L'ANTRO DI CAGLIOSTRO

THE HOLE OF CAGLIOSTRO

L'ANTRO DI CAGLIOSTRO (the Hole of Cagliostro) is an apartment on the ground floor of a typical Tuscan villa, made of two bedrooms (one double and one single), a living room with chimney and a small kitchen.

The whole apartment focuses on a controversial character known as the Count of Cagliostro, considered by some of his coevals as a charlatan, and by some others as a visionary, active in the medecine and doing good for mankind. He was put in jail and executed in San Leo. His death remains a mystery nevertheless ...

In the apartment, you will appreciate an iconography making a contrast between good (symbolized by angels) and evil (represented by the grotesque). In the living room, a wall fresco shows the four elements with their deities : fire is represented by Vulcan, earth by Ceres, air by Junon and water by Neptune.

A painting of the 17th century tells about the legend of the Aretusa. Aretusa was a nymph who was transformed into a source by Diana to escape from Jupiter's attentions. Evil is therefore embedded by Jupiter and good by Diana (depending on the point of view).

In the bedroom, both simple and somehow esoteric, the headboard has a panel representing a grotesque figure while on the commode, a picture of the 18th reminds us metaphorically of science in the features of a beared man posing with his scientific tools.

To offset evil, a crucifix of the 18th century is hung on the wall outside the bedroom.

The double bedroom of the Count of Cagliostro, sumptuously furnished with a baldaquin bed, has stone walls covered with frescoes dedicated to Tarot and zodiac signs. The bathroom presents something very curious: the bathtub is covered with painted ceramics. Taking a bath there will help you in relaxing exactly as the Count of Cagliostro would have done, after a  walk in the cities of Pisa and Lucca.