CASA PERUZZI-MAZZONI

Professor Carrara totally spoils my Modern Italian class.
Dean Burke and his wife accompanied us on our tour this afternoon, and he was telling us all that this class is entirely unique, "This class, Modern Italian Art with private tours of private collections, is taught nowhere else in Florence, nowhere else in Italy, nowhere else in the world." And I know it's true. Carrara takes us to places every week that totally astonish me. Each palace is stunning and the art work is breathtaking, along with beautiful architecture, frescoes, gardens, and the most gracious hosts.

CRYSTAL CHANDELIERS

This week we walked to Via Farini, near the same square where Palazzo Wilson-Gattai is located. The three story palace was built from 1870-1880. We were honored to tour the second story or "piano nobile" apartment owned by the Peruzzi-Mazzoni family.

FRESCO OF THE GODDESS FLORA

The walls and ceiling of the palace are decorated by the famous artist Gaetano Bianchi, who is most widely known for his work restoring the Bardi and Peruzi Chapels in Santa Croce and his frescoes of the Bargello walls.

TOTAL DISBELIEF AT THE BEAUTY

His studio was most sought after by the upper class of the late 19th century Florence, just like that of Ghirlandaio to for Florence in the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Signorini and Borrani, whom we have just studied for my last Modern Italian class, both worked for Bianchi.

ADORING THE BEAUTIFUL MOTIFS

The Entrance room we walked into was absolutely stunning. The walls and ceiling are decorated with groteschi style motifs in the tradition of Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Raphael, among others.

PORTRAIT OF GAETANO BIANCHI

STUNNING CEILING FRESCOES

The First Hall ceiling is decorated with flowers and the central area is painted with the tapestry motif that once decorated the walls.

THE GRAND FIRST HALL

UBALDINO AND EMILIA PERUZZI

There were also some precious family photos located in this room of Ubaldino and Emilia Peruzzi. Ubaldino Peruzzi was the mayor of Florence from 1870-1877 and his wife Emilia would have and intellectual salon gathering in their Borgo dei Greci palace every week.

REFRESHMENTS ON THE PIANO

SITTING ROOM OF THE SECOND HALL

FIRST HALL LOOKING INTO THE SECOND HALL

JUPITER, DIANA, HEBES, & AURORA

The Second Hall ceiling is decorated with Jupiter, Diana, Hebes, and Aurora. The fresco was most likely done between July-october because of the astrological signs that can be seen faintly floating in the clouds behind the gods and goddesses.

THE DRAWING ROOM

Signora Peruzzi's Drawing room was originaly the dining room with a depiction of Bacchus and Ariadne on the ceiling adorned with winged spirits or "putti" which are tossing flowers from the ceiling; this is a reference to the Ducal Palace in Mantua.

OUR DELICIOUS LUNCH

RENAISSANCE LACE CURTAINS

ART NOUVEAU HALLWAY

LEDA AND THE SWAN

The gorgeous Master bedroom decorated the the story of Leda and the Swan on the ceiling, which was most likely done by the Macchiaiolo artists, Odoardo Borrani.

Also, there was an angel over the bed which was Angiolo Andreini's wedding gift for his granddaughter.

PROF. CARRARA & SIMONETTA MAZZONI-PERUZZI

The lady of the house, Simonetta Mazzoni-Peruzi is the descendant of a very prominent family of sculptors on her mother's side. The is one of the kindest women I have ever met. I breifly got to meet her the week before at our luncheon at Palazzo Wilson-Gattai and she gave me some advice on places where I can go to study Dante since we shared a love for the Divine Comedy.

PORTRAIT OF ONE OF SIMONETTA PERUZZI'S ANCESTORS

Simonetta Mazzoni-Peruzzi's family was already active in 1843 in Florence and their studio, which they were given by Grand Duke Leopod II, is on Via delle Ruote. Her grandfather, Angiolo Andreini, together with his older brother Mario and younger brother Carlo, were fourth generation sculptors. According to Angiolo, his older brother Mario would have been the most talented of the three had he not died of the Pandemic Flu in 1918 at only 24.

Mario was only 18 when he won a competition for a monumental fountain to be assembled in Montreal with Queen Victoria surrounded by Faith, Hope, and Charity. Sadly, he was unable to complete the work because of his premature death.

KING UMBERTO II

Angiolo Andreini was trained as a sculptor by Libero Andreotti, regarded as one of the finest sculptors of the early 20th century. From 1925-1935 the Andreini studio was commissioned to carve life-size marble statues of Michelangelo's best known works for the Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles. Angiolo carved the David in 1937 and several pictures in the palace show the Crown Prince of italy, later known King Umberto II, visiting the Andreini studio before the statue was shipped to the United States.

PHOTO OF "DAVID" BEFORE HE WAS SHIPPED AWAY

Between 1936 and 1942 Princess Maria Demidoff commissioned the restoration of the Monument to Nicola Demidoff. The statue was badly damaged and they even had to reconstruct some of the missing or broken parts.

To see photos and read about my tour with Carrara to the Piazza where the momument is located, CLICK HERE.

Unfortunately the allied bombings of March 3, 1944 destroyed the Andreini studio and other works commissioned for the Demidoff Princess. Although soon afterwards, the Princess gave Angiolo Andreini a generous load of timber to rebuild the studio.

OUR GRACIOUS HOSTS

There is also a portrait of Tommaso Peruzzi, ANgiolo Angelini's great grandson from 1982. I also got the chance to meet Tommaso. He's extremly nice and gave me some encouraging words about putting my heart and mind into studying in Florence and perhaps being able to stay in the gorgeous city for the summer. We talked for a long time after the tour and I blabbed on and on about how blessed and fortunate I was that they let us into their palace to look at all the artwork.
Later I found out that he is also the Property Manager of Villa Sogara and Verona. And to my total disbelief after I was talking to Carrara about how I was unable to travel to Verona this past weekend, Tommaso invited us to stay at the Villa Sogara, an upscale vacation home to the rich and the famous of Italy. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? It still doesn't feel real.

To see a glimpse of the stunning Villa Sogara's, CLICK HERE.

The entire time I felt like I was dreaming. It was also very entertaining to hear that as Carrara's sister-in-law was searching for Palazzo Wilson-Gattai on Google.com, my Blog popped up! She, Prof. Carrara, Dean Burke, and Simonetta Peruzzi all teased me about my enthusiasm and told me they would take a look at my blog, so here I am, taking extra time to show off and explain the delicate treasures of the casa Peruzi-Mazzoni. Ciao!