Medici Villa of Artimino
The Villa Medici Artimino, also called the Ferdinanda or Villa of the hundred chimneys, is located on a hill opposite to that of the small medieval village of Artimino, part of the municipality of Carmignano (Prato). Today is the venue for conferences, anniversaries and special events, while the basement was set up the Municipal Archaeological Museum
The villa was built by the desire of the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de 'Medici, Filippo Baldinucci, Grand Duke said that during one of the frequent hunting trips to Monte Albano, had stood on this hill, in the company of the now senior architect Bernardo Buontalenti and struck by the charm of the place, had expressed the desire to build on this very spot a villa for himself and his court.
The villa was built in just four years, from 1596 to 1600 and is a masterpiece of the maturity of the famous architect, the other is a summa stylistic Medici villas and closes the season, completing the regional system of uniforms of the Medici. The old architect, was ill with gout, directed the work of Florence, at rest in his house in Via Maggio, while his staff worked at Saints Maiani and Gherardo Mechini.
The unmistakable silhouette crowned by numerous fireplaces and chimneys, dominates the surrounding area as a bastion to the throat where it is tightened against the Arno mass Gonfolina. Without the mediation of a real park, the building is placed directly in a partly wooded, partly agricultural, imposing with its large geometry. Symbolically it was the place for the visual perception of the entire Grand Duchy, so Ferdinand commissioned the Flemish artist Giusto Utens a series of 17 bezels with Medici villas to be placed in a special exhibition called appuntodelle Ville; dispersed in the twentieth century have come together today at the Museum of Florence as it was in Florence, although three were lost, while in the villa were later arranged for copies. Adjoining room called the war, the same artist created many lunettes with scenes of battles, which are completely lost.
The villa was the favorite of Ferdinand for the summer and the floor was made to decorate with frescoes by Domenico Passignano and Bernardino Poccetti with mythological subjects and allusions to the virtues of Ferdinand: the decorations are still visible in the central hall, the grand-ducal apartments, the lodge and the chapel. There was then a "wardrobe", decorated with extraordinary paintings such as Portrait of Pietro Aretino, Titian and Caravaggio's Bacchus, who are now in the Uffizi.