Painting
Elizabeth Chaplin – a female Florentine artist of the 20th Century
April 28, 2012 | 
Author 29.4.12
Elizabeth Chaplin was born in Fontenbleu in 1892 but lived and painted in Fiesole, nestled in the hills surrounding Florence.
Trattoria la Garga – difficult to find but worth the effort
Sharon Oddson opened Trattoria Garga in 1979 and since then has developed her own cooking school and writen a book of recipes Once upon a Tuscan Table .
In the past year the restarant has moved from Via dle Moro to Via Santo Zenobi – quite a long walk for those who were sent to the wrong address (I have advised Trip Advisor website!) - but worth the effort to get there – the ambience is strange at first with a huge vaulted ceiling hand painted by Garga ( Babbo of the family!) but the welcome is as exuberant as a Labrador puppy and the food excellent in a slightly off the wall way – with all the famous Tuscan penchant for offal.
I had Taglierini il Magnifico – which Lorenzo would have approved of I’m sure – thin fettuccine with flavours of mint and citrus zest – Yummy!
interior Garga
Casa Guidi – one of the most famous windows in Florence
12.3.12
Casa Guidi Windows –
My news is that today I looked out of them to the beautiful hills of Florence beyond!
English poet and famous eloper Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote from her home in Florence – Casa Guidi – her famous poem in support of the revolution that would lead to a unified Italy. The poem was written in 2 parts, in 1848 when the fight for “liberty” from Austria began and in 1851 – updating the situation and what had actually happened.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was famous for being sickly, and she spent a lot of time in her home, and musing from the windows so the poem was aptly named.
EBB was also vociferous in her support for the “rebels” Her poem became part of the battle cry for Italia and the house became famous because of it’s famous tenant whose lengthy poem contains exhortations such as these below.
Will therefore, to be strong, thou Italy!
Will to be noble! Austrian Metternich
Can fix no yoke unless the neck agree;
And thine is like the lion’s when the thick
Dews shudder from it, and no man would be
The stroker of his mane, much less would prick
His nostril with a reed. When nations roar
Like lions, who shall tame them and defraud
Of the due pasture by the river-shore?
Roar, therefore! shake your dewlaps dry abroad:
The amphitheatre with open door
Leads back upon the benches who applaud
The last spear-thruster.
Today I visited a new friend Victor Barrett Caulfield, who has had the good fortune to become a tenant in the house himself – and the view across the rooftops and past the campanile of Chiesa San Felice is quite exceptionally beautiful – even for Florence – a City who’s beauty still makes me gasp every time I wake up to it and find my smile has switched itself on!
So it was pleasant to imagine the sickly English poet scratching away with a quill pen encouraging Italians to rise up and “roar like lions” – especially since most of the Italians I know agree with Captain Correlli’s famous observation that “we Italians don’t like fighting -we just want to eat well and make love!” – but they did fight – and an United Italy is in place even if stitched with sticking plaster, sellotape and string!
Victor, an Australian who has chosen to live in Florence , wanted to celebrate the Italian Nation when he modelled for a painting group this week, so he has bought a splendid cape in one of our many vintage shops and had a badge of honour made specially for his outfit. A talented young painter, Alyssa was working on his portrait when I arrived and kindly allowed me to photograph her unfinished work for this Blog.
Vittorio Giovanni Caulfield
As you can just see the house is also full of vintage furniture – and the apartment owned by the Browning’s is still maintained in a similar style to how it was kept by the Brownings – for the benefit of visiting tourists
The apartment was bequeathed to Eton College on the death of the Browning’s only son Pen. It is now available as a holiday flat through the Landmark Trust
The apartment is open to the public 3:00–6:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from April to November.
Robert Browning in entrance of Casa Guidi
So how to end? How about another Browning poem that relates to a window – this time it is husband Robert who pictures Fra Fillipo Lippi trapped in the Medici Palace when he spies three slim shapes looking up at him from below :-
Zooks! Sir, flesh and blood,
that’s all I am made of! Into shreds it went
Curtain and counterpane and coverlet,
all the bed furniture – a dozen knots,
There was a ladder! Down I let myself,
Hands and feet, scrambling somehow , and so dropped
And after them, I came up with the fun!
Zooks Sir! Where would Florence be without windows?!!
Vernon Lee – a marginal writer – thanks!
8.3.12
Vernon Lee – aka Violet Paget
This famous portrait of author and sociologist Vernon Lee is usually found in the Tate Gallery in London but is currently on display in Florence at the latest “must see” exhibition at the Strozzi Palace – Americans in Florence . It was painted when both artist and sitter were in their 20′s and they had remained friends from their first childhood introduction.
Violet Paget preferred her masculine “nome de plume” to her actual name, preferred men’s clothing to women’s clothing and so you will not be surprised to learn that sexually she also preferred women to men.
A prolific reader and author of over 90 books on a wide variety of subjects – including ghosts and the Renaissance – Vernon Lee lived in the Palmerino Villa near Maiano, just outside of Florence, from 1889 until her death in 1935 , with only a brief interruption during the war.
On Tuesday 7.3.12 visitors to the library of the British Institute of Florence were treated to an insight into her thoughts through the hundreds of notations she made in the margins of the 425 plus books , written in English, Italian and French that she bequeathed to the library when she died ( a fraction of her actual library!) These books have been housed in a purpose built bookcase and can still be inspected by visitors – including our lecturer Dr Towheed who has spent over a month burrowing through these books and I imagine struggling to read some of the more hastily or angrily written notations!
I was delighted! – writing in margins was forbidden to me – so I have forgotten my own thoughts – mostly hardly worth remembering – but they are sometimes funny to look back at and remember what was going on in your life at the time that provoked the comments!
Tuscan Garden Tour with wine tasting – led by garden historian Dr Katie Campbell14-18 May 2012
Many Tuscan gardens in and around Florence are a mixture of Italian landscape and English formality – we are mixing Italian design and Italian wine for our tours!
These tours are led by a garden expert and driven by a professional and licensed tour driver.
In the late 19th Century, after the Unification of Italy and Florence’s brief period as Capital of Italy, property prices in Tuscany plummeted and allowed Anglo-American expatriates to purchase huge villas at a ridiculously low cost. The advantage to today’s tourist is that these expatriates in exile used their money to re-establish these formal gardens to their previous glory and have left their heritage for us to visit.
Tuscan villas were often surrounded by farms and vineyards with beautiful gardens at the foot of the villa. Tuscans, with their artistic sense and attachments to their surroundings, create gardens that fit into their landscapes and use limited colour that doesn’t perish under the Tuscan sun.
Some details below on our proposed garden visits for May – but they are not yet set in stone so alternative suggestions are welcome.
If you are looking for somewhere to stay or if you want more information about the hotel and tour costs email penny.
Dr Katie Campbell – our guide for these tours is the author of the recent book Paradise of Exiles – the Anglo-American Gardens of Florence
Join us for a week of custom designed garden tours with garden historian Dr Katie Campbell
Whether it is a single afternoon or the full five days, walking tours within the city, day trips to nearby hilltop villas or an extended trip around Tuscany, our garden visits can be tailored to your interests and your budget.
Our schedule below offers a small group a private 5 day tour of various Tuscan gardens – many of which are not generally open to the public.
Saturday 12 May - 16.00 – Katie will give a presentation and Q&A -(plus book signing for sure!) – at the newly and beautifully refurbished BM Bookshop on Borgo Ognissanti – the new owner of this delightful shop is called John Werich, and he has kindly agreed to host this afternoon and refreshments will be provided!
Katie will talk about the Anglo- Americans and the Tuscan Villas they bought and gardens they re-furbished with references to some of the writers and painters featured in the current Americans in Florence Exhibition at the Strozzi Palace
Monday 14 May
private tour to gardens in and around Fiesole
10.00 Sybil Cutting’s Villa Medici with garden redeveloped by English landscape gardener and architect Cecil Pinsent
11.00 Le Balze - home of American Philosopher Charles Strong
12.30 Vincigliata - visit to house and gardens + wine and cheese tasting at this extraordinary medieval castle rebuilt by English peer – Sir John Temple Leader. NB This castle is not generally open to the public but used for weddings and conferences so we are very privileged as a small group to be allowed to visit.
16.30 Il Palmerino – a glimpse of the home and garden of prolific author Vernon Lee - and maybe a cup of tea while Katie introduces this interesting character!
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€99
Castle + wine tour + wine and degustation lunch at Vincigliata = €30
Cost for day €129
Tuesday 15 May
09.30 Villa Schifanoia - in San Domenico – one of the many reputed sites of Boccaccio’s Decameron
11.00 La Pietra - a garden stuffed with statues at the home of the Actons
13.00 Lunch near Fiesole - la Casa del Prosciutto
14.00 - Villa Gamberaia - retreat of Romanian Princess Gyka and English Miss Blood
16.30 Villa Maiano - for wine tasting and antipasti - this is another villa redeveloped by Sir John Temple Leader – now used for period films such as A Room with a View and Tea with Mussolini.
17.30 -if we are in time we hope to drop in for a quick visit to the Iris Gardens of Florence – only open in May with the beautiful view of the City under the setting sun.
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€99
Visit to Villa Maiano + wine tasting and antipasti €15
Cost for day €114
Wednesday 16 May
11.30 Palazzo Picolomini - in Pienza – home of the humanist Pope Pius 11
1.00 lunch in San Quirico d’Orcia – plus a visit to Horta Leonini another small public garden in the village
3.00 La Foce - home of author Iris Origo
drive to Montipulicano - trying to follow the route taken by Iris and family when they had to move their school and hospital from La Foce during the Allied attack – we will stop for a glass of wine there before returning to Florence
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€109
lunch and wine at cost but we have a fixed price menu c€20
Thursday 17 May
a walking tour of gardens in Central Florence
10.00 Boboli Gardens- Grand Duke Cosimo 1 and Eleanor de Toledo’s garden behind the Pitti Palace provided entertainment for their growing family and inspiration for Marie de Medici in Paris
11.30 Bardini gardens - Stefano Bardini - another great collector who sold to the Anglo-American expats
12.30 Tuscan lunch in San Niccolo area
14.30 Giardino Corsini
16.00 possibly Giardini dei Torrigiani,
17.00 Optional taxi up to Bellosguardo for a glass of wine at sunset in the gardens of Torre di Bellosguardo - once home of the formidable Lady Paget
Cost professional guide + entrance to Boboli and Bardini gardens and exhibition of garden painting at the Bardini €60
Friday 18 May
a day trip to Lucca
11.00 Villa Reale aka Villa Marlia - home of Napoleon’s sister when she was Duchess of Tuscany
12.30 Villa Torrigiani, at Camigliano
13.30 lunch in Lucca at Rusticanella 2
14.30 Palazzo Pfanner a setting for a Portrait of a Lady
16.00 - Gardini Garzoni in Collodi
17.30 return to Florence - arrival about 18.45
Cost per head - tour in private Mini-van with professional driver + private professional garden historian guide + entry fee to gardens
=€109
lunch and wine at cost
Cost fluctuates daily for private travel in air-conditioned mini-van with Dr Katie Campbell as private tour guide.
Some images below with links to blogs about our 2011 visits
Villa Marlia – not far from Lucca
11.45 Villa Torrigiano – the Garden of Flora
Dr Katie Campbell
About your tutor
Dr Katie Campbell lectures on the postgraduate Garden History course at Buckingham University, she has led many tours and writes for various publications.
Her most recent book, Paradise of Exiles: The Anglo American Gardens of Florence http://www.franceslincoln.co.uk/en-gb/C/0/Book/1355/Paradise_of_Exiles.html explores the eccentric community of English and American expatriates which gathered in Florence at the end of the nineteenth century, while her earlier Icons of Twentieth Century Landscape Design looks at the seminal designs of the past hundred years.
She has also written a book about Scottish Gardens called Policies and Pleasaunces – Scotlands Gardens Today
Dr Katie Campbell is also a journalist and fiction writer; her plays have been performed on stage and radio and she has published a novel, a collection of short stories and several books of poetry as well as Icons of Twentieth-Century Landscape Design (Frances Lincoln, 2006) and Policies and Pleasances: A Guide to the Gardens of Scotland (Barn Elms, 2007).
Where you can stay?
If you are visiting Florence we can arrange accommodation in various types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets.
Villa le Rondini - guests on the tour can stay in the prestigious hotel Villa le Rondini – set in the hills overlooking Florence this hotel shares the extraordinary views enjoyed by the Anglo-Americans who developed their gardens in Fiesole.
Alternatively Penny can arrange accommodation for you in the centre of Florence. A small bed sit in a big mansion – San Frediano offers large rooms with frescoed ceiling and river views – but we need to book early to secure them!
For more information about the hotel and tour costs email penny direct on penny.howard1@ntlworld.com
Posted in Books, Feature, films set in Italy, Painting, Renaissance Art, Social History, Tuscan gardens, Wine tasting, WW2 | 
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A Touch of Tuscan Spring Sunshine helps the Watercolour Workshop in Stockwell
25.2.12
Watercolour workshop with Glynis Barnes Mellish
painting from our workshop 25.2.12
This little group have painted together before – but under the Tuscan sunshine in the grounds of hotel Villa Le Rondini just outside Florence.
There we discovered a talent for botanic painting and decided to reconvene in London, still with Glynis as our teacher – and take the paintings a step further.
Glynis giving an initial demonstration
We were lucky with the weather, sunshine giving us a good light inside the house, and also enabling us to eat in the garden and not disturb our worktable!
Tucking in - bright sunlight but we still needed our coats
A lovely day which we all enjoyed and everyone did some good work -
Lunchtime lettuce
Sue goes Blackadder
Peter's anemones
Jolanta's apples and onions
Helena's primroses
Ros's full page - spot the models !
However Glynis is still our star and I think we have a way to go to catch her!
As evidence I attach a painting that she has just done for me of my Aunt Rosemarie’s beautiful German Shepherd Suzie! (don’t know where shadow came from – will take a better photo of it!)
Glynis specialises in people portraits in oils – but has started doing their pets too!
Suzie by Glynis Barnes Mellish
Museum di Stefano Bardini – Florence
12.2.12
Everyone knows and visits the Uffizi and Accademia in Florence – and there is so much to see they are always worth revisiting – but when you get the chance to spend more time in the city it is well worth venturing off the beaten track. This is especially true if you have any interest in the Anglo-American expats who settled in Florence after the unification of Italy – and some of the things of value that they brought or restored to the city – or in the Italian Bardini’s case – renovated and sold on to the appreciative Americans.
Stefano Bardini (1854-1922), originally came to Florence to paint at the Florence Academy - but like many artists faced with the genius of Renaissance Florence he gave up his own painting – except for restoration work – and in 1870 started to collect works that had been dismissed as passée in the frenzy of destruction and renewal that possessed Florence when it briefly became the capital of Italy.
Ultimately he became one of the most authoritative Italian antiquarians in Italy – collecting for his own pleasure and displaying them in what became the Palazzo Bardini, situated between Via San Niccolò and Via dei Renai. The Palazzo itself was an example of destruct and renew when he built it in 1880, sympathetically developing it from a collection of other buildings, including a 13th Century church, and unifying them with a new façade.
For his internal restoration Bardini used a variety of old treasures he found in and around Florence and like the other antiquarians collecting in Florence at the time Sir John Temple Leader , Arthur Acton, Herbert Horne and Frederick Stibbert, he decorated his own home with these wonderful artefacts.
When Bardini died he left his collection to the City of Florence and for some time the museum has been closed for restoration. Somewhat amusingly one of the things that has been restored is the colour of the walls – Bardini had chosen a bright blue, which the Florentine’s considered rather poor taste and repainted in beige – however when the work was completed they realised that the stone and terracotta didn’t stand out as well as it had against the blue – so they have put the original colour back…….and with my poor English taste I think it looks rather lovely!
The Blue Wall - as Baldini intended it !
One of the most beautiful things in the collection is this painted terracotta depiction of the Virgin – post Annunciation – dressed as a fashionable early 15th Century Sienese teenager – obviously taking the news very seriously.
Annunication - virgin dressed as a Florentine maiden
Below – from the same Sienese school at around the same period there is another painted terracotta Madonna – this time dressed in Mary’s traditional Royal Blue.
More traditional Mary image - in painted terracotta
And whilst we are admiring beautiful women – this bust of another contemplative lady with golden hair is one of the most striking I have ever seen.
Lovely lady with golden hair
Bardini is also known in Florence for his garden adjacent to the Boboli gardens – with it’s famous flight of baroque steps this Bardini legacy has also been restored and reopened last year and was one of the places we visited during our garden tour in May 2011.
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