ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Villa Celle's Gori Collection Adds Serra dei Poeti Installation

exhibition · 2026-05-04

The Gori Collection at Villa Celle in Pistoia, Italy, has expanded with its 80th installation: the Serra dei Poeti (Poets' Greenhouse), a collaborative work by landscape architect Andrea Mati and writer Sandro Veronesi. The project originated after a March 2015 windstorm felled hundreds of trees on the estate. Mati proposed planting thirty Bolgheri cypresses, each named after a poet from Manzoni to Cavalcanti to Quasimodo, forming the Focus. This leads to Veronesi's steel-and-glass greenhouse, shaped as a hyperbolic paraboloid, housing aromatic and ornamental plants celebrated by poets. The Serra dei Poeti honors the Gori family's long-standing appreciation for poetry, dating back to the 1950s when poets like Salvatore Quasimodo, Ettore Sanguineti, and Eugenio Montale frequented their Prato home. It also connects to the villa's history: Giuliano Gori was inspired by the early 19th-century aviary built by Bartolomeo Sestini, a poet and patriot who studied architecture to please his father. Gori saw in the aviary a model for interdisciplinary dialogue, which the new installation continues.

Key facts

  • The Gori Collection at Villa Celle added its 80th installation, the Serra dei Poeti.
  • The Serra dei Poeti is a collaboration between landscape architect Andrea Mati and writer Sandro Veronesi.
  • The project began after a March 2015 windstorm destroyed hundreds of trees on the estate.
  • Mati planted thirty Bolgheri cypresses, each named after a poet, forming the Focus.
  • Veronesi designed a steel-and-glass greenhouse shaped as a hyperbolic paraboloid.
  • The greenhouse contains aromatic and ornamental plants loved by poets.
  • The Gori family hosted poets like Quasimodo, Sanguineti, and Montale in the 1950s.
  • Giuliano Gori was inspired by Bartolomeo Sestini's early 19th-century aviary at Villa Celle.

Entities

Artists

  • Andrea Mati
  • Sandro Veronesi
  • Salvatore Quasimodo
  • Ettore Sanguineti
  • Eugenio Montale
  • Bartolomeo Sestini
  • Giuliano Gori

Institutions

  • Gori Collection
  • Villa Celle
  • Artribune

Locations

  • Pistoia
  • Italy
  • Prato
  • Celle

Sources