The villa-farm, property of the Minerbetti family since the sixteenth century, passed by marriage to the Torrigiani family, princes of Scilla, in the middle of the last century. It was the Torrigiani family who commissioned the decoration, which likely extended across several rooms, from Dario Chini.
Today, only a complex heraldic design remains in the loggia on the ground floor of the villa, which is enclosed by windows and used as a lemon house. The design commemorates various members of the Minerbetti family who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries and their deeds, alongside the coats of arms of the new owners. Polychromatic bands and geometric and vegetal motifs run along all the architectural members of the space, continuing even on the wooden door.
In a lobed diamond shape on the lower right side of the wall, the signature of the artist, along with the date 1889, is faintly legible. The paintings of the Villa of Corniolo represent an example of the style referred to as “15th-century” and are comparable to those executed by Dario Chini together with his brother Leto in the Villa di Cafaggiolo near Barberino di Mugello (1886–1887).
Scheda di Marco Pinelli
© Il Filo – Idee e Notizie dal Mugello
Progetto Itinerario Liberty Mugello – Unione montana dei Comuni del Mugello
