Torre di Bellosguardo

22 THE HILL OF BELLOSGUARDO Long before the villa assumed its present form, the hill of Bellosguardo was already prized for its extraordinary position. Fromhere Florence unfolds in a single, sweeping panorama: the Arno valley, the Duomo, the towers and the distant Tuscan hills. Its very name means “beautiful view”. For centuries this ridge was chosen by those who sought air, distance, silence — and the privilege of observing the city without being immersed in it. Archaeological and topographical studies suggest that the hill may have held strategic value since antiquity, perhaps along the routes linking Fiesole and Volterra. Whether or not earlier fortifications stood here, the defensive and contemplative potential of the site was evident long before the villa took shape. THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY: GUIDO CAVALCANTI’S HUNTING LODGE In the thirteenth century the Torre di Bellosguardo was built by the Florentine nobleman and poet Guido Cavalcanti, a leading figure of the Dolce Stil Novo and a close friend of Dante Alighieri. Conceived as a hunting lodge and rural retreat, the tower rose more than twenty-five metres above woodland and farmland south of the city walls. Though solid and defensive in appearance — as was customary in medieval architecture — its primary function was residential and symbolic: the rural presence of a noble family overlooking Florence. Documents attest to Cavalcanti ownership until the fifteenth century. For generations, Bellosguardo remained linked to their name. A TOWER , A POEM, A CHO I CE POLITICAL TURMOIL ANDMEDICI CONFISCATION Renaissance Florence was marked by factional conflict. Following conspiracies and reprisals, the properties of rival families were confiscated. Historical sources indicate that Bellosguardo passed under Medici control during this turbulent period. In 1559 Cosimo I de’ Medici granted the estate to his loyal chamberlain, Captain Ernando Sernese. After subsequent transitions through ducal administration, the property was sold in 1583 to Girolamo di Antonio Michelozzi Boni. A transformative Renaissance phase thus began. THE RENAISSANCE TRANSFORMATION: THE MICHELOZZI ANDTHE ROTI MICHELOZZI Under theMichelozzi family—laterdividedintotheMichelozzi and Roti Michelozzi branches — the medieval lodge evolved into a villa. Between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the battlements were removed and the tower roofed; a grand hall was created. An L-shaped portico and an upper loggia were built around a courtyard. Elegant kneeling windows articulated the façade. Above the entrance a marble group depicting Charity (Caritas) was installed, attributed to Pietro Francavilla, a pupil of Giambologna. Francavilla’s signature, discovered on the pedestal, strengthens this attribution. THE FRESCO CYCLE ANDTHE THEME OF CHARITY The Aula Magna preserves a cycle of frescoes centred on the theological virtue of Charity. Traditionally attributed to Giovanni da San Giovanni, the frescoes were later re- examinedby Professor CliftonOlds, whoproposedapossible attribution toBernardino Poccetti, a prolific artist active in Medicean Florence. The programme comprises eighteen narrative scenes drawn from the Old and New Testaments, culminating in Faith, Hope and Charity — with Charity placed