ALDOBRANDINI VILLA

VILLA ALDOBRANDINI

Via Mazzarino 11

End of 1500s by Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619) for the Vitelli family who had bought the preexisting building with land in 1566 from the Genoese family Grimaldi

It was bought in 1601 by Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) who gave it to his nephew Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini and had it restored in the years 1601/02 by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602)

Here used to be kept a huge collection of paintings and ancient statues including the “Aldobrandini Wedding” now in the Vatican Museums

“The area where the villa was built has played a leading role since the second half of the sixteenth century, in relation to the arrangement of the Roman road ‘Alta Semita’ (High Semite) promoted by Pius IV (1559/65), completed in 1561, symbol of the 'salus publica' (public health) given back to the city by the pope. The renewal of the street gave impetus to the construction of new gardens, usually arranged by clients who delighted in antiquarian research, and in this way would recover the Renaissance scholarly tradition of this hill linked to the activities of Pomponio Leto (1425/98)” (Carla Benocci - Verdi Delizie, le ville, i giardini, i parchi storici del Comune di Roma)

In the third decade of the 1700s Gabriele Valvassori (1683/1761) was in charge of the maintenance of the garden, and designed the appearance appropriate to the French taste of the time

In 1811 the property passed to Count Alexandre François Sextius Miollis, General of Napoleon

“The Count Miollis introduced a new neoclassical idea of collecting works in a museum inspired by Antonio Canova. The sculpture collection was enriched (...); the interiors were furnished with a large collection of paintings both French and Italian, following the general taste, who had made the villa a veritable living room, where it was possible to study Latin literature, especially the works of Virgil” (Carla Benocci - Verdi Delizie, le ville, i giardini, i parchi storici del Comune di Roma)

In 1814 it was re-acquired by Giuseppe Aldobrandini who in 1846 had a NYMPHAEUM built by G.B. Benedetti

In 1876 the area of the villa was halved for earthworks due to the opening of Via Nazionale

In 1929 it was bought by the Italian state

Since 1992 it is a public park

“It is one of the oldest and most prestigious Renaissance complex, where there were exposed famous collections of paintings and sculptures, inherited by Pietro Aldobrandini and later transferred to the Galleria Doria Pamphili, the Borghese Gallery and other collections” (Carla Benocci - Verdi Delizie, le ville, i giardini, i parchi storici del Comune di Roma)

ENTRANCE ON VIA MAZZARINO

1938 Cesare Valle (1902/2000)

BUILDINGS ON VIA NAZIONALE AND BETWEEN VIA NAZIONALE AND VIA MAZZARINO

Built between late 1800s and early 1900s after the opening of Via Nazionale

BUILDING ON THE CORNER BETWEEN VIA MAZZARINO AND VIA PANISPERNA

It is the seat of the Istituto internazionale per l'Unificazione del Diritto Privato (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law)

The rest of the villa is managed by the City of Rome

On Via Mazzarino large ancient brick building, probably WAREHOUSES OF LUCIUS NEVIO CLEMENT of the end of the first century AD with restorations carried out at the time of Trajan (98/117) and the Severian emperors (193/235), covered later by the embankment of the BATHS OF CONSTANTINE

St. MARY IN VIA

S. MARIA IN VIA

Largo Chigi/Via S. Maria in Via

Mentioned in the sources for the first time in the year 955

Rebuilt in 1491 for Pope Innocent VIII Cybo (1484/92)

Granted in 1513 to the Servi di Maria (Servants of Mary), still officiating it today

Rebuilt in the years 1592/96 by Francesco Capriani aka Francesco da Volterra (1535/94) from a design by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) who also began the FAÇADE

Finished in the years 1670/81 by Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) for Monsignor Giorgio Bolognetti, bishop of Rieti

Heavily restored in 1857 by Giuseppe Aleggiani who removed the stuccos and the coating in faux marble of the pillars

VAULT

“First Mass of St. Philip Benizi” 1724 by Giovanni Domenico Piastrini (1678/1740)

NEAR THE ENTRANCE

“Funerary Memory of Pietro Antonio Serassi” d. 1719 by Vincenzo Pacetti (1746/1820)

1^st RIGHT - SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF THE WELL

1591 for Monsignor G.B. Canobi, buried in the left wall

Above the altar venerated fragment of a tile with painting “Our Lady of the Well” believed to be dating back to the thirteenth century, found on September 26, 1256

It was “caught”, according to tradition, while inexplicably floating in the waters gushing from a well (now on the right of the altar of the chapel), which was at the time located in the stables of the palace of Cardinal Pietro Capocci. A servant of the cardinal had thrown the image into the well for reasons not well understood

The well water is potable and is believed to be miraculous

According to tradition, one of the stones that are part of the wall of the well is a stone that was part of the well from which the Samaritan woman drew the water that quenched Jesus' thirst

The water is still offered to the faithful to drink in plastic cups

In the vault “Coronation of the Virgin Mary” 1946 by Michelangelo Bedini

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. PHILIP BENIZI

Restored about 1850 by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82)

Above the altar “St. Philip Benizi in prayer” by Antonio Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1568/1629), son of Niccolò Circignani

On the right “St. Philip Benizi gives his clothes to a poor man” by Tommaso Donini (or Luini) aka Caravaggino (1601/37) a pupil of Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661), who maybe had designed this work

On the left “Burial of St Philip Benizi” by Antonio Circignani aka Pomarancio who also painted the vault with “Musical Angels” in 1626

3^rd RIGHT - ALDOBRANDINI CHAPEL

Above the altar “Annunciation” by Francesco Coghetti (1801/75) restored in 1914 and again in 1971

On the right “Adoration of the Magi” and on the left “Nativity” 1594/96 by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

In the Adoration of the Magi, the brown man's face looking toward the viewer is a self-portrait of Cavalier d'Arpino

Vault 1595/96 by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96) with the help of his brother Francesco Zucchi (about 1562/1622)

4^th RIGHT - LAMBARDI CHAPEL

Vault in stucco with family coat of arms of Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619) who is buried here. He lived in a house next door

Above the altar “Holy Trinity and Sts. John the Baptist, Francis, John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene” by Cristoforo Casolani (1587/1629) (pupil of Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio) including a “Crucifix” of the sixteenth century

On the right “Apparition of the three angels to Abraham” by Francesco Lambardi, brother of the architect

On the left “Holy Ark and the Angels” by Cherubino Alberti (1553/1615)

On the sides of the altar two large “Angels holding the candelabras” in carved and gilded wood about 1730 by Valentino Consalvi

PRESBYTERY

Polychrome marble balustrade of the years 1758/61 for Cardinal Flavio Chigi

On the walls “Choirs” 1925 donated by Cardinal Hjes Archbishop of New York, titular of the church

4^th LEFT - MARUCELLI CHAPEL

Above the altar “Sts. Pellegrino Laziosi, Giuliana Confalonieri and other saints of the order of the servants” by Giuseppe Montesanti pupil of the painter Agostino Masucci, follower of Carlo Maratta

3^rd LEFT - BORRIGIANI CHAPEL

Above the altar “Seven Holy Founders of the order served” in 1730 by Giovanni Bigatti another pupil of Agostino Masucci

The painting is a copy of the work of Agostino Masucci in the church of S. Marcello al Corso

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE ASSUMPTION

Modern painting “Sacred Heart of Jesus”

1^st LEFT - DEL BUFALO CHAPEL

Above the altar “St. Andrew” by Giuseppe Franco aka Giuseppe Monti or “delle Lodole” (1565/1628) as he would sign his works with the image of a small lark (allodola)

Now the chapel is occupied entirely by a large Neapolitan nativity scene of the eighteenth century

St. FRANCES OF ROME

S. FRANCESCA ROMANA

Piazza S. Francesca Romana - Foro

About 760 as an oratory for Paul I (757/767) in the area of the TEMPLE OF VENUS AND ROME built by Hadrian (117/138) between 121 and 135 AD

The oratory was built to guard the so called Apostolic Silices, i.e. the prints left in the stone on the nearby Via Sacra by the Apostle Peter when he fell on his knees in prayer during the episode of Simon Magus according to the apocryphal Acts of Peter

The prayers of St. Peter and St. Paul would have caused the haughty Simon Magus, who was flying thanks to a wizardry, to crash on the ground

About 850 St. Leo IV (847/855) built a church that incorporated the oratory

About 999 the church was enriched and expanded for Gregory V (996/999), who gave it the name of S. Maria Nuova having transferred here the worship from S. Maria Antiqua in the Forum

1161 restoration of the BELL TOWER (restored again in 1971) and of the mosaic in the apse. The church was also consecrated again at the behest of Alexander III Bandinelli (1159/81)

In 1352 it was entrusted to the Benedictines of the Congregation of Monte Oliveto founded in 1313 by St. Bernard Tolomei. They still officiate it today

FAÇADE and INTERIOR renovation

1615 Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619) for Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati

On this occasion the church was dedicated to St. Frances of Rome (1384/1440) who spoke here the oblation of 1425 and was buried here after her death

The façade is considered the first derivation in Rome of the style of Andrea Palladio (1508/80)

“Inside it was presented again the unified space of the Roman churches of the Counter-Reformation and the new front of the church prevailed in Roman architecture of the early seventeenth century for the classicists accents of the giant order and for eco of Palladio, perhaps already intuited by Militia and later highlighted by several scholars (Fasolo, Wittkower, Blunt), who have understood the importance for the beginnings of the early Baroque architecture in Rome, from S. Bibiana (1624) by G.L. Bernini to S. Gregorio al Celio (1633) by G.B. Soria” (Enrico Parlato - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

STATUES ON THE FAÇADE

From left: “Unidentified female saint”, “St. Frances of Rome and the Angel”, “Virgin Mary and Child”, “St. Cecilia” and “St. Agnes”

Other restorations in the nineteenth century for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)

CONVENT

1816/29 Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) rebuilt

Now it is the home of the ARCHAEOLOGICAL SUPERINTENDENCE OF ROME and of the ANTIQUARIUM FORENSE (Archaeological Museum of the Forum), small museum with important artifacts found in the Forum still under interminable restructuring and therefore sadly closed to the public

Every 9 March, on the day of the feast of St. Frances of Rome, there is the blessing of cars

The real name of the saint was Francesca Bussa de' Leoni (1384/1440) and she was born into a noble family in Rome near Piazza Navona. She came to live in Trastevere when she was twelve, after her marriage to a nobleman from the Ponziani family who had become rich working as butchers

CEILING

1612 Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619). Restored in 1867 and in 1951

Wood paneled with wooden relief in frames:

“Madonna and Child”, “Sts. Agnes and Cecilia”, “St. Benedict” and “St. Frances of Rome”

On the sides: “Insignia of the Olivetano Order and of Cardinal Sfrondati” commissioner of the radical restructuring of the church

FLOOR

Completely redone in 1952, with old cosmatesque fragments

In the CHORUS BALCONY frescoes with “Stories of St. Frances of Rome and the Blessed Tolomei” 1693

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS

Vault with “Four Doctors of the Church” very damaged and badly restored frescoes of the school of Melozzo degli Ambrosi aka Melozzo da Forlì (1438/94)

Above the altar “Crucifixion” second quarter of the eighteenth century maybe by Emanuele Alfani (active 1736/74)

On the left of “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” and on the right “Blessed Bernardo Tolomei in ecstasy” by an unknown artist of the last quarter of 1600s

ROOM OF THE SIDE ENTRANCE

On the right “Funerary monument of Cardinal Marino Volcanoes” about 1395 erroneously attributed to Paolo Taccone aka Paul Romano (about 1415/77)

It is one of the rare examples of late Gothic sculpture in Rome

On the left “Funerary monument Antonio del Rio on horse” d. 1450 (captain of Castel Sant'Angelo and commander in chief of the army of the pope) about 1470/77 by Mino del Reame (active about 1463/77) who completely avoided here any religious reference

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF S. BENEDICT

Restored in 1937 by Lorenzo Cesanelli (1899/1965)

Above the altar “St. Benedict between Sts. Frances of Rome and Henry” 1937 by Augusto Orlandi (1879/?)

On the sides “Blessed Tolomei exorcises a maniac” and “Blessed Tolomei consoles a monk” first half of the eighteenth century by an artist of the Roman school close to the style of Etienne Parrocel (1696/1774)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF S. FRANCES OF ROME

Decorations 1727/28 by Francesco Ferrari (active in Rome 1721/44)

Above the altar “Virgin Mary with St. Frances of Rome in adoration of the Child” maybe by Michele Rocca (about 1675/1751) from Parma

WALLS BEFORE THE ALTAR

On the right of “St. Andrew in adoration of martyrdom” and on the left “Flagellation of St. Andrew” nineteenth-century copies maybe by Giovanni Silvagni (1790/1853) from the original by Guido Reni and Domenichino in the Oratory of S. Andrea al Celio

RIGHT TRANSEPT

On the right, behind a grate on the wall, there are the Apostolic Silices, the two fragments of basalt stone on which St. Peter would have knelt

On the left “Funeral monument of Gregory XI Beaufort (1370/78)” erected for resolution of the Roman Senate in memory of his return to Rome from Avignon in 1377 with reliefs and statues “Faith” and “Prudence” 1584 by Pietro Paolo Olivieri (1551/99 )

Painting “Madonna in Glory with St. Michael the Archangel” by an unknown artist of the end of seventeenth century

CONFESSION

1644/49 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) after the discovery of the body of St. Frances of Rome beneath the main altar on April 2, 1638

Under the aedicula with four columns of rare pink jasper there is the “Statuary group with St. Frances of Rome and the Angel” 1866 by Giosuè Meli (1816/93)

It replaced a similar group by Giovanni Maria Fracchi from a project by Bernini that was lost after the French occupation in 1798

MAIN ALTAR

“Madonna and Child” board maybe of the third decade of the thirteenth century in a tabernacle of the fifteenth century, restored in 1949

On the sides “Martyrdom of S. Nemesio” and “Martyrdom of the companions of S. Nemesio” 1684 maybe by Domenico Maria Canuti (1626/84) or Giovanni Angelo Canini (1609/66) with reference to Nemesio and his five companions whose relics were brought here in the year 996 and placed under the altar in 1580 by Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85)

APSE

Important mosaic with “Madonna and Child with Sts. James, John, Peter and Andrew” about 1160 or end of the twelfth century with similarities to the mosaics in S. Maria in Trastevere and St. Clement

Two statues of “Angels with cornucopia” of the Bernini school

ARC OF THE APSE

Frescoes “Moses” and “David” 1870 by Cesare Maccari (1840/1919)

CRYPT

Tomb of St. Frances of Rome designed in 1868 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)

Marble medallion “St. Frances of Rome and the Angel” 1648 by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)

LEFT TRANSEPT

On the right “Blessed Tolomei comforting the lepers” maybe by the Roman Stefano Pozzi (1699/1768)

In the lower part niche with remains of a fresco “Crucifixion” of the tenth or eleventh century

Under the choir “Tabernacle” of the end of fifteenth century maybe by Mino del Reame (active about 1463/77)

On the left “Resurrection” copy from original by Jacopo Zucchi

4^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE BLESSED BERNARDO TOLOMEI

Marble decorations of the seventeenth century

Interesting “False dome” in trompe l'oeil (optical illusion)

Above the altar “Bernardo Tolomei comfort a dying man” of the late eighteenth century by Giuseppe Pirovani (about 1755/about 1835)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS

Above the altar “St. Emygdius bishop” 1797 by Pietro Tedeschi (1750/1805) from Pesaro

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. GREGORY THE GREAT

Above the altar “Mass of St. Gregory the Great” first half of 1600s by Angelo Caroselli (1585/1652)

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE NATIVITY

On the altar “Nativity” copy of the original by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) in the church of S. Giuseppe dei Falegnami

On the walls “Blessed Tolomei in ecstasy” and “Blessed Tolomei and the devil” second half of the eighteenth century maybe by Andrea Casali (1705/84), a pupil of Sebastiano Conca and Francesco Trevisani

CORRIDOR LEADING TO THE SACRISTY

“Monument to Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)” 1735

SACRISTY

“Glycophilusa Madonna” (Madonna of the sweetness) precious icon of the first half of the fifth century from S. Maria Antiqua

“Madonna Enthroned with Sts. Benedict and Frances of Rome” about 1472 by Girolamo da Cremona (XV century)

“Madonna Enthroned with Saints” 1524 by the Umbrian painter Sinibaldo Ibi (active 1496/1548)

“Paul III Farnese (1534/49) and Cardinal Reginald Pole” maybe by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) and his pupils Jacopino del Conte (aboiut 1515/98) and Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80)

“To Sermoneta might be referred the Double Portrait in St. Frances of Rome hitherto attributed to Perin del Vaga. The right hand of the Pope, depicted in the act of making a movement, coincides exactly with that of the Judge on the throne of the Martyrdom of St. Catherine in S. Maria Maggiore, also the left, as well as the other person's hand, are in the style of Sermoneta, but above all the face of the secondary figure has that fixity, that stiffness of expression, caused mainly by his bulging eyes, which often distorts the portraits of this artist” (Hermann Voss)

“Miracle of St. Benedict” 1744 by Pierre Subleyras (1699/1749) formerly in the Chapel of St. Benedict

“Although his art was aiming to ideal beauty, antithetical to objective realism, Pierre was not only alien to the conventionality of expression, but he was often inspired by a frank observation of nature and he was able to represent it with wonderful lighting effects and an analysis sometimes painstaking of details, with which he used to bind together the main masses of his compositions, as in the altarpiece of St. Frances of Rome” (Giancarlo Sestieri)

“Trinity and Blessed Tolomei” about 1689 by Giacinto Brandi (1621/91) formerly in the Chapel of St. Benedict

“Tobias and the Angel” by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (1609/81)

COSTAGUTI PALACE

PALAZZO COSTAGUTI

Piazza Mattei 10

First half of the sixteenth century for Costanzo Patrizi, treasurer of Paul III Farnese (1534/49) who had the church of S. Leonardo De Albis demolished to build this palace

Renovated during the early seventeenth century by Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619) for the Costaguti family. They were Genoese bankers and had acquired it in 1578

It still belongs to the descendants of the family, the Marquis Afan de Rivera Costaguti

Unfortunately the palace is not visible to the general public

The original main entrance was the one on Via della Reginella

The rooms are decorated with some of the richest and most important paintings of all Roman palaces:

ROOM OF HERCULES

Painted maybe by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) or Sisto Badalocchio (1585/1645)

ROOM OF HOURS

Paintings maybe by Giacinto Brandi (1621/91) or Sisto Badalocchio

ROOM OF ARIONE

Paintings by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

ROOM OF BACCHUS AND ARIADNE

Frescoes by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)

ROOM OF THE MONTHS

Painted by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66) and his younger brother Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)

ROOM OF VENUS AND AENEAS

Frescoes by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

ROOM OF APOLLO

Ceiling “Chariot of the Sun” with Time revealing the Truth and Cupids about 1622 by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641) and perspectives by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

Truth escapes from Time and Night and goes toward Apollo-Sun

ROOM OF ARMIDA AND RINALDO

Ceiling “Rinaldo sleeping kidnapped by Armida” on a chariot drawn by dragons, 1621 spectacular Roman debut of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) and perspectives by Agostino Tassi

“Centaur Nessus carrying off Deianira” by Francesco Albani (1578/1660)

MASSIMO LANCELLOTTI HOUSE

CASINO MASSIMO LANCELLOTTI

Via Matteo Boiardo 16

Formerly VILLA GIUSTINIANI

Beginning of the seventeenth century. The architect is unknown: maybe it was Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) who was then in the service of the Giustiniani, or, more likely, Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619)

In 1802 Prince Giustiniani was forced to sell to the Marquis Carlo Massimo who rebuilt the house

Originally it spread over an area six times larger than at present

Since 1947 is the headquarter of the Delegation of the Franciscans in the Holy Land

The wings around the garden were only built in 1951

In the GARDEN funerary altars and great ancient statue known as "Justinian" with modern head

MAIN HALL

Fresco on the ceiling "Allegorical figurations" early 1800 by Domenico Del Frate (1765/1821), who also made the ceiling of the Gallery of Tapestries in the Vatican Museums with the chiaroscuro technique that gives the illusion of ancient bas-reliefs

Eight ancient statues from the Giustiniani collection including:

"Young Dionysus", "Apollo with his lyre", "General Pompey", "Marcus Porcius Cato aka the Censor" and "Bona Fortuna"

THREE ROOMS FACING THE GARDEN

Famous frescoes of the NAZARENES painted in the years 1818/29

They diverged from the classic-academic model, and strove for a new art, especially based on patriotism and religion, a language that gave archaic characteristics, using a strong pronunciation of the tract and a raw coloring made of uniform, solid strokes

They took the name Nazarenes for their long and elegant hair and their monastic attitudes

In these three rooms they performed their last collective work as well as their Roman masterpiece:

ARIOSTO'S ROOM (center)

"Scenes from the Orlando Furioso" most notably that of "Angelica and Medoro" 1822/27 by the German Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794/1872)

TASSO'S ROOM (on the right)

"Scenes from the Gerusalemme Liberata" ceiling and "Preparing for the assault on Jerusalem" on one wall 1819/27 by Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789/1896)

Other three walls "Rinaldo in the enchanted garden", "Rinaldo and Armida", the lovely "Death of Odoardo and Gildippe" and the great "Conquest of the Holy Sepulchre" 1827/29 by the Polish Joseph von Fürich (1800/86)

Fürich replaced Overbeck who, after the death of the Marquis Carlo Massimo, considered himself free of the contract and went to paint religious subjects in the Portiuncula in Assisi

DANTE'S ROOM (on the left)

Initially entrusted to Peter Cornelius, who, however, made only a draft and went into the service of Prince Ludwig Bavaria

"Scenes of Hell and Purgatory" 1825/28 by the Austrian Joseph Anton Koch (1768/1839) who made the most of Dante's dramatic effects even in a room of such a small size. Some nude figures painted were censored at the behest of Princess Massimo

Ceiling "Allegory of Paradise": "Empyrean" in the center and four sections with the eight heavens visited by Dante 1818/24 by Philipp Veit (1793/1877)

"The Nazarenes were so called because of the great religious sensitivity and the fashion of long blond hair. They argued that art should represent religious themes, which would indeed be a means of religious propaganda, and they referred to the painters of the Italian Quattrocento up to Raphael, devaluing the neoclassical canons of beauty keeping away both from abstraction and formalism of ideal beauty and from imitation of vulgar nature. Their proposal was also existential: their association involved a model of community life, performing collective work and referring to the condition of the ancient craftsmen. Their example will be followed also by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, born in 1848 in England" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)