Casino di Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi is a historical building in Rione Ludovisi,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy. The building is located in the former domain

Villa Ludovisi The Villa Ludovisi was a suburban villa in Rome, built in the 17th century on the area once occupied by the Gardens of Sallust (''Horti Sallustiani'') near the Porta Salaria. On an assemblage of vineyards purchased from Giovanni Antonio Orsini, ...

. The building is often referred to as Villa Aurora or Casino dell'Aurora, after the fresco by

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as (il) Guercino (), was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous n ...

in the main reception hall, depicting the eponymous goddess.

History

The palace represents the only remnant of a much larger suburban retreat established in the 16th century by Cardinal

Francesco Maria Del Monte Francesco Maria del Monte, full name Francesco Maria Bourbon del Monte Santa Maria, (5 July 1549 – 27 August 1627) was an Italian cardinal, diplomat, and connoisseur of the arts. His fame today rests on his early patronage of the important Bar ...

(1549–1627). The Cardinal was a diplomat, intellectual, art connoisseur, and collector, protector and patron of famous figures such as

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

and

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

. One of the smaller rooms of the Casino boasts the only painting ever executed by Caravaggio on a ceiling, '' Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto'' (), which reflects, in symbolic imagery derived from Classical mythology, another of the cardinal's interests:

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

. In 1621, del Monte sold the villa and its extensive grounds to

Ludovico Ludovisi Ludovico Ludovisi (22 or 27 October 1595 – 18 November 1632) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal and statesman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an art connoisseur who formed a famous collection of antiquities, housed at the ...

, whose uncle Alessandro Ludovisi had assumed the papacy earlier that year as

Pope Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV (; ; 9 January 1554 – 8 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 until his death in 1623. He is notable for founding the Congregation for the ...

and made his nephew a cardinal the day after his coronation, at the age of 25. The cardinal expanded the property until he had created a park between the Porta Pinciana, the Porta Salaria and the convent of Sant'Isidoro, whose buildings were designed by

Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a shoe ...

, with gardens (purportedly designed by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

), of which Henry James wrote in ''Portrait of Places'' (1883): "Certainly there is nothing better in Rome, and perhaps nothing so beautiful ... Inside there is everything: dark avenues shaped for centuries with scissors, valleys, clearings, groves ..." The princes

Boncompagni The House of Boncompagni is a princely family of the Italian nobility which settled in Bologna in around the 14th century, but was probably originally from Umbria. In 1572 Ugo Boncompagni was elected pope, taking the name Pope Gregory XIII, Greg ...

-Ludovisi, heirs to the celebrated property and its vast collections, subdivided and sold the property in 1883. Rome's Ludovisi district was built on the land where the park had been and bears the coat of arms of the family. Of the historic buildings of the villa, only the Casino and the facade and staircase of the former Palazzo Grande remain, the latter now hidden behind what became the 19th-century

Palazzo Margherita Palazzo Margherita, formerly Palazzo Piombino, is a palazzo on Via Veneto in Rome. The usual name references Queen Margherita of Savoy, who lived there from 1900 to 1926. In 1885, the Boncompagni- Ludovisi family chose to sell their ancestral ...

after it was acquired by the Italian State as a residence for the Queen consort of Italy,

Margherita of Savoy Margherita of Savoy (''Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna''; 20 November 1851 – 4 January 1926) was List of Italian royal consorts, Queen of Italy by marriage to her first cousin King Umberto I of Italy. She was the daughter of Prince Ferdinand ...

. It now houses the U.S. embassy. Meanwhile, the Villa Aurora and a small parcel of land remained in the possession of the Ludovisi family. Apart from the works by

and

, it contains important works of art by Pomarancio,

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

, and a collection of Roman and Greek artefacts. Encircled by high walls, it was occasionally opened to the public once a month or upon written request. A free virtual tour led by Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi was made available in January 2022.

Intended sale

The property was put up for sale in 2021 after the death of its owner, Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, in 2018, followed by an inheritance dispute between his widow, Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, and his three sons. The villa, which requires an estimated 10 million euros of restoration work, was put up for auction by a notary on 18 January 2022, with bidding to start at

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

471 million; there were no offers. Ultimately the villa had been offered for sale five times by January 2023 with opening bid ultimately reduced to €145m, but with no bids. A judge ruled that the property was not being properly maintained after the collapse of a wall, and that Princess Rita, who was living in the villa, had organised unauthorised tours—she denied that. He ordered her to vacate the property within 60 days, but she refused. A further auction was scheduled for April 2023. On 20 April 2023, Princess Rita was evicted from the premises.

References

External links

Villa Aurora

* ttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/the-renovation-rita-jenrette-princess-italy ''The New Yorker'' "The Renovation: As Rita Jenrette, she scandalized Washington. Now she's a princess" {{DEFAULTSORT:Casino Di Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi Boncompagni Ludovisi Aurora (mythology)