Neoclassical architecture in Tuscany established itself between the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century within a historical-political framework substantially aligned with the one that affected the rest of the Italian peninsula, while nonetheless developing original features.
Unlike other regions, where architects often arrived from outside during the years of renewal, the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence directly trained the protagonists of a particularly lively period, especially within the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.R. De Fusco, L'architettura dell'Ottocento, Torino 1980, p. 70.
Historical context
In the first half of the 18th century Tuscany was largely administered by the grand duchy controlled by the Habsburg-Lorraine, and had Florence as its capital. Then there were a number of smaller entities: the Republic of Lucca, which included the city of the same name and neighboring territories; the Principality of Piombino, which extended over the Val di Cornia and part of the Island of Elba; the State of the Presidi, which essentially included the area of Orbetello and was politically dependent on the Kingdom of Naples; and finally, the Duchy of Massa and Carrara, which governed a small territory facing the sea in the northern part of the region.
With the French occupation, the Grand Duchy was succeeded by the Kingdom of Etruria (1801-1807), which also included the State of the Presidi; Piombino and Lucca were united into a single principality, to which the Duchy of Massa and Carrara was also assigned in 1806. In December 1807, the Kingdom of Etruria was suppressed and the grand duchy, still controlled by the French empire, was divided into three territorial departments called "of the Mediterranean," "of the Ombrone," and "of the Arno," with capitals Livorno, Siena and Florence, respectively.G. Drei, Il Regno d'Etruria, Modena 1935, p. 17
At the Congress of Vienna, with the Conservative Order, the Grand Duchy obtained some territorial retouches, with the annexation of the Principality of Piombino, the Presidi State and some minor fiefdoms;L.C. Farini, Storia d'Italia dall'anno 1814 a' giorni nostri, volume I, Torino 1854, p. 199. in 1847 the Duchy of Lucca was also included. In 1860 the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was annexed into the Kingdom of Sardinia, later becoming part of the Kingdom of Italy.
General features The events that affected Tuscany can be essentially distinguished into a pre-revolutionary or at least 18th-century phase, a revolutionary phase coinciding with the French occupation, and a third phase, that of the Conservative Order, which preceded the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy.R. De Fusco, cit., p. 69-70.
Architecturally, the first phase was essentially a reaction to the Rococo;N. Pevsner, J. Fleming e H. Honour, Dizionario di architettura, Torino 2005, voce Neoclassicismo. the cultural climate established by the Habsburg Lorraine favored the transposition of the Enlightenment into architecture, affirming principles more closely aligned with functionalism, with a new aesthetic ideal based on the use of simple geometric forms and the rejection of excessive ostentation.
In the second phase the formal apparatus was affected by Napoleonic influence, with greater derivation from classical Greek and Roman art.
During the third period, artistic manifestations were filtered through local tradition, especially that of the Renaissance, thus moving away from the historical foundations that had seen them arise; Neoclassicism, from being a symbol of emancipation of thought and cultural freedom, asserted itself instead as a stylistic code adaptable to the return of the Ancien Régime, in what critics have called "Romantic Neoclassicism."C. Cresti, La Toscana dei Lorena. Politica del territorio e architettura, Cinisello Balsamo 1987, p. 190.
With the annexation of the Tuscan territories to the Kingdom of Italy in the second half of the nineteenth century, Neoclassicism opened up to a variety of pursuits that led to the disintegration of the concept of style,R. Baldi, La Cornice fiorentina e senese: storia e tecniche di restauro, Firenze 1992, p. 75. thus paving the way for eclecticism.
The Regency Period (1739-1765)
In January 1739, Grand Duke Francis III made his entry into Florence through the triumphal arch erected by Jean-Nicolas Jadot outside the San Gallo Gate, formally taking possession of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany after the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici and the subsequent regency of Marc de Beauvau, Prince of Craon. Contrary to the tradition of the time, the arch was not an ephemeral work made of wood, canvas and plaster, but rather constituted a structure in permanent plan, taking up a theme from Roman art of particular symbolic significance, inaugurating the spread of this typology in the neoclassical era. The arch designed by Jadot, placed before the ancient medieval walls of Florence, thus foreshadowed the renewal that would soon affect the architecture of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.C. Cresti, cit., p. 10.
The regency age constituted the preparation and platform for the subsequent reforming action that Grand Duke Peter Leopold would promote after the death of his father Francis in 1765.C. Cresti, cit., p. 13. Although with various limitations and not without difficulties, the first period of the Lorraine grand duchy was characterized by the implementation of a comprehensive plan aimed at the knowledge of the territory and the better exploitation of natural resources: this includes, for example, the motu proprio for the protection of the botanical society (1739), the founding of the Accademia dei Georgofili (1753), the commissioning of Odoardo Warren to draw the plans of the cities of the grand duchy, the drafting of a general topographical map of Tuscany commissioned from Leonardo Ximenes, the drafting of a report on the natural history of the countries of the grand duchy published by Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti between 1751 and 1754, the renovation of the baths of San Giuliano, and the work on the imperial canal of Lake Bientina.C. Cresti, cit., pp. 15-18. The Regency also favored the development of cultural services, both in the capital and in the smaller centers of the grand duchy, with the opening and renovation of a series of libraries and theatrical spaces, from Pontremoli to Siena, from Prato to Pisa, passing through the reconstruction in masonry of the hall of the Pergola Theater in Florence.C. Cresti, cit., p. 19.
In general, this period was characterized by an architecture devoid of ostentation.C. Cresti, cit., p. 24. The layout of the new baths of San Giuliano, the design of which was drawn up between 1744 and 1762 by architects Giuseppe Ruggieri, Ignazio Pellegrini and Gaspare Paoletti, constitutes a significant example of this architecture: among the simple buildings of the baths, imagined as the fulcrum of development of a new inhabited settlement, the central building, which stood out exclusively, distinguished by the window-balcony motif and the clock above it. Also recalled is the design for the new Livorno suburb of San Jacopo: a regular-mesh plan layout, somewhat akin to the design of the contemporary Borgo Teresiano in Trieste, with dwellings characterized by sober facades and the search for maximum simplicity of distribution in the plan. The same essentiality is found in the design for a market square to be built near the church of San Pierino, Pisa (1749), in the facade of the church of San Giuseppe (1759) and in the Marucelliana library in Florence.C. Cresti, cit., pp. 24-34.
In other words, the Lorraine period had inaugurated a more measured design attitude than the one held during Gian Gastone's grand duchy, with a few apparent exceptions, such as the church of Santa Felicita (completed in 1739), the bell tower of San Lorenzo with its flattened bulbous finial (1740) and the continuation of the sumptuous Princes' Chapel; works that constitute the last reflection of the Medici period, as they had been begun prior to the Regency or commissioned directly by Princess Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici.C. Cresti, cit., p. 38.
In this context, Ignazio Pellegrini's monumental designs for the royal chapel and theater in the Pitti Palace, or for the new entrance to the Uffizi Gallery, were deemed unrealistic and did not find implementation; other architects, such as the brothers Giuseppe and Ferdinando Ruggieri, were willing to moderate their ambitions and found greater fortune in commissioning, although they never adhered to a neoclassical language;C. Cresti, cit., p. 52. for example, the facade of San Filippo Neri and the ribs on the interior walls of Santa Felicita, designed by Ferdinando, appear far removed from the authentically neoclassical invention constituted by Carl Marcus Tuscher's proposal for the facade of San Lorenzo (1739).C. Cresti, cit., p. 54.
From Peter Leopold to Ferdinand III (1765-1799)
In 1765 Peter Leopold became Grand Duke of Tuscany, ending the Regency Age. An enlightened ruler, he was not a true patron of the arts and consistently demonstrated an attitude of prudence toward the costs of architectural undertakings. Careful administration and the obvious goal of containing state expenditures, however, did not limit the realization of works of public utility, which perfectly embodied the period of ideological change desired by Peter Leopold, such as the reorganization of the grand duchy's hospitals, the new lazaret at Livorno, the refounding of the thermal baths of Montecatini, the building of the new cemeteries in Livorno and Florence, the reclamation of the Maremma, Val di Chiana, and Val di Nievole, the rewards distributed for the foundation of farmhouses in the Pisa and Siena provinces, and even the construction of new roads and the renovation of existing ones.C. Cresti, cit., pp. 76-96
In 1784 he founded the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, entrusting its direction to Gaspare Paoletti, who, albeit as a continuer of the Renaissance tradition, can be considered the initiator of neoclassical style in Tuscany. Paoletti, who boasted an excellent preparation on both architectural and technical levels, transmitted this dual aptitude to his pupils, precisely in the years when the split between the Académie des beaux-arts and the École polytechnique was taking place in Paris.
An expert in hydraulics, he is mainly credited with the refounding of the baths of Montecatini, with the construction of the Bagno Regio, the Terme Leopoldine and the Tettuccio. Also noteworthy is the design, which remained on paper, for a circular bathhouse with an uncovered inner basin bordered by an annular colonnade, which, if realized, would have represented the most interesting stylistic achievement of Tuscan architecture of the period.C. Cresti, cit., p. 101.
Between 1766 and 1783 Paoletti worked on the villa of Poggio Imperiale, in Florence, enlarging the previous Medici building with the formation of two side courtyards characterized by a measured neoclassical language; he built the rear facade, the ballroom on the main floor and constructed the stables.