Synopses & Reviews
Amanda Lillie challenges the urban bias in Renaissance art and architectural history by investigating the architecture and patronage strategies in the Florentine countryside during the fifteenth century. Based entirely on unpublished archival material, her book examines a number of villas from this period. The villa emerges as a functional, utilitarian farming unit upon whose success families depended, and where dynastic and patrimonial values could be nurtured.
Review
"This erudite and insightful study by Lillie...makes a significant contribution to the understanding of Florentine villas in the 15th century...The scholarly apparatus is exemplary, with useful ground plans, appendixes, bibliography, and photographs...this book will stand as a foundational resource on the subject...Highly recommended." CHOICE, A.V. Coonin, Rhodes College
Review
"This is an elegant, thoughtful book. Much of the urban and rural environment of fifteenth-century Florence has been lost, and Lillie's analysis suggests that most of these lesser Florentine villas, isolated and unrecognized, have been especially susceptible to the powerful forces of change. Her careful documentary reconstruction not only rescues many of these villas from oblivion, but makes an important contribution to an understanding of how many Florentine villas assumed their forms through a gradual and complex evolutionary process." CAA Reviews David Karmon
Review
"remarkable detail" -Mark Rosen, University of California, Berkeley
Synopsis
This 2005 book investigates the architecture and patronage strategies of Florentine villas in fifteenth-century Italy.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Part I. The Strozzi: 1. The acquisition and alienation of country property; 2. The agricultural estate; 3. Sites; 4. The villa complex; 5. Repair, construction and rural patronage; 6. The architecture of a 'Casa da Signore': Santuccio; 7. Villa interiors; 8. Villa functions and attitudes; Part II. The Sassetti: 9. The Sassetti family and their property; 10. Francesco Sassetti's Villa at La Pietra; 11. The Villa at La Pietra in the context of contemporary architecture; 12. The role of the Villa at La Pietra in the life of Francesco Sassetti; Conclusion; Appendices.