TheVilla Ludovisi was asuburban villa inRome, built in the 17th century on the area once occupied by theGardens of Sallust (Horti Sallustiani) near thePorta Salaria.[1] On an assemblage of vineyards purchased from Giovanni Antonio Orsini, CardinalFrancesco Maria Del Monte and others, CardinalLudovico Ludovisi erected in the 1620s the main villa building to designs byDomenichino; it was completed within thirty months, in part to house hiscollection of Roman antiquities,[2] additions to which were unearthed during construction at the site, which had figured among the great patrician pleasure grounds of Roman times. Modern works, most famouslyGian Lorenzo Bernini'sPluto and Persephone, were also represented. The engraving of the grounds byGiovanni Battista Falda (1683)[3] shows a short access avenue from a tree-linedexedra in via di Porta Pinciana and cypress-lined avenues centered on each of the facades of the main villa, laid out through open fields, the main approaches to both the villa and theCasino dell'Aurora[4] converging on gates in theAurelian Walls, which formed the northern bounds of the park; symmetricalparterres of conventional form includingbosquets peopled with statuary[5] flanked the main avenue of the Casina, and there was an isolated sunken parterre, though these features were not integrated in a unified overall plan.[6] The overgrown avenues contrasting with the dramatic Roman walls inspiredStendhal to declare in 1828 that the Villa Ludovisi's gardens were among the most beautiful in the world.[7]
Frescoes in the villa were carried out by Domenichino,Guercino, Giovambattista Viola, and others. Acasina was added, largely to house the Cardinal's growing collection of Roman sculptures and inscriptions, whichAlessandro Algardi treated to sometimes extensive restoration.
The villa passed to the ownership of theBoncompagniLudovisi family, which in 1872 rented it to KingVictor Emmanuel II. The King used the villa as residence for his lover,Rosa Vercellana.[8]
İn 1885, despite great protests among the intellectuals, its last owner, Don Rodolfo Boncompagni Ludovisi, thePrince of Piombino, faced serious financial troubles and decided to sell the property to the Società Generale Immobiliare. The Villa was divided into building lots.[9] The sculptures[10] were dispersed, and most of the buildings destroyed, the only one to remain being theCasino dell'Aurora.[11]
TheVia Veneto was driven through the former grounds, part of which are occupied by theAmerican Embassy in Palazzo Margherita, and theRione Ludovisi took shape, borrowing its name from the cardinal and his villa.
