The gardens of the Gamberaia: permanence and change

Abstract

What was the appearance of the Gamberaia at the time of the Lapi (1610–1718)?1 How were the spaces and sites it comprises organized, and what were the architectural components of a villa that, from the mid-eighteenth century, came to be celebrated as one of the most important in the vicinity of Florence? For the early, Lapi period of the villa,2 the evidence is scarce, but we possess the description that accompanies the 1718 notarial act for the change of ownership from the Lapi to the Marchesi Capponi. The passage, though brief, is significant, for it records a number of places that still compose the garden: ‘Una villa signorile posta nel popolo di S. Maria a Settignano, luogo detto Gamberaia, con tutte le sue stanze e sotterranei, fontane, giardini, selvatichi, viali, cappella, palla e corda, pallottolaio, casa per giardiniere, vasi e stanze, piante di agrumi e di fiori’.3 The overall spatial composition of the gardens seems to be already established, and we can recognize specific areas: the viale is the long garden avenue, perhaps a place for the game of palla e corda; the selvatichi are probably the ilex woods; the stanze da vasi must refer to the rooms of the limonaia.