Citron Lamps at the Dîner des Agrumes at Villa Medici

The Medici family transcended their time as great patrons and collectors of the arts. Less well known is their role as collectors of citrus. As early as around 1550, the cultivation and collection of exotic varieties became a manifestation of knowledge, sensitivity and power. Because of their rarity, fragrance and beauty, these fruits came to symbolise perfection and refinement, both in gardens and in painting and the decorative arts.

Since then, citrus fruits have fascinated chefs, botanists, collectors and creators alike through the singularity of their forms, aromas and rinds. Within the framework of the Dîner des Agrumes, held in December 2025 at Villa Medici — home of the French Academy in Rome — this long-standing dialogue between nature and contemporary creation found a new expression through lighting design.

For this occasion, designer Martin Flugelman Olmeda conceived a site-specific intervention based on the historic lamps designed by Peduzzi during his directorship of the institution in the early 2000s. The proposal consisted of replacing the conventional lampshades with citrons from Todolí Citrus Fundació, selected for their formal qualities and used as natural light filters. As light passed through the thick, rugged rind of the fruit, it acquired a warm, organic quality, revealing the complexity of the peel and transforming the citrus into a true luminous object.

These ephemeral lamps not only illuminated the space, but also helped to define the volumes and circulation of the Ferdinand Hall, establishing a direct relationship between architecture, design and plant matter. The use of citron — one of the oldest and most symbolic citrus fruits of the Mediterranean — further underscored the historical link between Villa Medici and citrus culture, present in its gardens since the Renaissance.

The Dîner des Agrumes was made possible thanks to the collaboration of numerous creators and professionals, including Villa Medici’s chef-in-residence Alice Héron, together with chefs Arturo Franzino, Martin Planchaud, Harry Cummins (La Mercerie, Marseille) and Léonie Augereau; the ceramists of Four, Sonia Oet and Jeanne Viviès, responsible for the tableware and decorative elements; Paolo Rosso, curator of the citrus tasting as part of his project I Naranzeri; as well as Marion Laperche (Marion Lemon Story), Laura Vidal and the Small Group team. Photography © Alessia Calzecchi