Strawberry Hill House & Garden - Horace Walpole's Grand Tour to Florence

Horace Walpole's Grand Tour to Florence Sunday 27 March - Sunday 24 July 2022 “I can truly say that I never was happy but at Florence” - Horace Walpole Discover one of the most beautiful and beguiling cities on earth in our NEW In Focus 'The Grand Tour: The Two Horaces and the Court of Florence'. Opening Sunday 27 March until Sunday 24 July. Walpole was fascinated by Florence and the Medici family. Strawberry Hill contained a conspicuous number of Florentine works of art received as gifts or acquired thanks to the intervention of his friend Horace Mann. Our latest display, curated by Dr Silvia Davoli, brings back some of these magnificent treasures. Tickets included in general admission.  Book Now A series of talks accompanies our In Focus display. The talks will explore the friendship between Horace Walpole and Horace Mann, the British Envoy to Florence and his inner circle, including the painter Thomas Patch. More details can be found below. We look forward to welcoming you to our latest display. Strawberry Hill House & Garden Florentine artist, The Wild Boar (il Porcellino), after the Antique, c. 1700, bronze, H. 20 cm (Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, London) Grand Tour Talk: Thomas Patch (1725-82): an English Artist in Florence By Hugh Belsey, Freelance Art Historian Thursday 21 April at 7.30pm Thomas Patch was an artist, publisher, art dealer, and friend of both Horace Mann and Horace Walpole. He became a close friend of Sir Horace Mann, the British Envoy, and became a valued member of the Anglo-Florentine community painting caricatures of Grand tourists as they passed through the city. This talk demonstrates that although his work is little known today, Patch provides a valuable insight into the life of eighteenth-century Florence. Book Now Grand Tour Talk: "A perfect character for the stage". Sir Horace Mann, British Envoy and Cavaliere in Florence By Dr Giulia Coco, Art historian and curator at the Italian Ministry of Culture Thursday 12 May at 7.30pm Horace Mann arrived in Florence as British Envoy in 1737 thanks to Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister and father of Horace Walpole. He never left the city, dying in 1786. Mann lived in Palazzo Manetti, in the heart of Florence, where he created a very lively Anglo-Saxon Colony. This talk follows Mann as he became a reference point for all foreigners, especially the British in Florence, so creating a strong affinity between Tuscany and England. Book Now Grand Tour Talk: Cultural diplomacy in the Grand Tour between Rome, Florence and London: the role of Cardinal Alessandro Albani By Clare Hornsby PhD, FSA, Research Fellow in Art History Thursday 26 May at 7.30pm Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692-1779), nephew of Pope Clement XI, had a vast Europe-wide correspondence that functioned as the backbone of his role as Cardinal protector of various states, including the Empire. This talk will sketch out the background of Albani’s connection with Horace Mann and will focus on a series of letters between Albani and George “Bubb” Dodington, a wealthy British politician originally introduced to the cardinal by Mann, whose acquisitions of valuable antique marble statues from Rome and other art works were commented upon by Walpole.  Book Now