Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio's Spirit Surely Enjoyed the Chanel Show at His Villa d'Este AOC Living

Chanel’s [IG] Cruise 2025/26 show touched down on the shores of Lake Como, choosing Villa d'Este, a historic, glamorous, romantic and scenic panoply of the Renaissance spirit and rise of humanism in Italy.

In advance of Chanel’s [IG] Cruise 2025/26 show touchdown at Villa d’Este on Lake Como, director Sofia Coppola [IG] and photographer Lukasz Pukowiec [IG] created a short teaser film — replaced now with the entire show — featuring model Ida Heiner. Leila Smara styled the Villa d’Este preview images with hair by Anthony Turner and makeup by Lisa Butler.

Several major updates and renovations later, Villa d'Este exists as a historic, glamorous, romantic and scenic panoply of the Renaissance spirit and rise of humanism in Italy.

Less well known is the Cardinal who originally built Villa d’Este in 1568 with architect Pellegrino Tibaldi. Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio — a self-made man by all reports — was deeply influenced by the movement AOC continually calls out, thanks to Brunello Cucinelli. The philosophy is called ‘humanism’ and even ‘Christian humanism’, as AOC discovered in researching Cardinal Gallio’s background.

Originating in Italy, humanism encouraged a shift away from the medieval scholasticism that had dominated European thought, advocating for a return to the texts and ideals of ancient Greece and Rome.

As AOC noted in Anne’s recent post examining the religious views of the controversial US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his embrace of Christian Nationalism and the Crusades, Arab world universities were instrumental in translating and preserving ancient Greek and Roman texts, which would later be transmitted to Europe and spur on the Renaissance.

Humanism and Ecumenicalism

Anne of Carversville works really hard to find new twists and turns in historical stories for which we believe we have the facts. The role of the Arab world in intellectual discussion and debate about Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and more in Europe’s most valued and prominent universities in the early Renaissance is one of those stories.

It was the Arab world that preserved the teachings of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle that became so influential in the rise of humanism and so-called Western civilization. With the rise of universities emerging from the Middle Ages, there was tremendous exchanges of ideas and historical information largely led by Arab universities being older than the Europeans’.

The renaissance humanists’ efforts to recover and translate ancient texts unearthed a rich tapestry of philosophical and theological thought that transcended sectarian divides, highlighting the universal nature of the human search for meaning across different times and places.

In fostering a sense of shared human heritage and mutual respect, humanism provided intellectual underpinnings for ecumenicalism, suggesting that despite doctrinal differences, conversations and collaborations could lead to greater understanding and unity among disparate religious traditions.

Yes, dear AOC friends, all of this knowledge flows from the fountain of everyday choices made by Pete Hegseth and Chanel’s decision to hold their 2025/26 Cruise show at Villa d'Este, a place Coco Chanel loved to visit. ~ Anne