It was built using ancient materials for Pius VI Braschi (1775/99) of whom there is a bust just outside the front door
At the center of the vault “Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne” surrounded by
“Diana and Endymion, Venus and Adonis, Paris denying
Minerva the apple and Paris offering the apple to Venus” 1791/92 by Domenico De Angelis (1735/1804) who also painted the
vaults in three rooms of the Borghese Museum
“The style of Domenico De Angelis,
influenced by the Carracci remains bound - without its violence - that of his
master, Marco Benefial, and passes progressively from a neoclassical to a
romantic spirit” (Olivier Michel - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
Treccani)
In the
floor “Four small colorful mosaics” from Hadrian's
Villa in Tivoli, three with scenic masks, about 60/50 BC, and one with a rural landscape,
about 30/20 BC, made with the
incredible technique known as opus vermiculatum. These four mosaics decorated an older villa and were reused in the
so-called Imperial Palace in Hadrian’s Villa more than 150 years later
From
the right:
“Sabina, wife of Hadrian in the guise of Venus Victrix
with apple in hand” beautiful restored sculpture, the original copy
of the famous Greek sculptor Arcesilaus
The extremely sexy wet nude-look contrasts
with the expression of melancholy and frigidity that Sabina has in all her
portraits
Perhaps she could not help but show her disappointment of her relationship with her husband, the emperor Hadrian (117/138) who desperately loved the Turkish boy Antinous and was probably even indifferent to the seemingly, at least in this statue, irresistible beauty of his wife
“Aphrodite Bathing” small copy of the squatting
Venus of Doidalsas
“Draped Dancer or Bacchant” in Pentelic marble
with an ivy wreath on the “Tombstone of Cecilia Magna”
This dancer was one of the favorite statues
of the father of neoclassicism Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717/78)
“Aphrodite of Cnidus” one of the best copies
from the original by Praxiteles (about 395/326 BC) of the fourth century BC
“The right hand is brought forward to
cover the groin, in a gesture of apparent modesty, which makes it feel
seduction even better, tied to a moment. To attract the attention are the soft
passages between the levels, the absence of sudden movements and the gloss
surface of Pentelic marble. The same principles of delicacy, suppleness of the
shape, shine and softness of the levels, always reappear as fundamental
features of the art of Praxiteles, so that he became famous as the artist who,
more than any other, expressed in his works the charis, grace” (Giorgio Bejor)
“The Three Graces” mythic projections of Joy,
Beauty and Grace from a Hellenistic original
Beautiful “Square Cup” in “rosso antico” marble (quarries are near
Matapan Cape in Greece)
Famous “Dung Chair” in “rosso antico” marble the original use of
which has been much debated by scholars
It was
probably used as a toilet in antiquity by members of the imperial families or
by the emperors themselves, since porphyry was associated exclusively to them
This chair,
along with a similar one, was used by the popes as the throne during the
ceremony of taking possession of the cattedra (throne) in the Basilica
of St. John Lateran
The chair
was popularly associated with the legendary female Pope Joan who would reign in
the year 853/855. Legend has it that, to avoid a repeat of the election of a
woman, each new pope was subjected to a thorough examination while sitting on
this chair to make sure it was not a woman disguised
According
to Cesare D'Onofrio however the use of the dung chair was exclusively
religious: the birthing chair would have symbolized the mother Church who gives
eternal life to his children
Two “Venus Anadyomene (coming out of the water)” the most beautiful and least restored of which is holding a jar for
perfume
Beautiful “Statue of Drunken Satyr” in “rosso antico” marble with eyes
still glazed. It was found in Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli
On the
right there is access to the LOGGIA SCOPERTA (open loggia) which connects the Cabinet of
the Masks with the Small Room IV of the busts
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