The Medici Villa of Poggio a Caiano was commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent and designed by Giuliano da Sangallo around 1485. It stands on a hill between Florence, Prato, and Pistoia
The villa’s architectural design would serve as an innovative model throughout the Renaissance.
Ancient themes and illustrious names from the past are the sources of inspiration for the villa’s innovative architecture and the works of art commissioned by Lorenzo of the Medici family.
The glazed terracotta frieze has been attributed to Bertoldo di Giovanni and Andrea del Sansovino, although there are still many doubts about this attribution.
The original work was located on the façade, on the entablature beneath the pediment, until 1967, when it was replaced with a copy for conservation purposes. After an initial restoration, it was placed inside the villa in 1992, where it remains to this day.
The frieze is considered one of the most significant works of the artistic culture from the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent. However, there is no documentation that confirms its original meaning. The first interpretation was proposed in 1929, and since then, others have followed, offered by some of the greatest art historians. It is undoubtedly a work intended for members of Lorenzo’s humanist circle, who were capable of understanding its full meaning.
Nature, the Mother of the Soul
The narrative starts on the left, in the only panel where the background is green rather than blue.
Beneath a long serpent biting its own tail—a symbol of infinity—Mother Nature is depicted inside a cave, generating souls that take flight in opposite directions. Some head toward an old man brandishing serpents, others toward a youth holding an armillary sphere and a compass.
According to an initial interpretation, the old man represents primordial Chaos, while the young man symbolizes the immutable laws of the universe. Thus, the panel would depict “The Birth of Time and Human Destiny”. According to a second interpretation, proposed by Cristina Acidini, it represents ‘The Beginning of the Unjust Life and the Just Life”.
The souls emerging from Mother Nature’s womb hold their destiny in their hands, which leads them either toward an unjust fate or a just one, according to the Platonic myth.
The unjust life is represented by the old man grasping serpents, while the virtuous life is depicted by the young man holding instruments that symbolize reason and intellect.
The Birth of the Age of Jupiter
The narrative continues against a blue background with the birth of Jupiter, symbolizing the unfolding of Man’s destiny. Jupiter is the son of Saturn and Rhea. According to the myth, Saturn, fearing he would be overthrown by one of his children—as he himself had done to his father Uranus—devours them at birth.
However, Rhea saves Jupiter by substituting him with a swaddled stone and hides him in a cave on Mount Ida. Jupiter is secretly raised by nymphs and nursed by the goat Amalthea. When he grows up, he returns to confront his father.
In the second panel, we see Saturn about to devour the infant Jupiter, but Rhea saves him by giving Saturn a stone wrapped in cloth to swallow instead. Next to this, the young Jupiter is shown nursing from Amalthea, while soldiers brandish their swords to mask the infant’s cries with their noise, deceiving Saturn.The scene ends with a beehive, from which the honey that nourishes Jupiter is produced, and whose bees were one of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s personal symbols.
Following the Platonic interpretation, Saturn represents the archaic age of humankind, while Jupiter ushers in the era of civilization’s progress.
Janus Bifrons and Mars
In the third panel, we see Janus Bifrons, the god who opens doors and who looks to the future with one face and to the past with the other. Mars emerges from the temple, and a cloaked man opening the door for him. On both sides of the scene, there are men with shields and weapons, seemingly in a position of waiting. According to Janet Cox-Rearick’s interpretation, the gods represent the renewal of nature and time—that is, The beginning of the year.
Mars is understood as the god associated with the Calends of March and therefore the god of spring (as in Ovid’s Fasti), while Janus is the god who governs the cycle of time and the year.
According to Cristina Acidini, Mars is the god of war who opens the temple door guarded by Janus, the god of the month of January, who is also connected to Lorenzo, born precisely on the first day of that month. His exit is witnessed by representatives of all the armies.
The following panel represents the seasons and agricultural work, as an expression of Peace, in contrast to the war evoked in the previous scene.
Spring symbolizes rebirth, summer is the time of grain harvest, autumn is for the grape harvest, and winter is the coldest season. Together, they represent the full year, with each month depicted through typical agricultural tasks of its season.
In times of peace, these labors bring prosperity.
The Chariot of the God Apollo
The last panel has two conflicting interpretations. According to Cox-Rearick, it represents ‘The Birth of the Day.’ The woman with the radiant head is Aurora, who prepares the horses of the god Apollo, a reference to Lorenzo the Magnificent, to cross the sky during the daylight hours. In the following scene, the chariot is set in motion for the new hour of the day.
According to Acidini, however, it would instead depict “The punishment and reward of souls after death”.
At the beginning of the panel, we see the representation of Sleep holding a poppy, and his sister Nemesis beside Death. Then follow two chariots arriving at the gate of heaven, guarded by a goddess crowned with rays.
The first is the chariot of the unjust man, which is stopped by the goddess; then comes the chariot carrying the soul of the virtuous man, who is instead invited to ascend to the heavens.
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