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Room with a View
Florence exerted a magnetic pull on the Americans. The city still maintained its historical feel even though the redevelopment forced on the city by the House of Savoy with the demolition of the Mercato Vecchio, the Ghetto and the city walls, was slowly altering the image these "sentimental travellers" had been drawn by.
Their first encounter with Florence tended to be a hotel in the city, but their primary aim was to rent or buy a suitable hillside villa just outside town, especially if it were set in a neatlytended garden. Such residences allowed them to live close to nature and the landscape, and were to become sought-after locations for those moving in cultural and social circles and as subject matter for atmospheric paintings and literary metamorphoses.
The Americans would set out from these unique vantage points on foot, in carriages, on bicycles or in cars to discover the views and monuments of Tuscany, hallowed by a tradition which had become almost mythical in the foreigners' eyes.
John Singer Sargent (Firenze 1856-London 1925)
The Hotel Room
c. 1904-6
oil on canvas
Private collection
Telemaco Signorini (Firenze 1835-1901)
The Old Market
1881-3
oil on canvas
Viareggio, Istituto Matteucci
Their first encounter with Florence tended to be a hotel in the city, but their primary aim was to rent or buy a suitable hillside villa just outside town, especially if it were set in a neatlytended garden. Such residences allowed them to live close to nature and the landscape, and were to become sought-after locations for those moving in cultural and social circles and as subject matter for atmospheric paintings and literary metamorphoses.
The Americans would set out from these unique vantage points on foot, in carriages, on bicycles or in cars to discover the views and monuments of Tuscany, hallowed by a tradition which had become almost mythical in the foreigners' eyes.
John Singer Sargent (Firenze 1856-London 1925)
The Hotel Room
c. 1904-6
oil on canvas
Private collection
Telemaco Signorini (Firenze 1835-1901)
The Old Market
1881-3
oil on canvas
Viareggio, Istituto Matteucci
