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| Villa Giulia | |
|---|---|
_2.jpg) Renaissance façade by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| General information | |
| Type | villa |
| Architectural style | Renaissance/Mannerist |
| Address | piazzale di Villa Giulia 9 |
| Town or city | Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Coordinates | 41°55′06″N12°28′40″E / 41.91833°N 12.47778°E /41.91833; 12.47778 |
| Construction started | 1551 |
| Estimated completion | 1553 |
| Client | Pope Julius III |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola,Bartolomeo Ammanati,Giorgio Vasari |
TheVilla Giulia is a villa inRome, Italy. It is named afterPope Julius III, who had it built in 1551–1553 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses theMuseo Nazionale Etrusco, a collection ofEtruscan art and artifacts.
The villa was built in an area of Rome known as the 'Vigna Vecchia' (which was once against thecity walls), lying on the slopes ofMonte Parioli, as a 'Villa Suburbana' and a place of repose.
The pope, a highly literate connoisseur of the arts, assigned the initial design of the building toGiacomo Barozzi da Vignola in 1551–1553. Thenymphaeum and other garden structures, however, were designed byBartolomeo Ammanati, all under the supervision ofGiorgio Vasari.Michelangelo also worked there. Pope Julius took a direct interest in the villa's design and decor and spent vast amounts of money on enhancing its beauties. Villa Giulia became one of the most delicate examples ofMannerist architecture.
Only a small part of the original property has survived intact, comprising three vineyards which extended down to the Tiber, and to which the pope traveled often by boat. The villa, as was customary, had an urban entrance (on the RomanVia Flaminia) and a formal but rural garden entrance. The villa itself was on the threshold between two worlds, that of the city and that of the country, an essentially Roman concept. A medal struck in 1935 shows the villa as substantially complete, but with a pair of cupolas which were never executed.
Vignola's urban front of the building is a somber two-story facade with each story being given equal value. It has at its centre the triple rhythm of a richly detailedrusticatedtriumphal arch flanked by symmetrical wings of two bays only. The facade is terminated at each end byDoricpilasters. In this facade of the Villa Giulia is the genesis of the seven-bay 18th centuryGeorgian villa, which was reproduced as far away as theTidewater region of Virginia.
The rear of the building has Vignola's large hemisphericalloggia overlooking the first of three courtyards, laid out as a simpleparterre.
At its rear the visitor passes through thecasina, which again has a hemispherical rear facade, enclosing paired flights of re-entrant marble steps that give access to the heart of the villa complex: a two-storyNympheum for alfresco dining during the heat of the summer. This three-levelled structure of covered loggias, decorated with marble statuary, reclining river gods in niches, and balustrading, is constructed around a central fountain. Here in this cool environment, sheltered from the blazing sun, day-long picnics would be held. The central fountain,Fontana dell'Acqua Vergine, was designed and sculpted by Vasari and Ammannati: it depicts river gods andcaryatids. The fountain's source, theAcqua Vergine, also supplies theTrevi Fountain in Rome.
TheCasino della Vigna ("little house in thevineyard"), as it was sometimes known, and its gardens were set in the midst of vineyards, which could be viewed from shaded arcades on the outsides of the garden walls. Papal parties embarked on boats at the gates ofthe Vatican and were transported up theTiber to the villa's long-gone private landing stage.
Following Pope Julius' death, his successorPope Paul IV confiscated all the properties he had assembled; the villa was divided, and the main building and part of the gardens became the property of theCamera apostolica. The Villa was reserved for the use of the new pope'sBorromeo nephews. It was restored in 1769 on the initiative ofPope Clement XIV, confiscated by the new state ofItaly in 1870, and given over to the National Etruscan Museum in the early 20th century.
In the third season ofMedici, it is the site of the first meeting betweenClarice Orsini, wife ofLorenzo Medici, andCaterina Sforza's wife ofGirolamo Riario, that takes place in what would appear to be the palace of a fictitious “Cardinal Bianco.” The meeting scene is filmed in the courtyard of the hemicycle of Villa Giulia in Rome (now home to theNational Etruscan Museum).[1][2][circular reference]
Media related toVilla Giulia (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Villa Farnesina | Landmarks of Rome Villa Giulia | Succeeded by Villa Madama |
