New-York tribune., 1907-06-23
THE VILLA P1LMIERI.
This Famous italian House To Be
Occupied by an 4mer;can.

w.
Ellsworth. whose New York home is at No. IS
East SD street had rented for the summer the
famous Villa Palmieri. which is only short dis
tance from Florence. Italy. Mr. Ellsworth who
Is a member Of the firm OF James w. Ellsworth
& Co. Of Cleveland. retired from business about
seven years ago after securing a large fortune
through operations in coal mines and since that
time he has lived in this city. He is a great
lover of art, and in his home in SD street he
has many fine paintings which he has collected
Among these are large number by Inness
which constitute of the most complete col
lections Of the works Of this artist in this coun-
Try III is thought that a desire for further art
study and a hope Of obtaining other art treas-
ureS are the motives which prompted him to
take up his summer quarters in the Villa
Palmieri.
The villa is one of the most beautiful as well
as one OF the most historic in Italy. 1t stands
aD"Ve the River Mensola. near Settignano
short distance below Villa Boccaccio where the
author Of the "Decameron" lived and is supposed
Ca have been born. In fact MANY of the stories
related IN this famous book are supposed to
have been told in the Villa Palmieri, to which
the little coterie Of storyteers moved after
having spent some Of their time Villa Pog-
Slo Hherardo, their first stopping place after
tney had fled from plague stricken Florence
The Villa Palmier dates back to 1886 if not
the villa belonged to Cioni de Ffnf Soon after
ward he sold it To the Toomei who in turn sold
IL 10 Matteo Palmieri, and it descendant
q the latter who had the place partially rebuilt
in 1870 and named ii after himself
During the last two centuries the villa has
been a great favOrite with the English people
visiting that part of Italy. In 1875 Lord Covpcr
and his beautiful young wife visited the place
and they were so taken with its beauty that they
Do st,aS- f,oV,, 81.
place of interest to Britons. and many the
brilliant social functions given in its sIac US
halls. From the year 1924 it occupied by
eccentric woman, Miss Mary Farhi. who. after
living in it for thirty years. left it To the Grand
Duchess Marie Antoinette de Bourbon. In 1874
il passed into the hands of Lord Crawford. in
whose family it has since remained. Several
times the villa was lent by Lady Crawford to
Queen Victoria. and it has been the scene of
many latter day social affairs.
The villa has had many fine statues and paint
ings in and around it. of them by Old mas
ters- One of the latter. which has since found its
way into the National Gallery in London. is an
Interesting picture OF the AsSum ption of Our
Lady attributed by Vasari to BoJticeIli though
considered a painting Of his school. This
picture painted for the Palmieri Chapel in
San Pietro Maggiore, but the owner of the Villa
PaImieri, who accomplished scholar and
a friend Of Cosimo de Medici. had given offence
the Church by writing poem which de
cared TO contain heretical opinions on the sub
ject of angels. The painting. therefore, which
contained pictures Of Matteo Pameri and his
wife, COSa Serragh, looking up at the angelic
faces above them, was denounced by the Church.
and in order to preserve it ii was taken tO the
old scholars villa and walled up. 1t found
there at the beginning of the nineteenth century
and sent TO the National Gallery. The stabs and
cuts inflicted on the figures of Palmieri and his
wife by zealots still visible. Many other art
treasures have been found within the walls of
the old villa and in the gardens there are statues
OF which il would be hard to compute the
value
The villa, with its present modern improve
Inents is a delightful resort in the spring and
summer All about it are beautiful gardens and
terraces baIustrades and oggie and there
high walls overgrown with ivy and cypress A
fine double stairway with graceful sweep leads
into the hoser garden and through the vine
covered walls of this round openings, each Of
which frames an exquisite view Of the surround
ing country Everywhere among the marbles
ana The flowers there is air of antiquity
and rest; perfume continuously filters through
the halls from the gardens; the scenery from
the balustrades is beautiful every side.
and there is little that is needed for personal
comfort pleasure which cannot be found in
or ar01lnd This famous old villa