Villa di Quarto

The villa was built in the 15th century and, after various changes of ownership, in 1613 it passed to the Pasquali family, who had it rebuilt by Alfonso Parigi, designer of the Boboli extension. In the 19th century the villa took on its present appearance - it then belonged to Jérôme Bonaparte, former king of Westphalia, who left it to his daughter Mathilde Bonaparte, wife of the Russian nobleman and industrialist Anatole Demidov. The villa's many famous guests included the French historian and statistician Adolphe Thiers, though its most famous resident- and certainly the resident who wrote most about his stay there- was the author Mark Twain. In 1862, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolajevna Duchess of Leuchtenberg, daughter of Tsar Nicolai I., bought the Villa and filled it in the following years with works of art. Karl Eduard von Liphard was head of the circle of advisers around. Until her death in St. Petersburg in 1876 she bought lavishly. The Villa Quarto was inherited by her daughter Helena Countess Stroganov, from the second morganatic marriage.<ref to: Belyakova, Zoia, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolajevna and her Palace in St. Petersburg, London, 1994>.

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was a passionate lover of Italy, in which for decades a number of American authors and artists pitched their tents. Florence is the city especially affected by the Americans and English, who flock there in great numbers every year. The most important personage in the group is Mark Twain, and the villa of his selection is the most sumptuous of them all. The Villa di Quarto lies in a charmingly picturesque spot not far from Florence. It has sheltered the most illustrious people, and all of them have admired its beauty, both natural and man-made -- its magnificent grounds with broad avenues, fountains, and smiling gardens. An idea of it size -- the circumference of the park is over two miles -- may be given by saying that at one time a Russian princess lived there with a suite of one hundred persons. Victor Emanuel II visited it frequently, as it is close to the royal country seat of La Petraia.

The building has a simple but stunning layout, with three floors on the hill side, while on the garden side there opens up a nineteenth-century loggia with three arches on twin columns, replacing an older eighteenth century arcade. The main entrance is located on the side hill, with large doors that lead to a hall enriched by marble busts and a frescoed vault. From the atrium starts monumental gray stone that leads to the first floor where the main saloon is located, the latter about 8 meters high, with vaulted and frescoed ceilings featuring nineteenth century motifs. This is connected to other rooms as grand and the gallery, running parallel to the terrace above the outside portico, from which is possible to enjoy the view of the large Italian garden and the great lawn of the English park. Currently, the landmark villa has been restored with structural and protective interventions in the outer parts completed in 2019.

http://www.twainquotes.com/interviews/critic1904.html

• Regione Toscana

http://www.twainquotes.com/interviews/critic1904.html

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24612760?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

http://www.villadiquarto.it/