that the gardens of the Medici were used as aide memoires to trigger responses in the garden visitor.
Information
COURSE COST
£100
4 WEEK ONLINE COURSE
Our online Zoom course will begin on 15th April 2025 from
6 pm-7.30 pm GMT.
All our Zoom courses are recorded and a link will be sent out with notes after each class.