Not long before her death at 95-years-young, my beloved grandmother Frances told me that she was coming back in the next life as a peacock. “Nothing could be more fitting,” I said, laughing and wishing it to be so. A jitterbug dance champion in her younger days, she was still lighting up the dance floor well into her 90s. And it wasn’t a stretch to imagine her next-life peacock feathers unfurling in a show-stopping display.

Three years after her passing, Matt and I walked into what was once the ballroom of a palazzo originating from the 1500s and I was awestruck to see these dazzling red eyes staring back at mine. Regally poised peacocks painted on the walls of this nobile floor (piano nobile) apartment, our 38th or 39th property to view during this hunting expedition in Lucca.

“What’s the word in Italian,” I asked our geometra Matteo. I let his response roll off my tongue.

Il Pavone // The Peacock

Their colors were intense and bold, yet fading, peeling, and cracking in many places. They were desperately in need of care. In fact, desperately in need of care is an apt description for the entire apartment. Matt and I spent weeks trying to talk ourselves out of buying it. We’d have to be crazy! It needs full-scale renovation! What do we need with that much space? It’s enormous! And it’s smack in the center of town. Who knows what we’ll find when we start tearing down walls and demolishing the bathrooms and kitchen?!

There were so many reasons not to do it.

Are you new to our story? Spoiler alert: We didn’t listen to any of those reasons. But, you guessed that, right?

For those who have been on this journey with us, you know this renovation, very quickly, began to turn on another Italian word.

Gli Affresci // The Frescoes

As soon as we began pulling down walls and demolishing bathrooms and kitchen, what we found was astounding. Perhaps those peacocks had been trying to tell us. There’s hidden beauty all around. Will you be brave enough to dig? We began to discover layer-upon-layer of historic frescoes in every room of the apartment. In short order, we have become amateur restoration experts while working along with an actual pro, the immensely talented artist Elisa Pasquini.

Thus far, together, we have uncovered and saved frescoes originating from different time periods, perhaps beginning from the 1600s and extending all the way into the first decade of the 20th century. Older frescoes peek from behind newer paintings, exquisitely showcasing contrasting styles of different centuries. It seems every hundred years or so, a new proprietor would arrive and decide to leave his or her mark by commissioning a new painting on top of an existing artwork.

Garlands of flowers in the bathrooms. A putto cherub watching over a Venetian balcony at sunrise in the master bedroom. An eccentric 19th century geometric gem on the guest room ceiling. Multiple layers of alternating frescoes mingling and intertwining in the kitchen and hallway.

Through all of these restorations, we never lost sight of the peacocks and the room we simply call Il Pavone. We’ll help you to reclaim your original splendor, we promised. It’s fitting that this is our last fresco to restore as it’s likely the “newest” in the apartment. We’re still researching its origins, but it seems most in line with a style flourishing in Italy from approximately 1890 – 1914.

Lo Stilo Liberty // Liberty Style

An artistic movement paralleling Art Nouveau, Liberty was all about flowing, organic lines and the peacock was a reoccurring symbol signifying prosperity and longevity. The movement took its name from London’s Liberty Department Store, an importer of art and textiles from the Far East and Japan.

Tuscan son Galileo Chini was one of the most expressive artists of the period. In ceramics, paintings, and even frescoes, Chini was prolific in peacock motifs. Here are a few favorites.

Could the master himself have created our peacocks? That’s highly doubtful. This guy was a rockstar in his day. When not collaborating with Giacomo Puccini to design opera sets and posters, he was painting exterior frescoes on grand villas, including many in Lucca’s periphery. However, it is possible that a student or apprentice of the master may have painted ‘our’ peacocks. Unfortunately, we will likely never know for sure.

What we do know is that while we have the privilege of being their guardians, we will take that role with the attention and care they deserve. Here’s a first peek into the restoration process. The goal is to fix cracks and stabilize vulnerable areas, clean off centuries of dust and dirt, and lightly touch up paint where needed. As with the home’s other frescoes, we won’t apply a heavy hand. In our opinion, the worst thing we could do would be to overpaint in an attempt to make them appear ‘new’ or flawless. They wear their age and history beautifully. We’re just ensuring they stay around a bit longer, at least until the next proprietor comes along and, who knows, maybe even decides to paint over them again.

Here are a few photos in process. We are about half way through, so please stay tuned for the final reveal.