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The Tuscan aesthetic: small gestures of beauty everywhere |
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It's said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in Tuscany, it seems to be in everyone's eye. From the smallest gestures to the grandest, beauty spills out across the entire region. Here are some vignettes that caught our eye.
Take this little artisan shop. Giant terra cotta pots, each one holding a full-size single hydrangea. Simple, stunning. |
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BRINGING THE OUTDOORS IN seems to be a recurring theme. This chesnut wood-framed window looks out into a courtyard filled with pots of plants.
The ubiquitous chestnut wood is seen here again in this door with a string of porcini mushrooms looped around the doorknob, drying in the sunshine -- a fine blend of practical and aesthetic sensibilities. |
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ARCHITECTURE ON A HUMAN SCALE defines the garden design in Tuscany as much as does its celebrated grand architecture.
| Fellow travellers, Sally and Jill, strolling around a tiny Medieval village.
The technique of using pots of flowering plants to landscape one's living space applies as much to today's city home garden as it did in Medieval days when these homes were built. |
| AN AIR OF CASUAL DESIGN abounds in Tuscan gardens. But it would be a mistake to think of this approach as the result of indifferent or unskilled gardeners. In particular, we noticed how well the gardeners of Tuscany combine plantings with structures, especially around doors and windows. Whatever the season, the effect is both interesting and pleasing to the eye. |
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| ELEGANT FACADES are important to Italian home and shop owners. Somehow the mix of styles, informal and formal, coexists in harmony in Tuscany. |
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This shop in Florence (far right) and the town house in a small village (right) exude elegance. But notice the whimsy too. The town house gate is flanked by two potted cacti!
It's said that when one has mastered a skill, then they can break all the rules. Obviously, the Tuscans have confidence in their gardening skills, and deservedly so. |
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