Every morning, when we open the blinds, our eyes naturally wonder towards the Monte Amiata, made more visible in the winter by its snowy silhouette that contrasts with the blue of the sky.
My wife, Muriel, often tells me that it reminds her of Hokusai’s painting of the Mount Fuji.
In 46 prints, crafted over the course of three years, the Japanese master engraved this majestic mountain in different conditions: against a clear sky, during a storm… and of course the famous stamping of the Mount Fuji nestled in the waves.
These prints are fascinating, because the Mount Fuji is never represented alone, but always from a different perspective: from a bridge, a tea house, a beach… every representation of the mountain includes the gaze of an invisible spectator. It is an unchanging reference, that is then approached through different points of view.
The Monte Amiata, 1738 meters tall, is certainly not the Mount Fuji, and yet… at the heart of the Maremma plains, on the coast of Tuscany, it remains a reference point wherever one is. It looks different every time, whether one looks at is from the hills of the Orcia valley, the Ombrone plains or the tops of Castell’Azzara.
Being able to see the Monte Amiata, every hour of every day, and wherever we are, is an invitation to look at the world in its ever-changing but also stable nature. It is a possibility to rediscover that the beauty of things is in the eyes of the beholder, as much as in themselves.
From the terraces and gardens of the Villa Ambretta, this is the spectacle our guests can enjoy across the seasons.