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FREDERIK IV OF DENMARK (1671-1730) The fine prince and his impossible love
THE SPACE This elegant suite at the end of the Olympian Gallery is a hidden jewel on the noble floor. The bedroom is brightly decorated with a dynamic fresco ceiling in the theme of the four seasons. Flora, the goddess of flowers representing the season of spring, dresses in a rosy pink palette holding flowers in bloom. Ceres, the goddess of agriculture symbolizing summer, appears in a bright yellow gown wearing a headdress made of wheat stacks. Bacchus, the god of grape harvest, fertility and festivity, stands for the season of autumn, holding in his hands bunches of grapes. Lastly Saturn, the deity of time and periodic renewal, is personified as an old man representing the season of winter. Palazzo Portinari Salviati has now dedicated this romantic suite to Frederik IV, King of Denmark, a famous guest who was housed twice in the Palazzo and received grandiose receptions from the city. Although his Tuscan romance never came true, the dreams of the young lovers linger on as do our perpetual quests for love. THE STORY On 5 May 1692, Frederik Augustus, then Crown Prince of Denmark and eldest son of King Christian V, arrived in Florence. He was lodged in Palazzo Salviati, which had been prepared for the Prince’s 15 day visit by his host, Princess Violante of Bavaria, wife of the Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici, heir to the throne. Crown Prince Frederik,
CEILING PAINTING OF THE FOUR SEASON
Spring is depicted as a young woman with a garland of flowers in her hair and hands; Summer is depicted as a woman with ears of corn in her hair and a mirror in her left hand; Autumn is depicted as a naked man crowned with vines and grapes and holding bunches of grapes in his hands; Winter is depicted as an old man, naked, with his head wrapped in a cloak and trembling from the cold.
