Francesco Stefano and Maria Teresa
The new grand duke from Lorraine, Francesco Stefano, and his wife, Maria Teresa, visited Florence for the first time in January, 1739. They stayed only a few months, returning to Vienna the following April. They left the government of Tuscany in the hands of a Regency Council. Contrary to what has been suggested for many years, this Regency period was rich in efforts at reform throughout Tuscany, in stark contrast to the neglect that characterized the last years of Medici rule.
Even the palace suffered this same lack of attention and activity, and the inventories of the time testify to the deplorable conditions at the Pitti during its long abandonment. Only in the last years of the Regency, around 1760, were substantial improvements undertaken. Giuseppe Ruggieri, the architect in charge of the palace and grounds, constructed the Rondo on the southern end of the palace. Count Ignazio Pellegrini, a genial amateur from Verona, planned a grandiose Imperial Chapel, flattening an area in Boboli near the entrance and the Cortile Non Finito. On the piano nobile between 1763 and 1765, Pellegrini constructed the Oval Room (or il gabinetto di Parata or gabinetto ovale) as well as the Round Room (or il gabinetto da Abbigliarsi), concluding the series of rooms on the southern end of the façade.
The first of these rooms was an elliptical space of extraordinary elegance, with a splendid ceiling in lovely colors and refined gilded stuccoes, the work of a Milanese stucco maker, Francesco Visetti. It is important to underline the presence of these “foreign” artisans. The Veronese Pellegrini, the stucco maker from Lombardy, and later the skilled workers from Lugano demonstrated an opening to different artistic and cultural experiences. This is the direct result of having a “European” sovereign on the throne, and the enlightenment he introduced to Tuscany. The splendor of this room is in sharp contrast to the more intimate tone of the gabinetto da Abbigliarsi, an exquisite rococo room designed for the toilette of the grand duchess. The stuccoes here were modeled by Visetti and the room was painted in part by Domenico Stagi.
Even the palace suffered this same lack of attention and activity, and the inventories of the time testify to the deplorable conditions at the Pitti during its long abandonment. Only in the last years of the Regency, around 1760, were substantial improvements undertaken. Giuseppe Ruggieri, the architect in charge of the palace and grounds, constructed the Rondo on the southern end of the palace. Count Ignazio Pellegrini, a genial amateur from Verona, planned a grandiose Imperial Chapel, flattening an area in Boboli near the entrance and the Cortile Non Finito. On the piano nobile between 1763 and 1765, Pellegrini constructed the Oval Room (or il gabinetto di Parata or gabinetto ovale) as well as the Round Room (or il gabinetto da Abbigliarsi), concluding the series of rooms on the southern end of the façade.
The first of these rooms was an elliptical space of extraordinary elegance, with a splendid ceiling in lovely colors and refined gilded stuccoes, the work of a Milanese stucco maker, Francesco Visetti. It is important to underline the presence of these “foreign” artisans. The Veronese Pellegrini, the stucco maker from Lombardy, and later the skilled workers from Lugano demonstrated an opening to different artistic and cultural experiences. This is the direct result of having a “European” sovereign on the throne, and the enlightenment he introduced to Tuscany. The splendor of this room is in sharp contrast to the more intimate tone of the gabinetto da Abbigliarsi, an exquisite rococo room designed for the toilette of the grand duchess. The stuccoes here were modeled by Visetti and the room was painted in part by Domenico Stagi.