Villa Corsini is a valuable late Baroque villa with a historic garden, owned by the Strozzi and Corsini families throughout history.
Villa Corsini is located in the hilly area of the Castello district, in the northwestern outskirts of Florence.
Today the villa can be visited. It exhibits collections of Etruscan and Roman sculptures from the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, as well as some artifacts and marble portraits that were once part of the Medici-Lorraine collections.
The villa is adjacent to a historic garden.
The origin of the building dates back to the 15th century, when it was a rural mansion of the Strozzi family. Later, the villa belonged to the Rinieri family, and in the 16th century Niccolo Tribolo designed his first garden here, even before the creation of the famous Boboli Gardens of Florence.
After that, the villa belonged to the Medici and other families.
In 1697, partly due to the proximity to the Villa Medici La Petraia, Filippo Corsini (advisor to Cosimo III de' Medici) bought the villa, after which the property underwent a complete reconstruction in a strict Baroque style designed by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini.
The villa remained the property of the Corsini Princes until World War II, when it was occupied by German troops, and then passed to the allies of the Folgorsky Division. Subsequently, the Corsini rented the villa to the Dorothy nuns, who hosted a boarding school, but the Commissariat requisitioned it for housing by the Municipality of Florence for transfer to four evicted families. In 1956, Tommaso Corsini began the procedure of selling the villa. In 1960, Villa Corsini passed to the Costoli and Boldrini families. In 1968, the Costoli family sold their part to the state, and Boldrini also had to donate his part of the villa. After the villa underwent reconstruction.
Today, a separate section of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence is open within the walls of the villa.
The villa is an elegant example of late Baroque Florentine architecture.
In the center of the main facade stands a large portal with an overhanging balcony, above which the Corsini coat of arms and a large clock surrounded by festoons are placed. The side wings are decorated with vases on the balustrade.
The villa has a courtyard with columns on three sides.
The exposition at Villa Corsini
The exhibition at the villa is aimed at allowing the public to see the works that have been kept here for many years in the so-called "Separate Department of Ancient Sculpture" of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence. The Archaeological Museum itself is located on the Piazza Santissima Annunziata in Florence.
Some of the marble decor and frescoes have been restored in the halls.
The museum of the villa houses some of the most significant marble products, among which stand out: the original Greek lion from the funerary monument of the V century BC, a large Roman statue of sleeping Ariadne (a copy of the Hellenistic original of the II century BC), and the son of Niobe (a Roman copy of the original of the II century BC); Etruscan sarcophagi and sculptures in nenfro from Tuscany (some of which originate from the noble tomb of Statlan), dating from between the end of the 4th and 2nd centuries BC; as well as a valuable female sarcophagus from Tarquinia, decorated with bas-reliefs with figurative scenes full of symbolic meaning, hinting at saving rites and cults, as well as some roman sculptures.
On the upper floor of the villa there are epigraphs and marble portraits that were once part of the Medici-Lorraine collections. The space is also dedicated to the exhibition of some valuable artifacts found in the vicinity, thanks to which the thousand-year history of the Florentine plain can be traced. Among the artifacts are the remains of the "Tomba della Mula" (the second half of the 7th century BC) and funerary sculptures from the archaic workshops of Fiesole, including the exceptional "Chippo da Settimello" of the middle of the 6th century BC.
Sleeping Ariadne
The garden of Villa Corsini
The villa's garden consists of three zones:
- a typical Italian garden decorated with geometric boxwood flowerbeds around a round stone bowl. This garden is also called a fenced garden, because an enclosing wall runs around it;
- "wild garden", because there is mainly wild nature, that is, a wooded area located to the north of the villa;
- a semicircular garden of the four seasons, decorated with columns, benches and statues of the four seasons, sculpted by Isidoro Franchi in 1702-1703.
Practical information
Information about the possibility of visiting the villa and the Corsini garden, opening hours, tickets (if necessary), etc., we recommend checking on the official website: firenze-villa-corsini-a-castello.
The address of Villa and garden Corsini: Via della Petraia, 38, 50141 Firenze FI, Italy.
Coordinates of Villa and Garden Corsini: 43°48'58.0"N 11°13'56.9"E (43.816117, 11.232464).
All accommodation facilities in Florence (hotels, apartments, guest houses, etc.), including in the historical center of the city and more remotely from it, can be viewed and booked here
