ABSTRACT
From the late fifteenth century, the Medici enthusiastically engaged in ‘the sport of kings’, and in the Italian manner, they pursued everything from wild bear and boar to tiny robins. Like his illustrious ancestors, Grand Duke Ferdinando I was an avid hunter and an equally avid builder who commissioned several new hunting villas and converted other rural estates into hunting lodges. The first of these was La Magia, whose very name, meaning magic, indicates the esteem in which the villa was held. In 1583, beset by financial difficulties, the Panciatichi sold the estate to Francesco. As it bordered the estate of Poggio a Caiano, La Magia helped consolidate the family’s holdings in the region west of Florence. Originally a fishing lodge, Ambrogiana is named after Ambrogi family from whom the Medici purchased it in 1573. From its dramatic position Artimino overlooks the city of Florence in the east, with the Pistoian plain in the foreground and the Apuan mountains beyond.
