About the project & author

Patricia McCobb is a New York and Tuscany, Italy based Landscape Architect and Independent Researcher/Writer.

In 2010, McCobb wrote a small book about the Horti Leonini. She originally intended to write an article exploring the unusual geometries of the garden. Through research, however, McCobb found out that the owner of the garden, Diomede Leoni, was at Michelangelo’s bedside when he died and he was the only person to describe the artist's last moments. She was surprised that no one had written before about the relationship between Diomede Leoni, Michelangelo, and the garden. As a result, the project turned into a mixture of biography and architectural analysis.

With this website and self-guided tour, she hopes to give visitors of the garden access to all the fascinating facts about the Horti that she details in her book.

Special thanks

There are many people who helped with the research, writing, and editing of the book, but, above all, the author would like to thank Ugo Sani who is the historic memory of the town of San Quirico d'Orcia. He not only encouraged her research from the beginning, but also helped her to gain access to archives, and ultimately published her book. To him, she is forever indebted.