Boboli Citrus

Inspired by the Medici gardens of Boboli, these gargantuan Amalfi lemons sit in a Delftware charger. In 1765 when Pietro Leopoldo inherited the Medici legacy he adopted the 'Enlightenment' theory as means to educate the Florentine people. Part of his methodology was to preserve all of the Fruits of Italy part to teach students and part to save the trees by allowing farmers to understand how to graft specimens and save them from extinction. He made wax work casts of lemons and these were displayed in La Specola along with painting by Bartolomeo Bimbi who recorded every fruit growing in Tuscany with accuracy. Each fruit is rendered life-size as the lemons are here. 79 x 69 cm Oil and gesso on board in antique frame. May 2015.

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