Piazzale Brasile/Piazzale Flaminio
It took
shape starting from 1605 for the Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese
(1577/1633), son of the sister of Pope Paul V Borghese (1605/21)
The nucleus
of the villa had been property of the Borghese family since 1580, but in 1605
Scipione Borghese acquired the neighboring land and expanded it
The
gardener Domenico Savini da Montepulciano collaborated
in the design of the gardens
Among the
collaborators there were also Pietro Bernini (1562/1629)
and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)
The villa
was renovated in 1793 by Antonio Asprucci (1723/1808)
with his son Mario Asprucci (1764/1804) and
various collaborators including the painter of landscapes and garden expert Jacob More (1740/93)
Later on
the property was extended to Piazza del Popolo and Luigi
Canina (1795/1856) took care of the expansion in 1822 for Camillo
Borghese (1775/1832), known for his controversial marriage to Pauline
Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister
Luigi Canina
designed the PROPYLAEA OF THE ENTRANCE FROM PIAZZALE FLAMINIO in the years
1827/29, and joined the two parts of the villa
It was sold
in 1885 to the Italian government that gave the park in 1903 to the City of
Rome keeping only the ownership of the Casino
(the main building)
The total
area of the villa is about 80 hectares (198 acres) and the perimeter is about
6 km (3.7 miles) with eight entrances
It is the
third public park in Rome in size after Villa Doria Pamphili and Villa Ada
“The villa,
a symbol of the enlightened Roman patronage, is one of the most important
examples of patrician suburban residence. Inside are enclosed buildings,
sculptures, monuments and fountains, designed by eminent exponents of the
baroque, neoclassical and eclectic styles, with centuries-old trees, lakes,
Italian gardens and wide open spaces, made with great care and attention to ideas
that were popular in Europe. The perfect balance between art and nature, a key
element of its original features, is still perceptible, despite the profound
changes undergone over the centuries” (Carla Scicchitano - Verdi Delizie, le
ville, i giardini, i parchi storici del Comune di Roma)
It originally
included a garden divided into THREE AREAS, the WOODS AREA, the PERSPECTIVES
AREA or PARCO DEI DAINI (Deer Park) and the RUSTIC PARK:
Woods
Area
South-East
Area
It is known
as Woods Area (recinto boschereccio
in Italian) for the forest of elms, pines and cypresses. It was divided into 23
square blocks and the entrance was on Via Pinciana
Perspectives
Area or Deer Park
North-East
Area
It was the
private garden of the prince, completely surrounded by walls and accessible
only from the main building of the villa
It was
decorated with many statues and some are still present: the colossal “Thirteen herms
known as Termini” with baskets of fruit on their heads, maybe ancient restored
about 1616 by Pietro Bernini (1562/1629)
“Perhaps,
just because of the incredible genius of his son Gian Lorenzo, Pietro Bernini
was misunderstood by modern critics. He was rather an artist, though not
prominent, yet witty and clever, and always looking for new means of
expression. Trained primarily on ancient statuary (he was one of the most
experienced restorers of his time), he worked steadily for Cardinal Scipione
Borghese, particularly for his Villa Pinciana” (Cesare D'Onofrio)
It was
called the Deer Park (Parco dei Daini
in Italian) for the presence, until the nineteenth century, of deer and
gazelles
Forest with
about 600 holm oaks
Rustic
Park
West
Area
It used to
be a game reserve in an area of about 40 hectares (99 acres)
Where the
lake is now there was a forest with about 800 holm oas
In VALLEY
OF DOGS originally known as the Valley of
Graziano or Valley of the Sycamore Trees there are still some sycamore
trees planted about 400 years ago
The
buildings of the Rustic Park (Parco
Rustico in Italian) were already here when Scipione Borghese acquired the
property and they were originally farmhouses
Entrance Portal from Via Pinciana
1606/06 Flaminio
Ponzio (1560/1613)
It was not built
in front of the main building since the road which it should have faced was
small and seedy. The plan was to favor the main street, the current Via
Pinciana. When the road was widened the portal had to be moved back
On the
sides there were until the end of the nineteenth century two statues of herms, “Priapus”
and “Flora” sculpted by Pietro Bernini (1562/1629)
and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) who
welcomed the guests with flowers and fruit. They are now at the Metropolitan
Museum in New Yok
Small
Theater
1613/16
maybe by Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655)
It is known
as Teatrino in Italian. It is at the
end of Viale dei Daini
Pavilions
of the Aviary and of the Meridian
PAVILION OF THE AVIARY
1617/19 Girolamo
Rainaldi. Padiglione dell’Uccelleria in Italian
PAVILION OF
THE MERIDIAN
1680/88 Carlo Rainaldi
(1611/91) and Tommaso Mattei (1652/1726),
a pupil of Carlo Fontana
The
Pavilion of the Meridian (Padiglione
della Meridiana in Italian) was a building formerly used as a farm for
chickens
The two
pavilions are the completions of the prospective from second and third secret
gardens
Wine
Cave
1609/18 Flaminio Ponzio (1560/1613)
Oval loggia
with eight arches above the cave. It was used for storing the favorite wines of
the refined Cardinal Scipione Borghese
Frescoes “Feast
of the Gods” and “Nine Muses” by the painter from Urbino Archita Ricci (1560/1635) between festoons made out of
stucco
It is
connected to the main building of the villa with a tunnel
Graziano’s
House
So called (Casa del Graziano in Italian) for the
name of the previous owner, the jurist Stefano Graziani, from whom Cardinal
Scipione Borghese had bought it in 1616
Cardinal
Scipione Borghese used it to rest during breaks when he was hunting
Frescoes in
the rooms of the first and second floor of 1500s restored and completed in 1616
by Annibale Durante, Flemish as
Vasanzio
Frescoes
and decorations in the loggia “Mythological stories regarding the winds” 1616
by Alessandro Turchi, Bernardo
Castello, Marcantonio Bassetti and Ghilardo Spina
House
of the Workshops
One-story
building originally U-shaped and later partially demolished for the expansion
of Via Pinciana
The name (Casino degli Uffizi in Italian) comes
from the workshops that used to be here where marble was worked for the
decoration of the villa’s main building
There are
still some ancient reliefs inside
Today it is
a kindergarten
Secret
gardens
1) GARDEN
OF THE SEVILLE ORANGES (bitter oranges known as melangoli in Italian) 1610/33
2) GARDEN
OF FLOWERS 1610/33
3) THIRD
GARDEN between the Pavilions of the Aviary and of the Meridian about 1680. Here
rare and exotic flowers used to be cultivated. It was restored in the late
nineties with the reconstruction of the original seventeenth-century flower
beds
4) GARDEN
OF PROPAGATION used as a nursery for plants exposed in the other three gardens
Pincio
Hill Gardens
228 marble
busts of important Italians:
In 1849 52
were sculpted by unemployed artists and Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) in
1851 still wanted to have them exposed even if he did censor some
On the
small island in the middle of the artificial lake there is the so called TEMPLE
OF AESCULAPIUS
1785/92 Antonio Asprucci (1723/1808) with his son Mario Asprucci (1764/1804)
“Ancient
statue of Aesculapius” restored in 1785 by Vincenzo
Pacetti (1746/1820) who sculpted together with Agostino
Penna (known since 1768/d. 1800) the two “Statues of nymphs” on the
sides
Around the
lake four statues (now in temporary storage at the Canonica Museum) from the
dismembered “Monument to Jan van der Capellen de Poll” by Giuseppe Ceracchi (1751/1801)
Jan van der
Capellen de Poll was a Dutch jurist who was guillotined after an attempt on the
life of Napoleon in 1800
Temples
of Diana and of Antoninus and Faustina
SMALL
TEMPLE OF DIANA
1789 Mario Asprucci. Originally inside there was an ancient
statue of Diana restored by Vincenzo Pacetti, now in the Louvre
TEMPLE OF
ANTONINUS AND FAUSTINA
1792 Christopher Unterberger (1732/98). It is composed of
fragments taken from the ancient Roman Forum combined with modern parts
Inside
there is an ancient statue representing “Faustina”
At the
sides “Two altars” with copies of the inscriptions from the Villa of Herodes
Atticus at the Caffarella Park
Tank
of the Marcia Aqueduct
1925 Raffaele de Vico (1881/1969)
Water tank
for the Pinciano neighborhood inside the Deer Park. Octagonal structure with
rustic pond
National
Institute for Agriculture
1906/08 Pompeo Passerini (1875/?). In 1934 the LIBRARY was
added in a small pavilion
Twenty-four
Fountains
The main ones:
FOUNTAIN OF
THE MASKS (Fontana delle Maschere)
1575 Simone Moschino (about
1560/1610), Taddeo Landini (about 1550/96), Giuseppe Bartoli
(XVI century) and Giacomo Silla Longhi (known
since 1568/d. 1619) from a project by Giacomo Della
Porta (1533/1602)
It was
originally designed for the Fontana
del Moro in Piazza Navona
FOUNTAIN OF
THE HARVESTER LADY (Fontana della
Mietitrice)
1934 Luigi De Luca. In front of the library of the National
Institute for Agriculture with bronze statue “Reaper”
FOUNTAIN OF
SATYRS also known as GAIA SOURCE (Fontana
dei Satiri)
1925 Giovanni Nicolini
(1872/1956)
FOUNTAIN OF SEA HORSES (Fontana dei Cavalli Marini)
1790/91
designed by Cristoforo Unterberger (1732/98) and
executed by Vincenzo Pacetti (1746/1820)
FOUNTAIN OF
THE HYDROCHRONOMETER (Fontana
dell’Idrocronometro)
Designed in
1867 by the Dominican G.B. Embriaco who had
presented with great success at the Paris Exposition on that same year
It was put
in place by Gioacchino Ersoch (1815/1902) who
also supervised the planning for the Pincio Hill Park
DARK
FOUNTAINS (Fontane Oscure)
Maybe by Flaminio Ponzio (1560/1613). They were originally
known as FONTANA ROTONDA (Round Fountain) and FONTANA OVALE (Oval Fountain) and
decorated with statues and plants
FOUNTAIN OF
THE AQUA FELICE AQUEDUCT
1610 Antonio Asprucci (1723/1808) with his son Mario Asprucci (1764/1804)
The Acqua
Felice aqueduct was extended to this spot in 1610 thanks to the work of Giovanni Fontana (1540/1614) at the behest of Paul V
Borghese (1605/21) who wanted to provide with water the fountains of the villa
The stretch
of the seventeenth century aqueduct was destroyed in 1849 by shelling of the
French cannons and the current fountain is the only remnant of that work
Fifteen
Monuments
The main ones:
ARCH OF
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
1830 Luigi Canina (1795/1856) inspired curiously by the
Arch of Titus
Canina
wanted him to name the arch after Septimius Severus (193/211), a statue of whom
was placed as a decoration on the top. The statue of the emperor is flanked by
two statues of Parthian prisoners
MONUMENT TO
UMBERTO I (King of Italy 1878/1900)
Davide
Calandra (1856/1915),
completed in 1925 by Edoardo Rubino (1871/1954)
MONUMENT TO
WOLFGANG GOETHE
1904 Valentino Casali. Gift of Kaiser Wilhelm II
MONUMENT TO
GEORGE BYRON
1959 copy
of the original by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770/1844)
now in the Trinity College, Cambridge
MONUMENT TO ENRICO TOTI
1922 Arturo Dazzi (1881/1966)
MONUMENT TO RAFFAELLO SANZIO (Raphael)
1838 Achille Stocchi (?/After 1870)
House
known as Raphael’s House
Known in
Italian as Casino detto di Raffaello,
formerly known as CASINO DELL’ARBORETO
DEI GELSI, the greenhouse of mulberry trees. It was the home of guardian of
the villa
The
original building known as Casino di
Raffaello was located in the area of the riding track and it was
destroyed by the French bombardment of 1849
It was
called Raphael’s House fom the presence of frescoes of the school of Raffaello
Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520)
Transformed
in 1991 by Antonio Asprucci (1723/1808) with his
son Mario Asprucci (1764/1804) with the addition
of the CHAPEL OF PIAZZA DI SIENA
Inside there
are frescoes by Felice Giani (1758/1823) and G.B. Marchetti (1730/1800)
Marble
statue of the “Virgin Mary” by Guillaume-Antoine
Grandjacquet (1731/1801)
“Stylistically
consistent with what it had already been expressed with the statue of St. Claude
(the façade of the church of Sts. Andrew and Claude of the Burgundians), the figure is featured bringing
her hands to her chest, wrapped in a large cloak billowing folds with
reference, in the setting and in the seemingly soft marble, to the late Baroque
tradition, strongly perceivable also in the execution of the cherubims on the
fence, that, until some time ago, separated the presbytery from the faithful
(Lefevre). (...) Grandjacquet (was part of the) Roman art scene of the second
half of the century, still along the great tradition of the late Baroque style,
but already close to the new eighteenth-century sensibility, especially in the decorations,
because of his training influenced by Piranesi and because of market demands” (Rosella
Carloni - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
To the side
of the altar there is the tomb of the sculptor Pietro Canonica (1869/1959)
House
of the Clock
Known as Casino dell’Orologio in Italian, it was originally the home of the
caretaker and gardener
It was
transformed in 1791 and became the seat of the collection of antique statues
from the estate of the Borghese in Gabi,
until 1807 when it was given to Napoleon and ended up at the Louvre
Embedded in
the BACK FAÇADE there are two “Altars with inscriptions” the only remnant of
the finds of Gabi
House
of the Roses
Known as Casina delle Rose in Italian, this building
is known since 1748
Purchased
by the Borghese family in 1833 as part of Villa
Manfroni for the expansion of their villa
Restored by
Luigi Canina (1795/1856) in 1834. It was used as
a restaurant, a barn, home of attendants, a warehouse, a barn for cows, a disco,
a bar and it is now the HOUSE OF CINEMA (Casa
del Cinema) with outdoor screenings in summer
Riding
track
Two
centuries ago this wide valley was an extraordinary attraction built by Francesco Bettini self-taught gardening enthusiast
It was
beautifully decorated with exotic plants, an artificial volcano, fake Gothic ruins,
an Egyptian pyramid, bridges, fountains. Everything was destroyed by the French
bombardment of 1849
Now it is
used as a riding track
MUSEO PIETRO CANONICA
Pietro Canonica Museum
Building
known as CASA DEL GALLINARO (House of the hens’ keeper) in the seventeenth
century since here were reared ostriches, peacocks and ducks
Restored in
1793 and transformed into a castle maybe by Antonio
Asprucci (1723/1808) and his son Mario Asprucci
In 1919 it
was devastated by a fire to which followed a prolonged abandonment
In 1926 it
was granted as a studio and home to the painter, musician and sculptor Pietro Canonica (1869/1959) and since 1961 it houses
the PIETRO CANONICA MUSEUM with sculptures, paintings of the nineteenth century
and home furnishings. A splendid example of house-museum
In front of
the museum there is the “Monument to the Alpine Soldier” by Pietro Canonica
SEVEN ROOMS
with collection of sculpture
In the old
wing of the building with PRIVATE APARTMENT with NINE ROOMS which was opened to
the public in 1988 after the death of Maria Assunta Riggio Canonica, second
wife of the artist, who had continued to live in the apartment even after her
husband's death in 1959
“The rooms
of the apartment have been restored and completely furnished by Pietro Canonica
in the Piedmontese style of the eighteenth century, giving pre-eminence to a
conception of space of representation that would have suited his public image. So
these are rooms that, reflecting the spirit of the artist, of his era and his
social environment, are a unique example of house-museum among the variety of museums
in Rome” (Official website of the Pietro Canonica Museum -www.museocanonica.it)
Room
I
Portraits predominantly of women
“Sculpture of Donna Franca Florio” 1900/04
“The communicants” about 1920
“Star in the morning” about 1925
Two
sculptures of the same name “After the vow was made” one sculpted in 1893 and another one sculpted in 1920
“Princess Emily Doria
Pamphili” about 1920 replica of the original kept in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj
Room
II
Portraits and other sculpturess connected
mainly with the Russian imperial family
“Plaster model in
original scale for the bronze monument to Tsar Alexander II of Russia” 1912/14
“Plaster model patinated
as bronze for the equestrian monument to Nicholas Nicolajevich” 1911/13 meant to be placed in Manejnaja
Square in St. Petersburg, destroyed in 1917
Sculpture
in patinated plaster “Alexandra
Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia” about 1910. The marble work is in the Pavlovsk
Museum in St. Petersburg
Plaster funerary
monument for Giulia Schenabl Rossi “The Blast” 1924
Room
III
Commemorative monuments
“Of
particular interest is the monument to King Faisal of Iraq, the only evidence
left after the destruction of the original in the revolution of 1958. (...) The
reputation of Canonica as a portraitist and author of monumental works was
consolidated at the court of the Tsars as he made for Tsar Nicholas II and
Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna numerous portraits of members of the imperial
family and members of the Russian nobility. The Tsar also commissioned the
artist two great commemorative works: the monument to the Grand Duke Nicholas
Nicolajevich and the monument to Tsar Alexander II” (Official website of the
Pietro Canonica Museum - museocanonica.it)
“Monument to Kemal
Ataturk with the conquest of Smyrna” 1932
“Group of the Battle
of Sakarya, Monument to the Republic of Turkey” 1928 in plaster patinated as bronze
“Monument to King
Faisal I of Iraq” 1932/33
Beautiful “Vigil of the soul” 1901 in patinated marble
“Funerary monument to
Josè Figueroa Alcorta, President of the Argentine Republic” 1935 plaster model for the base of
the bronze monument in the Cemetery de la Recoleta in Buenos Aires
“Doors of the Abbey
of Montecassino” 1951
Room
IV
Small passage room with busts
“Michael of Romania” 1943 and “Helen of Romania”
“Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta” 1934/36
Room V
Sculptures normally in storage or restored
recently
“Monument to Alessandro Manzoni”
“Monument to Antonio Rosmini”
“Sketch of
the statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary” sculpted for the city of Cosenza and
replicated for the Abbey of Casamari
Room
VI
Works with sacred subjects
“Monument to St. John
Bosco”
1934 model for the huge statue in the Basilica
of St. Peter
“Christ scourged” about 1920 replica of the funerary
monument made in 1898 for the Falletti family in the Cemetery of Turin
“Funeral Procession” 1924 plaster patinated in bronze, original
model for the bronze relief decorating the funeral chapel of the Chiapello family
in the Cemetery of Turin
Bronze
sculpture “St. Paul of Tarsus” post 1940
Bronze
sculpture “St. Peter” 1936/40 model for the original in marble
executed in 1950 for the Lateran University
Room
VII
Portraits and three large allegorical works
The three allegorical works: “The Abyss” 1909, “Torso of a Woman” 1896 and “Shame” about 1920
Among the portraits:
“Luigi Einaudi” 1948
“Kemal Ataturk” 1927
“Guglielmo Marconi” 1938
“Vittorio Scialoja”
“Sidney Sonnino”
“Beatrice” 1910
“Edward VII of
England” 1903/04 cast of the marble work now in the Osborne House in the Isle of
Wight
“Benedict XV Della
Chiesa (1914/22)” 1924/28 study for the monument in St. Peter's Basilica
“Virginia Agnelli Bourbon del Monte”
“Princess Olga of
Greece”
1910
“Vittorio
Emanuele” and “Maria Pia of Savoy” as children
Private
apartment
“Stele for the
monument to Giovanni Paisiello” 1938
Among the
PAINTINGS there are works by Antonio Fontanesi (1818/82),
Alberto Pasini (1826/99), Lorenzo Delleani (1840/1908) and the self-portrait of Pietro Canonica himself
“These rooms
were actually lived in by the artist as an extension of his studio, both for
unavoidable reasons of space and light, and for intimate adherence to the
principle of identity between Art and Life, very popular in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth century. An ideal that derives from myth of the total work
of art, as concocted by Wagner, whose results in the entertainment world were
revolutionary for his way of making theater. An ideal that will also affect
other areas of art and literature, down to the daily life of many artists at
the turn of the century” (Carla Scicchitano – Verdi Delizie. Le ville, i giardini, i parchi storici del Comune di Roma)
MUSEO CARLO BILOTTI
Carlo Bilotti Museum
In the Orangery
It opened
in 2006 in the former manor house and eventually, since 1776/78, storage area
for citrus
EXTERIOR
Bronze
sculpture “Big cardinal” by Giacomo Manzù
(1908/91) part of a run of eight copies made in 2004, from an original
cast of 1965
“The
Cardinal standing interprets the theme in the most solemn way, with the
schematic pyramid structure wrapped in the simple and powerful mass of the
stole, his face serious and impenetrable dominated by the miter, devoid of portraiture
intent. (...) Manzù has been one of the leading interpreters of sacred themes
of our times” (Official website of the Museo Carlo Bilotti –
www.museocarlobilotti.it)
Bronze
sculpture “Hector and Andromache” by Giorgio
de Chirico (1888/1978)
“The
composition presents, in dimensions larger than life, a plaster model made by
de Chirico in 1966. The sculpture of Hector and Andromache characterizes the
exterior area of the Orangery where it ends up having an advertising effect.
The work is able to communicate the absolute and universal value of that last
gesture of farewell between the two spouses imagined by Homer, played by the
usual mannequins a la De Chirico, almost completely humanized and hit by a dramatic
wind that shakes the robe of Andromache” (Official website of the Museo Carlo
Bilotti – www.museocarlobilotti.it)
TWO LARGE
ROOMS WITH COLLECTION OF WORKS OF CONTEMPORARY ART donated by the collector
Carlo Bilotti (1934/2006) to the City of Rome:
Remarkable
and extensive collection of works by Giorgio de Chirico
(1888/1978) including:
Painting “Archaeologists” about 1927
Painting “Mystery and
Melancholy of a Street, Girl with Hoop”
“Late replica,
executed by de Chirico probably at the end of the sixties and backdated to
1948, of one of his famous painting of 1914. It is an example of one of the
most famous and discussed expressions of De Chirico’s art, the execution of
replicas of previous paintings, upsetting any conceptual distinction between
original and copy. Compared to the original of 1914 in this painting there are
less arches in the building on the left, the shadow of the monument that comes
out from the building on the right is missing an arm and the bandwagon has no
wheels. The theme of absence seems to pervade the work in every detail, in the
figure of the girl, in the long shadows of the figures behind the palace, in
the distressing railway wagon” (Official website of the Museo Carlo Bilotti –
www.museocarlobilotti.it)
Bronze
sculpture “Orestes and Pylades” 1965 from a terracotta made in 1940
In addition there are works of art of other
artists:
Painting “Summer” 1951 by Gino
Severini (1883/1966)
Painting “Mother and daughter
Tina and Lisa Bilotti” 1981 by Andy Warhol (1928/87)
