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The House that Axel Built © by David Taylor
That Axel Munthe wrested his vision out of the realm of dream and planted it solidly on the heights of Anacapri is a fact that is there for us all to go and verify. Villa San Michele, today a complex of villa, chapel, museum, gardens, ancient ruins, nature reserve, study centre and consulate, testifies to the dogged and patient determination with which Munthe pieced together the stones, marble fragments, loggias and columns which his dream had presented to him the day when as a young medical student convalescing in Sorrento he decided to cross the straits to explore the isle of Capri. Years were to pass as the young Swede first completed his medical studies and went on to become not only highly respected by his colleagues but also greatly in demand as a physician to high society. But during this period he never lost sight of his vision and eventually withdrew to Capri to supervise the construction of Villas San Michele on the very site where years before the spirit of the place had told him that he could build his home if he were prepared to pay the price. The price was that of renouncing fame and riches in his career as a physician. Munthe surely knew, as we know now, that it was a small price to pay. All the more so given that the fame he gained as a healer of the poor, as a lover of animals, as a writer, as a man who showed us that with determination dreams can become concrete and can be passed on to future generations, far outweighed the trinkets of fame he would have gained as a healer of the frivolous ills of the Parisian upper-classes. Munthe bequeathed his dream to the Swedish
State, placing it thereby into the hands of the Swedish
Institute for Classical Studies in Rome.Under the
careful management of the Axel Munthe Foundation formed
to supervise the valuable patrimony, the legacy has
grown both in size (now covering approximately 16 acres)
and in cultural importance. Seat of the Swedish
Consulate, the Villa also offers rooms for visiting
scholars and every year plays host to almost 200,000
people, who flock to see the gardens, views and museum
pieces that the villa offers. Outside of the
high-season, the visitor can once again savour the peace
and beauty of this unique spot and understand, whilst
still marvelling at the man's sense of vision, why
Munthe was prepared to give so much to pass his days
there. The excerpt at the beginning is from The Story of San Michele
by Axel Munthe, published in English by Grafton Books. [See also Axel
Munthe & Letters
from a Mourning City.]
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Even if we are lucky enough to one
day find ourselves standing on a spot where we know, or
rather feel, that there we could happily spend the rest
of our days, it is likely that this dream will remain
precisely that for the thousand and one reasons that
dictate that we should live elsewhere.