The splendor of the museum “Casa Martelli”

Despite its generous size, the mansion had one significant limitation: the absence of outdoor spaces such as gardens or cloisters. However, ingenious solutions were adopted to overcome this lack:

The Winter Garden: the mansion holds a magnificent winter garden, a setting recreated with the evocative trompe-l’œil technique. This space, dedicated to family rest, was created during the 19th century, at the height of the Romantic era, when the rediscovery and idealization of nature were central to aesthetic taste. The sense of illusion is provided by the perspectives that resemble a real pergola scattered with animals and floral elements.

The room known as the “Boschereccio” room: it can be described as a kind of ancestor of the modern spa. It is in fact a room for relaxation and houses a large marble tub, designed to offer the illusion of bathing surrounded by nature. This room dates back to the early nineteenth century. Its corners were rounded and the room was entirely painted, using a technique that aimed to eliminate corners creating an ‘en plein air’ effect typical of the romantic taste of the time. In ancient times, the furniture further contributed to this illusion, evoking the atmosphere of a forest, and even the floor imitated beaten stone to simulate natural terrain.

The ballroom: it is thought of as if it were a village square. In fact, it looks like an outdoor place. There are doorways, false windows and false balconies and lighting elements that resemble a street. The ceiling is slightly light blue to reproduce a clear sky. The musicians stood in the balcony, and the stones in the room were colored in such a way as to serve as a guide for all those who were not very skilled in the art of dancing.

One of the first important figures in the family was Roberto Martelli, a prominent figure in Florence in the first half of the 15th century, a period marked by the division between Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Martelli family initially sided with the Albizi family, who were also bankers, but thanks to a wise choice by Roberto, they made a change of alliance, moving closer to the Medici. This choice led Robert to a position of responsibility in the Medici bank in Basel, and it was his insight that led to the Council’s move from Basel to Florence. This event proved crucial for the city, which hosted the Emperor of the East and numerous other prominent figures, fostering the development of Florentine Humanism and trade.

Another painting of considerable interest, more for its historiography than artistic value, depicts the Martelli family in 1777. It shows Niccolò Martelli with his wife, his son Marco, and the latter’s wife, Teresa Pucci. Niccolò and Marco are credited with the birth of the family art collection, as they were the ones who initiated its growth. The importance of the painting also lies in the fact that the family is portrayed exactly in the room where the work is currently on display. Behind them is a servant offering chocolate in a cup, a detail that at the time communicated the family’s great power and wealth. Finally, two figures from behind symbolize the many visitors who already at the time frequented the house to admire the collection.

In the second room of the picture gallery is a ceiling embellished with a late 18th-century fresco by Niccolò Connestabile, depicting the marriage of Camilla Martelli to Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. This event marked the transition from an initially professional connection with the Medici family to a full-fledged family bond. For Cosimo, this was a second marriage; from his first marriage to Eleonora da Toledo, a union based on love and from which eleven children were born, he was widowed prematurely. His relationship with Camilla, initially as a lover, was later formalized through the Pope’s favor, although Cosimo’s eldest son, Francesco, opposed these second marriages. The union was thus morganatic, excluding Camilla from any right of succession to the title or inheritance. After only four years of marriage, Cosimo died, and Francesco, against Camilla’s wishes, forced her to retire to a convent, where she lived for fourteen years, gradually losing her mind through confinement.

In the same room, we can admire tables that testify to the mastery of working with semi-precious stones, an art that found its greatest expression in the Chapel of the Princes and led to the founding of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, an institution that is still active today and famous throughout the world.

Prominent among the objects featured are the small travel portraits. These small-scale artifacts were particularly useful in the 18th century, the era of the Grand Tour, when long journeys across Europe made it difficult to maintain constant eye contact with loved ones. These portraits thus served as the ancestors of photographs, allowing people to carry the image of loved ones with them.

A special room within the house is the small private chapel of Francesca Martelli, where a rare wax bust of Scipione de’ Ricci, a member of the Martelli family, which came as a wedding gift, is preserved. The rarity of this object is due to the fragility of wax as a preservation material. Scipione de’ Ricci was bishop of Pistoia and Prato. During the restoration of the bust, it was discovered that the statue’s hair was authentic and even had traces of lice eggs, a common infestation in that century, which often led to a preference for wigs.

Interestingly, the three basic pillars of the Martelli collection were targeted purchases, dowries brought into the family through marriages, and art objects accepted in payment from insolvent clients in exchange for money.

This is a room where fine silk, produced on Tuscan farms owned by the family that directly raised silkworms, entirely covers the walls. This room was intended for important meetings, designed to ensure an atmosphere of equality among the interlocutors. The décor was designed to avoid any form of hierarchy, with no thrones or higher seats, allowing each participant to present his or her ideas on the same level. An audience could also be present, seated on the sofas, but without the right to speak. This room holds a precious Annunciation by Piero di Cosimo, a work later than the Tondo Doni and characterized by its classic circular shape.

Above the yellow drawing room is a magnificent large-scale fresco that is allegorical of the four continents.

In the late 18th century, the worldview was still heavily influenced by geographical exploration and the emerging natural sciences, while remaining steeped in allegory and symbolism. The four known continents Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, were often represented artistically as female figures, personifications that embodied their perceived characteristics. Europe, for example, was depicted as a richly dressed and bejeweled queen, a symbol of power and civilization; Asia, with exotic features and sumptuous ornaments, evoked wealth and mystery; Africa, often depicted with savage attributes or with reference to slavery, reflected prejudice and limited knowledge of the continent; and America, finally, was personified by a more “savage” and untamed figure, with elements that recalled the indigenous peoples and natural resources of the New World. These representations, although artistically elaborate, reveal a hierarchical and Eurocentric worldview, where each continent was defined in relation to Europe and its values.

Finally, we find a room with a fresco from 1840 that tells a story of scandal and marriage. On one side is depicted “Love,” unusually without a blindfold, flanked by two female figures: one holding reins, the personification of “Temperance,” and the other representing “Legal Love.” The fresco draws inspiration from an episode involving Marco, the eldest son of the Martelli family at the time, who became the protagonist of unconventional actions. He fell in love with Teresa Ristori, a woman of humble origins, a liaison frowned upon but somehow tolerated by the society of the time. The situation became complicated when Marco had three children by Teresa and subsequently decided to marry her. To hide his noble identity, the groom provided a false name during the ceremony. In order to maintain the pretense and get away from Florence, Marco had a villa built near Arezzo, where he moved with Teresa and their children.

However, after a few years, Teresa discovered the truth and filed a lawsuit against her husband to ensure her children’s right to the Martelli family inheritance. Years of trials in various Tuscan cities followed, at the end of which the marriage, celebrated with false generalities, was declared null and void, thus depriving Teresa’s children of any noble title.

As a consequence of this scandal, Marco lost his rights of primogeniture, and the inheritance passed to his second son, Alessandro, who contracted a better marriage in accordance with social conventions, just as the allegory in the fresco suggests, with the intention of preserving the prestige and continuity of the Martelli lineage.