Florence, maxi restoration work for Boboli Gardens: more than 15 million euros allocated

The Boboli Gardens is preparing for an ambitious restoration and redevelopment project that will involve several key areas, with the aim of restoring splendor to one of Florence’s most iconic sites. With a total allocation of more than 15 million euros from the Uffizi Galleries, calls for bids managed by the Superintendence of Pisa and Livorno, with which the museum complex has signed a special agreement, are now being launched. Let’s see specifically what the maxi restoration works will cover.

The Amphitheater will return to host performances

TheGarden Amphitheater will return to hosting performances as it once did, while maintaining its architectural and artistic value. The restoration plan, worth a total of 5,150,000 euros, is largely supported by U.S. patron Veronika Atkins, who contributed 4.5 million euros. The work, expected to last ten months, will focus on restoring the steps (including the access stairs), balustrades, 24 aedicules with statues and urns, and the parterre. The basin and obelisk will also be restored, as well as the surrounding paths and the access ramp from the northeast entrance to the Pitti Palace.

In addition to sculptural, structural and vegetal restoration, a fire-fighting water system is planned to ensure safety in areas designated for public entertainment activities, such as the Amphitheater near the Palace and the Prato delle Colonne near Porta Romana. A bidding process has also been called for this additional project.

Island Fountains and Garden: return to water features

The monumental Neptune and Island fountains, after decades of inactivity, will return to operation thanks to a restoration worth 7,665,000 euros. The work, which will take about two and a half years, includes restoring the ancient water features, with as many as 100 original gushing mechanisms. The project also includes work on the water reservoirs, surrounding areas and infrastructure necessary for water supply and maintenance of the parterres surrounding the water reservoirs. In addition, water resource management will be optimized with the construction of two new artesian wells, work on which has already begun.

Plant heritage and internal roads

Another part of the project concerns the garden’s plant heritage, with an investment of 865 thousand euros. The interventions aim to reconstitute the original green fabric, filling gaps and reconstructing the historic landscape design. Hedges, rows of trees, lawns and other plant components that time has deteriorated will be affected. Finally, to improve the safety and usability of the Garden, a plan is being developed to upgrade the pedestrian and vehicular paths. The intervention, which includes Cypress Avenue at a cost of 600 thousand euros, will reduce maintenance needs and make the paths more suitable for modern needs.

Statements

“After months of work, the revitalization of the Boboli Gardens finally begins, with a dense series of interventions, architectural, structural and restoration, both monumental and vegetal, that will reconstitute the original face of the green heart of central Florence. Our guiding star is, as always, that 360-degree historical and collector’s recomposition of the complex’s priceless cultural heritage, which sees, among other things, in the imminent universal opening of the Vasari Corridor the birth for the first time in history of a connective bridge, permanent and open to all, between the various souls of the Medici citadel,” said Uffizi Galleries director Simone Verde.

“Faced with interventions of such exceptional importance and for such carefully drafted projects, it was immediate to sign an agreement with Simone Verde for the management of the procurement procedures, so as to make available to the Uffizi Galleries the high professionalism and the now consolidated experience of the staff of the Superintendence of Pisa. In fact, as of July 1, 2023, the new public contracts code has made the qualification of contracting stations mandatory, and therefore for amounts over 500,000 euros only entities that have qualified, such as the Superintendency of Pisa, can call the contracting procedures,” said Soprintendente Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the provinces of Pisa and Livorno Valerio Tesi. “In short, an effective collaboration has been established with Simone Verde, linking along the banks of the Arno River the Medici palaces of Florence and Pisa.”

Historical background

Commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici, the Fountain of Neptune was designed by sculptor Stoldo Lorenzi in early 1566. Originally, the fountain had a cup-shaped structure supported by marble Tritons and Nereids, with the bronze figure of Neptune inspired by the chariot of the same god made by Lorenzi for the masquerade of the Genealogy of the Gods. In 1596, the fountain was moved to the Prato di Madama (so named because the windows of Christina of Lorraine’s apartment overlooked it), which extended north of the palace in the area towards Santa Felicita, but its location changed again in 1634-36, following the destruction of this part of the garden linked to the enlargements of the Pitti factory. Giulio Parigi and Giovan Battista Pieratti relocated the fountain to the center of the Vivaio Quadro, supplementing it with a masonry rock decorated with limestone formations and fossil sponges from Monte Morello. Pieratti also added the dolphins and marble valva, while the Neptune, Naiads and Tritons were restored by sculptor Bartolomeo Cennini under the supervision of Pietro Tacca.

The Vasca dell’Isola, a central element of the Boboli expansion project commissioned by Cosimo II, was inspired by the mythological theme of the Bath of Venus and the island of Kythera. Conceived by Giulio Parigi, the basin included nine monumental fountains, part of a complex water play designed to enchant visitors. According to historical and archival research, the water features ceased to function as early as the Savoy era, briefly returning to operation in 1948 for a stage set designed by Giorgio Strehler during a performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The current restoration project aims to restore the Island Basin to its original beauty and full functionality, making it once again one of the spectacular centerpieces of the garden.

Designed by Tribolo for Eleonora di Toledo, the BoboliAmphitheater was born as a vegetal architecture, a ’Verzura Amphitheater’ that constituted the ingenious transformation of the pietra forte quarry from which the material for the construction of the Pitti Palace had been extracted. As part of the expansion of the Palace, Cosimo II decided to transform the amphitheater into a masonry amphitheater, although work was interrupted when he died in 1621. Resumed in 1630 by Ferdinand II with Giulio Parigi at the helm, the Amphitheater took on an appearance similar to the one it has today, documented by numerous engravings that testify to the stagings for festivals and carousels. After the performance held in 1739 for the arrival of Grand Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the stalls were transformed into a formal garden, and the Amphitheater lost its function as a venue for performances, and the architectural structures faced gradual deterioration. In the mid-1800s, all grand ducal factories were affected by interventions, including the steps of the Amphitheater. In addition, a wide carriage road was built to connect the Amphitheater more easily to the Cortile di Bacco (1764-65). The project entailed a substantial change for the Amphitheater: the soil, resulting from the mighty earthworks needed to make way for the new architecture, was poured into the stalls, raising their level, the balustrade that closed the theater toward the palace was demolished, and the aesthetics that had characterized this part of the garden in the Baroque era were disrupted. With the arrival of Pietro Leopoldo in 1765, the theater became the perfect setting for country festivals, then very much in vogue, which the Grand Duke wanted in some cases to open to the public. In 1790, under Pietro Leopoldo based on a design by Niccolò Gaspero Paoletti, the Egyptian obelisk, datable to the 13th century B.C. and brought to Rome at the time of the Empire and coming from the collections of Villa Medici in Rome, was placed in the center of the stalls. In 1818 under Ferdinand III, painted terracotta urns were inserted, designed by Giuseppe Cacialli, alternating with the statues. In 1840, under Leopold II on a design by Pasquale Poccianti, the red granite basin (probably belonging to the Terme Alessandrine in Campo Marzio) was inserted at the base of the Egyptian obelisk. The waning of the Grand Duchy also marked the end of court celebrations, and after the last great festival desired by Leopold II in 1839 with Poccianti’s sets, the Amphitheater went on to host other types of performances: 1906 saw the historic concert by Pietro Mascagni, which was followed in the following decades by events of a patriotic nature, festivities related to the Florentine folk tradition, as well as numerous editions of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino until 1997.

Florence, maxi restoration work for Boboli Gardens: more than 15 million euros allocated

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