Show UNDER ITALIAN SKIES iI i I fII AMERICAN TO MAKE HIS HOME IN FAMOUS PALMIERI VILLA New Yorker Whose Loc of Art and Art Treasures Leads Him to Summer Sum-mer In Historic and Hcautlful 1 Spot Near Florence Another American has yielded to the clinrma of foreign estates and has parted with a good pile i of American dollars that ho may have tho privilege privi-lege of calling nn Italian villa homo A New Yorker by the name of James W KHsworth has repted for the summer sum-mer the famous villa PalmIeri near Florence Italy where ho will have an opportunity of Indulging lijs desire de-sire far tho study of art and art treasures with t the 1 hope 1 probably i of further enriching his collections In his Now York mansion Among the lino paintings In his gallery there area are-a largo number by Inness In fact he has one of the most complete collections collec-tions of the works of this artist In this country The villa which Mr Ellsworth has secured Is ono of the most beautiful as well as one of tho most historic In r r am 4 y 1 r J j ih ll r 1 It n S r i t r 1 Western Stairway Villa PalmIeri Italy I It stands above the River Men cola near Settlgnano a short distance dis-tance below Villa Boccaccio where tho author of tho Decameron lived and Is supposed to have been born In fact many of tho stories routed In this famous book are supposed to have been told In the Villa Palmier to which tho little coterie of storytellers story-tellers moved after having spent some of their tlmo at VIMn Pogglo Gherardo their first stopping place after they I had lied from plague stricken Florence Flor-ence The Villa Palmier dates back to 1330 If not earlier and nt the time of Hoccacclos writing tho villa belonged be-longed to Clonl do Fiat Soon after j f ward he sold It to tho Tolomel who in turn cold It to Matteo Palmier and It was a descendant of the latter who had the place partially rebuilt In 1070 and named It after himself During the last two centuries tho villa has been a great favorite with the English people visiting that part of Itally In 1770 Lord Cowper and his beautiful young wire visited the I place and they were no taken with Its I beauty that they made It their home From then on It became a place of Interest In-terest to Britons and many were the brilliant social functions given In Its spacious halls From the Cit 1824 C-It was occupied by an eccentric woman wom-an MIss Mary Knrhlll who after living liv-ing In It for thirty years left It to tho Grand Duchess Marie Antoinette de Bourbon In 1871 I It passed Into tho hands of Lord Crawford In whose family It has since remained Several Sev-eral times the I villa was lent by Lady Crawford to Queen Victoria and It has beet the scent of many latter day social affairs Tile villa has hud mnnv flue statues and paintings In and around It somo of them by old masters One of tho latter which has since found Its way Into the national gallery In London Is an Interesting picture of the Assumption As-sumption of Our Lady attributed j by Vasal 1 to Botticelli though now considered con-sidered a painting of his school This picture wits painted for tho Palmlerl chapel In San Plctro Magglorc but the ojvner of tin Villa Palmieri who was an accomplished scholar and a friend of Coslmo du Medlclhad given offence to the church by writing a poem which was declared to contain heretical opinions on the subject of angels Tho painting therefore which contained pictures of Matteo Palmieri and his wife Cosa Scrragll looking up at the angelic faces above them was denounced by the church and In order to preserve It It was taken to the old scholars villa and walled up twas fond there at the beginning it the nineteenth century and sent to tho naton l gallery Theo stabs and cuts Indicted on the figures of Pal mlerl and his wife by zealots are still visible Many other art treasures have been found within tho walls of the old villa and In the gardens there arc statues of which It would be hard to compute the value Tho villa with Its present modern Improvements Is a delightful resort In tho spring and summer All about It are beautiful gardens and terraces balustrades and logglo and there are high walls overgrown with Ivy and cypress cy-press A tine double stairway with a graceful sweep leads Into tho flower garden and through the vine covered walls of this are round openings each of which frames an exquisite view of the surrounding country Everywhere among the marbles and the flowers there Is an air of antiquity and rest UUUh |