Tuscany and the Anglo Art Lover.
Cordiality between the British and Tuscany dates back to the late 17th century where it is stressed that the Grand Duke Cosimo III is well disposed towards the British. Cosimo had visited England in 1668-9. However, the end of the Medici dynasty in 1737 led to the absentee rule of Francis Stephen, later Holy Roman Emperor followed in 1765 by Duke Peter Leopold who became head of Florence, an appointment that met with British approval. Amongst his other deeds, Duke Peter opened up the Lawrentian library (designed by Michelangelo) to visitors, as we learn from the travel journal of the artist John Flaxman who visited Florence with his wife on the way home from Rome in 1787. British artists like Flaxman spent some time in the Medici Chapel as we can see from his sketchbook which has drawings of Michelangelo’s sculpture from the Medici chapel in San Lorenzo. To the British, Florence was a “home from home” as we can see in the writings of travellers like Miller, Piozzi and Jane and John Flaxman who have favourable things to say about the good catering and living in Florence. British tourists remarked on the “good figure” of the houses and buildings in Florence. And what we could call the “Florentine aesthetic” compared favourably with the baroque curves and columns of Rome and Naples. This view had been propagated by Joseph Addison and Edward Wright whose opinions were echoed later in the century by other travellers such as Nugent and Northall. The facades of the palazzi and fronts in the Tuscan or “rustic” order were especially admired by the British because of their perceived similarity to the Palladian style which had been made fashionable in England by the Earl of Burlington.
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