1747/67 Carlo Marchionni (1702/86) for Cardinal Alessandro
Albani patron grandson of Clement XI Albani (1700/21) in order to keep and
display his collection of ancient sculptures
Johann
Joachim Winckelmann (1717/78), the mastermind of Neo-Classical style, was the
librarian of the cardinal and was also in charge of cataloging the pieces of
antiquities of his patron’s collection
“Through his
writings (Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums, 1764) Winckelmann promoted the
aesthetics of Neoclassicism, exerting enormous influence on art and taste of
his time, and formulating a new methodological approach that is the basis of
the modern history of art” (Enciclopedia Treccani)
In 1817 it
passed to the Castelbarco family
In 1866 it
was bought by Alessandro Torlonia who modified it in part, and increased
greatly the collection of works of art
On the 20th
of September 1870 the capitulation of Rome from the Papal army to the Italian
army commanded by General Raffaele Cadorna was signed here
“The shape
and distribution of the constituent nuclei of the villa are designed in strict
adherence to the display function. The richness and variety of solutions - as
in the gallery with the new combination of a ornamentation still in rococo
style and ancient fragments or as in the garden with the striking
interpenetration of picturesque ruins, ancient statues and natural elements -
make Villa Albani a totally unique product, the result of the refined
sensibility and culture of the client” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti,
Antonio Giuliano)
Main
Building
It is known
in Italian as Casino
HALL OF THE
PARNASSUS
It takes
its name from the fresco on the ceiling representating the “Parnassus” 1756 by Anton Raphael Mengs (1728/79)
“It became
the new sacred text of Classicism: the painter abandons the baroque
illusionistic perspective and returns to the Raphael inspired idea of panels
within a painted architectonical structure. The composition is conceived as a
relief and it doesn’t enhance the potential for sensitive seduction of the colors,
as much as the purity of the line that defines the forms. The central character
recalls the statue of the Belvedere Apollo and the two dancing figures on the
left are inspired by prototypes in Herculaneum, but idealized along the lines
of a classical style also inspired by Raphael” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano
Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
APARTMENT
OF LEDA reproducing an ancient thermal bath
BILLIARD
ROOM
Opposite
the Casino there is the CAFFEEHAUS
Among the outstanding antiquities:
“Relief of
Antinous” from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli
“Relief of
knight who defeats an enemy” original from Attica in parthenonic style
“Torlonia
young girl” mid first century BC
“Sarcophagus
with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis” of the Hadrian’s period (117/138)
“Hestia
Giustiniani” of the Hadrian’s period from the original of 460 BC
“Albani Athlete”
by Stefano a pupil of Pasiteles
“Frescoes
from the François tomb in Vulci” end of the fourth century BC with mythological
scenes of Greek and Etruscan-Roman stories
It would be
great if the long dispute between the Torlonia family and the Italian state could
be resolved so that one of the most important collections of ancient sculpture
in the world woud be finally be made visible to mankind
Among the paintings:
“Madonna
and Saints” 1475 by Niccolò di Liberatore aka l’Alunno (about
1430/1502)
“Altarpiece” 1419 by Pietro Vannucci aka Pietro Perugino (about 1450/1523)
“Pieta” 1509 by Francesco
Zaganelli (about 1460-70/1532)
Also
amazing works by:
Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765), Gerrit Van Honthorst aka Gherardo Delle Notti (1590/1656), Pompeo Batoni (1708/87), Antoon Van Dyck (1599/1641), Jacopo Robusti aka Tintoretto (1518/94), Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66), Jusepe de Ribera aka lo Spagnoletto (1591/1652), Jacopino del Conte (about 1515/98), Carlo Maratta (1625/1713), Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666), Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546), Jacques Courtois aa il Borgognone (1628/79), Luca Giordano (1634/1705), Philipp Peter Roos aka Rosa da Tivoli (1651/1705), Jacques-Louis David (1748/1825) and Gaspar van Wittel (1653/1736)
No comments:
Post a Comment