The initiation
A long walk awaits me. In the fabled Parco Mediceo di Pratolino, I will meet fantastical animals, trees that come to life, statues, caves and fountains. A giant watches over me, stately and silent. Long, torturous and full of temptations will be the way that ferries my soul from the darkness into the light, transforming the man that I am, Francesco I de' Medici, into a man whose conscience has awoken once more. My journey begins at Monte Senario with its fresh waters. I want to spend the night here and tomorrow I will awaken before dawn to depart. What magical silence: I know I will have beautiful dreams.
The labyrinth of stars
Welcome back stars, sentinel lights in the dark corners of thought and nocturnal moods that keep me from sleep. Truth is for the few and existence is a capricious and deceptive game. What awaits me in the Park? A laurel labyrinth with a riddle, a surprise ... at its centre a pergola supported by eight columns and a sponge-like fountain ... there, the brightest star will be waiting, my beloved Bianca. The North Star will point to what we said on those magical summer nights, when everything seemed to live an endless death? Where will our love end, Bianca?
What useless questions I ask myself. It begins and ends with you. It rises with your first step, wavers with your back as it moves towards another place. You are Love, you are the questions and the answers. One should not speak while admiring Creation, but rather soak in the immortal essence of the constellations that reveal things to those who can understand them.
The garden of wonders
And so I’ve arrived. The ride was long but now I can hear the running water playing, playing, in this garden of Fate where I am king. Here my soul will find the home that it has sought since the dawn of Earth. On this hill, which connects the beloved Florence to the foothills of the Apennines, is my park of wonders, capable of combining beauty and wisdom, Heaven and Earth, Divine and Mortal. I will cross it from north to south, starting from the Fonte di Giove. Each statue, each cave will be a stop for me to become aware of what I have accomplished before setting off again for new experiences. Jupiter watches me, frowning. It’s time.
A journey of the soul
My journey is finally finished. Through the avenue of fountains where the water returns to give thanks to the spiritual ascent. I have finally arrived at the Fontana della Lavandaia, she who washes and returns clean the clothes that were dirty, the one who washes away impurities. A new man is born. The awakened soul is now ready for its next journey...
As man rises through the action, thought and love, even his field of love and activity widens, spreads beyond measure like two arms stretched to infinity.
- T. Palamidessi