Fiona Corsini di San Giuliano
Artist In 2002 print designer and painter Fiona Corsini married Diego di San Giuliano, the grandson of Salvatore Ferragamo, who owns the luxury Italian fashion house. Fiona lived in Florence but her husband brought his grandfather’s historic Sicilian stately home to the marriage. “It’s a rural house on the outskirts of a town and the gardens are extraordinary,” says Robyn. “I will never forget following Fiona and snapping that photo of her – her long green linen skirts wafting. I felt like I was being taken by the hand of some spirit woman into another world. It was so heavenly. The smells, the colours, the design and all the history of this 15th century stately home, including the culinary history wrapped up in what they were growing there.
“Fiona believes that homes are a portrait of their owners. She said her Sicilian home is more an expression of her late father-in-law and she didn’t want to erase that. She made some subtle changes here and there but she wanted to honour him.”
Fiona’s two homes in Florence, which Robyn also photographed, are more reflective of Fiona as a painter. “There is the family home she grew up in – the Palazzo Corsini del Prato – and then her own home which feels like a farm with olive trees and rolling hills even though it’s a 20-minute walk to the river and into Florence.”
“Fiona believes houses are very much portraits of those who paint them.”
“It doesn’t feel like you’re in a castle; it’s a family home.”