HISTORY, ARTISTS & HISTORICAL FIGURES, ARCHIVES
Villa Gioli in Fauglia
The residence was built at the end of the 18th century, most likely as a hunting lodge, expanding progressively to its current size from the late 19th century onwards thanks to the famous Gioli brothers, painters Luigi and Francesco. It went on to become one of Tuscany’s main cultural cenacles and a propitious artistic environment for the Macchiaioli movement. Both the villa’s intrinsic historical and artistic value can thus be credited to its listing as Italian national heritage.
The villa’s classical architectural style lends it a 19th century air. A solid, two-storey rectangular block is flanked by an adjoining chapel on the eastern wing and a high tower to the west. The tower, crowned by an open, four-sided loggia and sustained by a brick portico, dates back to 1873. It was built both to provide breath-taking views across the Arno Valley hills, which extend from the city of Pisa all the way to the sea, and to serve as a light-filled artists’ atelier thanks to its large arched windows.
The gardens
A long Linden tree-lined path leads to a garden established at the same time as the residence, which is cleverly integrated into the peaceful, green, hilly landscape. Dozens of centenary oak trees, rosebushes, other tree species and many potted plants reside there alongside lemon trees in large planters. An olive grove with 380 trees, many of them centuries-old, lies between the garden and the forest.
The Villa Gioli Cenacle
Francesco Gioli and his wife Matilde Bartolommei envisaged the villa as a place to receive guests and encourage artistic production. The vast gardens became a backdrop for Francesco Gioli’s paintings, but also for many other artists, like the Macchiaioli, for whom plein-air painting provided fresh inspiration to transpose onto canvas. Indeed, it was there that Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908) found the motivation to persevere with his paintings, which went on to change the face of Italian art. Fattori began visiting Francesco Gioli and Matilde Bartolommei’s villa in 1872, and the promising painter benefitted, in particular, from Matilde’s sophisticated refinement and writing talents. Fattori returned the favour in kind by producing several paintings on the property, such as Ragazza che cuce in giardino and Vallospoli, now housed in the Palazzo Pitti’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Florence. Giovanni Fattori and Francesco Gioli’s artistic association led the two friends to exhibit together at the Salon de Paris in 1875.Theirs was a lifelong friendship: when Fattori returned to Paris in the summer of 1875, he painted a portrait of Matilde Gioli and her dogs in the gardens of the villa in Fauglia.
In 1903, the correspondence between Francesco Gioli and Giovanni Fattori grew to be ever more prolific and, in 1924, Matilde Bartolommei published a monography on Giovanni Fattori. The Villa Gioli cenacle hosted other illustrious guests: Diego Martelli (1839-1896), an art critic and benefactor who “invented” the Macchiaioli movement on his Castiglioncello property; politician Sidney Sonnino (1847-1922), who would later become Prime minister, and painters Telemaco Signorini (1835-1901) and Silvestro Lega (1826-1895). The latter developed a firm friendship with Francesco Gioli whilst in Fauglia and, like Fattori, found there the incentive to overcome family-related trials and tribulations to resume his painting in 1878. Thanks to affinities with Luigi Gioli, the villa in Fauglia also hosted writer Renato Fucini (1843-1921), who invited Luigi to illustrate his short stories (Veglie di Neri), and none other than Giorgio Kienerk (1869-1948), the painter from nearby Livorno, who often spent his summer months at the Villa de Poggio all Farnia, not far from the Villa Gioli.
Artists and historical figures
Daughter of the marquis and senator Ferdinando Bartolommei (1821-1869), one of the most influential Tuscan politicians of the time and a key player of the Risorgimento, Matilde was born in Florence in 1848. From an early age, she demonstrated a natural flair for the Arts and Humanities, becoming friendly with the artists who frequented the Michelangiolo Café in Florence.
An accomplished writer, after her marriage to Francesco Gioli, Matilde became the veritable soul of the Villa Gioli’s cultural salon. Following her husband’s lead, she returned to painting, producing artworks of great intensity. According to critics, “her contact with the Macchiaioli painters significantly impacted her pictural capabilities, as she assimilated the sense of immediacy and naturalism that characterised the best of the Macchiaioli movement”. According to Comanducci, her paintings are considered “among the most important of those of the late 19th century in Tuscany”. She passed away in Florence on 18 March 1932.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinando_Bartolommei
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ferdinando-bartolommei_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
Born in San Frediano a Settimo, a hamlet in Cascina (Pisa), on 29 June 1847 to Ranieri and Rosa Del Panta. The eldest son of a well-to-do family, he studied at the Accademia d’Arte di Pisa, and from 1863, at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze under Antonio Ciseri. Francesco began painting in 1868 in Florence and achieved success in 1878 when he won a prize at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, earning a silver medal for Ai campi di giugno. Strongly faithful to the Macchiaioli spirit, he also exhibited in Rome and in London, at the Royal Academy. In 1888, Francesco was named Professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna and, the following year, in Florence. His prolific production continued beyond the turn of the century, and he participated in all the large exhibitions in Italy and abroad: Munich in 1901, Buenos Aires and Brussels in 1910, and the Royal Academy of London in 1901 and 1913. In 1914, the Venice Biennale recognized his international success with an important retrospective boasting no less than fifty-three artworks, covering his entire artistic trajectory, from his first forays amongst the Macchiaioli up until his final works inspired by Divisionism and Symbolism. He passed away in Florence on 4 February 1922.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Gioli
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/francesco-gioli_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/
Born in San Frediano a Settimo, a hamlet in Cascina (Pisa), on 16 November 1854 to Ranieri and Rosa Del Panta. Younger brother to Francesco, he pursued legal studies and obtained his Bachelor of Laws, despite exhibiting a keen taste for artistic endeavours, which he discovered in his youth at the Accademia d’Arte di Pisa, and which he subsequently returned to. While sharing a house with his brother, Luigi became a fixture of the tardomacciaioli circles, with whom he shared an interest for pastoral scenes, typical Maremma landscapes and animal compositions. He painted in nature and in a naturalistic style, with a refined pictorial immediacy. Despite actively participating in passionate art-related discussions with friends and colleagues at the family villa in Fauglia, Luigi maintained a strictly Tuscan style, unlike his brother Francesco, who, after his typically Macchiaioli beginnings, branched off into his own unique style with eclectic influences. Most of Luigi’s work now hangs in private collections. In 1887, Luigi was present at the Venice Biennale with Ritorno dal pascolo, presenting the same painting again in Paris in 1889. That same year in the French capital, he received a prize for Scena di Maremma. From then on, he participated in all the important national exhibitions and regularly in those of the Società di belle arti di Firenze. In Milan, he presented Nei prati and Fiera di vacche in 1894 to critical acclaim and public praise. He passed away in Florence on 27 Octobre 1947.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Gioli
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/luigi-gioli_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/
Son of Francesco Gioli and Matilde Bartolommei. As a tribute to his mother, Gino chose to add her name to his father’s, signing numerous articles and scientific treatises as Gino Bartolommei Gioli. Unlike his father and uncle Luigi, Gino dedicated himself to the natural sciences, becoming a Professor of Agricultural Science at the Istituto di Studi Superiori di Firenze. A keen adventurer, he was one of the leading experts of the time on the Italian colonial empire, travelling extensively in Africa to study the climate, biomes and customs of the region in great detail from both a sociological and anthropological perspective. During a trip to Eritrea, he contracted a severe illness that left him blind. Convinced of these territories’ economic potential, he painstakingly recounted his findings in his memoires, published by the Accademia dei Georgofili di Firenzi, where he was elected a Corresponding Member (1901), an Ordinary Member (1903) and finally a Member Emeritus (10 January 1926). His knowledge of the Italian colonial empire led him to propose the establishment of an Istituto agronomico per l'oltremare, in the model of other similar institutions in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Gino Gioli’s vision for the institute was to improve Italy’s colonial policies, which up until that point had not sufficiently valued nor invested in the overseas territories. Indeed, the Istituto agronomico per l'oltremare, officially inaugurated in 1907, was devised as an effective response to requests issued by the colonies themselves. Gino Gioli wed Gabriella del Corona, and together they continued to visit and care for the villa in Fauglia.
Family archives and artist’s archives
Recently reorganised so as to be made fully available to researchers, the family archives at the Villa Gioli reflect the interconnectedness and diverse interests of the luminaries who graced the villa. They also document the history of Fauglia, thanks to the presence of numerous primary resources (from the end of the 18th century/beginning of the 19th century) regarding the vast agricultural properties not strictly linked to the villa. In addition, they contain numerous references and contributions to the archives of the Bartolommei family, of which Matilde was its last representative.
The section on painters Francesco and Luigi Gioli is an essential key to reconstructing the history of the Macchiaioli movement and a reflection of the central role the Villa Gioli’s cultural cenacle played in its development, perhaps surpassed only by the Villa Martelli. Located in Castiglioncello, the latter was home to art critic Diego Martelli and remains a historically significant site that has yet to be properly researched. Diego wrote some seventy letters to the Gioli brothers, which now form part of the archives of Francesco and Luigi Gioli. Donated by Matilde Bartolommei to the Biblioteca Marucelliana in Florence, they form the basis for critical studies of Tuscan art from the late 19th century. Archives from the painters’ atelier also contain documents that have yet to be examined, including previously unpublished manuscripts and a rich repository of photographic reproductions of the two painters’ artworks.
The section dedicated to Gino Bartolommei Gioli is equally rich in correspondence, case reports and manuscripts. These archives are accompanied by a rich photography section, including a series of snapshots taken during Gino’s trips to Africa at the end of the 19th century, a legacy of great scientific significance.
Accomodation
The Villa Gioli provides a welcoming, harmonious environment where nature and culture have dialogued for centuries. Families, groups of friends, students and art lovers are invited to come and stay from May through October.
The villa can be rented in its entirety and for exclusive use. Aside from its six bedrooms and five bathrooms, guests have access to the tower and can visit the painters’ studio with its stunning panoramic views. The adjoining, consecrated chapel may be used for religious ceremonies.
Throughout its history, the Villa Gioli played a significant role for the commune of Fauglia and its surroundings, thanks to the important people who resided there. The villa now functions as a practical, convenient base to explore the neighbouring cities that can attest to this connection, starting with Fauglia itself, home to the Museo Giorgio Kienerk, and the small seaside town of Castiglioncello, where famous art critic Diego Martelli lived. The city of Livorno, home to the Museo Fattori, also deserves a mention, and of course Pisa and Florence, the quintessential city of art, where the paintings of the Gioli brothers can be admired at the Gallerie degli Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. The Biblioteca Marucelliana also houses the entire correspondence between Diego Martelli and the Gioli brothers.
Valentina
"Dans cette magnifique villa la beauté, l’histoire et la sérénité vous donnent un cadre parfait pour des vacances réussies."
Micheal and Marifel
"It was an absolute honor to have the pleasure of staying in such an enchanting little piece of Tuscany. Grazie a million times for allowing us to be a part of Villa Gioli’s history."
Ascanio e Benedetta
“A Villa Gioli si respira il tempo lento della Toscana di una volta e il bello circonda i suoi ospiti con limpida energia.”