The Villa Albani (later Villa Albani-Torlonia) is a villa in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, built on the
Via Salaria
The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy.
It eventually ran from Rome (from Porta Salaria of the Aurelian Walls) to ''Castrum Truentinum'' (Porto d'Ascoli) on the Adriatic coast, a distance of 242 km. The road also passed throug ...
for Cardinal
Alessandro Albani
Alessandro Albani (15 October 1692 – 11 December 1779) was a Roman Catholic cardinal, but should be best remembered as a leading collector of antiquities, dealer and art patron in Rome. He supported the art historian, Johann Joachim Winckelmann ...
. It was built between 1747 and 1767 by the architect
Carlo Marchionni in a project heavily influenced by otherssuch as
Giovanni Battista Nolli
Giambattista Nolli (or Giovanni Battista) pril 9, 1701 – July 3, 1756 was an Italian architect and surveyor. He is best known for his ichnographic plan of Rome, the ''Pianta Grande di Roma'' which he began surveying in 1736 and engraved in ...
,
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...
and
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and founding he ...
to house Albani's collection of antiquities, curated by Winckelmann. The villa has been conserved intact into the 21st century by the
Torlonia Family 200px, Coat of arms of the House of Torlonia.
The House of Torlonia is the name of an Italian princely family from Rome, which acquired a huge fortune in the 18th and 19th centuries through administering the finances of the Vatican. The first influ ...
, who bought it in 1866. In 1870, the treaty following the
Capture of Rome
The Capture of Rome ( it, Presa di Roma) on 20 September 1870 was the final event of the unification of Italy (''Risorgimento''), marking both the final defeat of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX and the unification of the Italian Peninsula ...
from the Papal States was signed here.
History
![Villa Albani Roma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Villa_Albani_Roma.jpg)
Planned in 1743, the building of the villa began in 1747 according to
Giuseppe Vasi and was celebrated as complete in 1763. Its purpose was to house Cardinal Albani's evolving and renewed collections of antiquities and ancient Roman sculpture, which soon filled the casino that faced the Villa down a series of formal parterres.
The villa with its collection, fountains, statues, stairways and frescoes, and Italian-style garden, the hemicycle of the Kaffeehaus, constitutes a sublime testimony of that particular antiquarian taste which came to the fore in mid-18th-century, that for which Rome had become a key destination on the
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
.
While the Cardinal was the real director of works, for the layout of the works Albani's lifelong friend
Carlo Marchionni was the architect in charge, at the Villa and perhaps also for the two temples in the park, an Ionic temple of Diana and a sham ruin. It is hypothesized that Marchionni took advice from Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who at that time, having been hired as librarian by the Cardinal (1759), was creating a catalogue of the collections of antiquities of his patron, paving the way for the reappraisal of Greek art. Winckelmann was a notable force behind the enlargement of the collection, and as he would write in a letter dated August 1766, in the construction process, Albani always adopted Descartes’s maxim not to leave any space empty. And so, in the Sala di Antinoo, the famous relief of Villa Adriana embellished the fireplace, and this room also hosts the famous fresco of Parnassus (1761), created by Anton Raphaël Mengs for the vault of the Galleria, which would go on to become the pictorial manifesto of the nascent neoclassical style. Winckelmann was supported by Albani from the time when the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
stranded him in Rome without his pension, and whose own connoisseur ship was sharpened by the connection. The nephew of Pope Clement XI, respectful patron and skilled diplomat, Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692-1779) was in fact one of the greatest collectors of ancient sculptures in 18th-century Rome, and a promoter of that Neo-classical taste that forms the basis of modern archaeological studies.
The Villa, lying just outside the city walls, along the Via Salaria, was built between 1747 and 1763, designed by the architect Carlo Marchionni, when the extensive green area, previously owned by Accoramboni, Ercolani and Orsi, was purchased by Cardinal Albani. A building of representation more than a residence, as suggested by the high-ceilinged rooms, the care of the interiors, the elegant interior façade covering two floors with the majestic terraced loggia, looking onto the Italian-style garden, the Villa was most of all a cultural powerhouse, hosting pleasant moments for the circle of antiquarian friends that the learned churchman had gathered around him. This was the stage of erudite discussions, concerts, dances and masked comedies, and guests would be astonished by the wealth of the furnishings, made up of polychrome marbles, stuccoes, tapestry, paintings, and above all, an exceptional collection of original Greek and Roman sculptures: a passion for the ancient world that Albani had nurtured since his youth, sponsoring vast excavation projects and making purchases both in Rome and in the surrounding areas.
Cardinal Alessandro Albani had another villa and park at Porto d'
Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...
, that was finished in February 1732, but was habitable for a few weeks only in spring because of malaria. The Villa remained largely intact even after the death of the Cardinal: the works removed during the Napoleonic period (1797-1815) to decorate the Musée Napoléon in Paris were in fact partly returned after 1815 to their legitimate owner, Prince Carlo Albani while the residence remained property of the Albani family up until the first half of the 19th century, when from the last heir it was passed on to the Albani-Castelbarco family, from whom the Torlonia Family soon after purchased it.
An exceptional building, developed with eclectic taste in a swift succession of rooms decorated with masterpieces like the Apollo Sauroctono and the Parnassus fresco (1761) by Anton Raphaël Mengs (1728-1779) considered to be the manifesto of the neoclassical style. The world-wide famous bas-relief of the Antinoo from Villa Adriana, depicting the young lover of Emperor Adriano along with the collections showcasing works by Perugino, Vanvitelli, Baciccio among the others.
The
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
inscription in bronze lettering on the façade: “Alexander Albani vir eminentissimus instruxit et ornavit / Alexander Torlonia vir princeps in melius restituit” ("The most eminent Alessandro Albani designed and decorated
his building/ Prince Alessandro Torlonia restored it to better appearance"), tells the story of the house.
The Villa has been saved from the destruction of the Umbertine urbanisation, which soon afterwards would wipe out most of the historical villas of the city, thus dispersing the ancient heritage that for three centuries had made Rome the heart of European artistic life.
Collection
Statues, busts, bas-reliefs, vases, capitals and columns, all carefully selected, decorated the refined interiors, the gardens, the fountains and the various buildings of the villa, which stands as a vast architectural complex of locales and structures (like the Temple of Diana, the Temple of the Caryatids, the coffee-house, the ruined tempietto, the billiards area, etc.), which dialogue with one another with the intention of creating an educational and emotional itinerary, studied down to the last detail, aiming to compete with the villas of Imperial Rome, and leaving its visitors enchanted.
*
Nicolò Alunno Nicolò () is an Italian male given name. Another variation is Niccolò, most common in Tuscany. It may refer to:
* Nicolò Albertini, statesman
* Nicolò Amati, luthier
* Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer
* Nicolò Barattieri, Italian enginee ...
, Madonna with Child enthroned and Sts. John the Baptist, Caterina d'Alessandria, Sebastian, Anthony, Benedict, Peter, Paul and Augustine, tempera on wood, 200 x 251 cm.
*
Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pup ...
, "Polittico Albani Torlonia" with nativity of Christ with Sts. Michael, John the Baptist, Jerome and George, 1491, tempera on wood, 174 x 88 cm.
*
Marco d'Oggiono
Marco d'Oggiono (c. 1470 – c. 1549) was an Italian Renaissance painter and a chief pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, many of whose works he copied.Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Marco D'Oggione", ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York: Robert Appl ...
, Madonna with Child.
*
Taddeo Zuccari
Taddeo Zuccaro (or Zuccari) (1 September 15292 September 1566) was an Italian painter, one of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school.
Biography
Zuccaro was born in Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino, the son of Ottaviano Zuccaro, ...
, Christ in pietà mourned by angels, oil on wood, 252 x 194 cm.
*
Francesco del Cairo
Francesco Cairo (26 September 1607 – 27 July 1665), also known as Francesco del Cairo, was an Italian Baroque painter active in Lombardy and Piedmont.
Biography
He was born and died in Milan. It is not known where he obtained his early train ...
, St. Sebastian cared for by the widow Irene, oil on canvas.
*
Lambert van Noort
Lambert van Noort (1520–1571) was a Flemish Renaissance painter.
Biography
Lambert was born in Amersfoort. According to Houbraken he was an important painter and architect who became the father of the painter Adam van Noort. , ''La Carità'', oil on canvas.
*Ancient bust of a hunchback thought to depict
Aesop
Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...
References
Bibliography
*
Antonio Nibby
Antonio Nibby (October 4, 1792 at Rome – December 29, 1839 at Rome) was an Italian archaeologist and topographer.
Nibby was a critic of the history of ancient art and from 1812 in service to the Vatican worked to excavate the monuments of ...
, ''Villa Albani'', in
Itinerario di Roma e delle sue vicinanze', Rome 1844, Vol I p. 266-274.
*Stefano Morcelli,
Carlo Fea
Carlo Fea (4 June 1753 - 18 March 1836) was an Italian archaeologist.
Biography
Born at Pigna, in Liguria, Fea studied law in Rome, receiving the degree of doctor of laws from the university of La Sapienza, but archaeology gradually attrac ...
,
Ennio Quirino Visconti
Ennio Quirino Visconti (November 1, 1751 – February 7, 1818) was an Italian antiquarian and art historian, papal Prefect of Antiquities, and the leading expert of his day in the field of ancient Roman sculpture. His son, Pietro Ercole Visconti, ...
,
La Villa Albani descritta', Rome 1869 (catalog of works, third edition)
{{Commons category, Villa Albani (Rome)
A
Museums in Rome
Parks in Rome
Rome Q. IV Salario