Villa Medicea della Petraia

Villa Medicea della Petraia began as a fortified property and was transformed by the Medici into a country villa set among terraces and gardens. Its frescoed courtyard, formal garden and later Savoy furnishings preserve successive layers of Florentine court life.

Why it matters

Ferdinando I de' Medici's reconstruction made the Petraia an influential model of the Tuscan country villa. Its history continued under the Lorraine rulers and the House of Savoy, whose period of residence reshaped the building's interiors. The villa and garden form part of the UNESCO-listed Medici Villas and Gardens of Tuscany, inscribed in 2013.

What to notice

The courtyard preserves two major fresco cycles: scenes of Godfrey of Bouillon attributed to Cosimo Daddi and the Fasti Medicei by Baldassarre Franceschini, known as il Volterrano. During the Savoy period, the courtyard was converted into a ballroom beneath a glass-and-iron roof. Outside, the formal garden retains three terraces: the Parterre, the Vivaio and the Figurina. A lunette by Giusto Utens depicting the villa is preserved inside the building. The Fountain of the Labyrinth once held Giambologna's bronze Venere Fiorenza, now conserved indoors.

Context and history

The property came to Cosimo I in the mid-sixteenth century. His son Ferdinando I undertook the reconstruction that established its country-villa form. Ownership later passed to the Lorraine grand dukes and, after Italian unification, to the Savoy family. King Vittorio Emanuele II and Rosa Vercellana lived at the villa, and their apartments were rearranged and furnished with objects from royal residences. The property subsequently passed to the Italian State and is now part of the national museum system in Tuscany.