Villa d'Este celebrates its 20th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with vintage photos and footage

An exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the site’s inscription on the Unesco World Heritage list (which took place on December 16, 2001) opens today at Villa d’Este: from May 29, 2021 to January 9, 2022, it is possible to visit the exhibition The Water Theater: Villa d’Este from Garden of the Italians to Universal Heritage.

On display are period photos and films: the first ones largely from the Fondo Attualità of the Historical Archives of Istituto Luce Cinecittà, shots that testify to the symbolic and celebratory character of the villa, which was the representative seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Such magnificence was achieved thanks to major restoration and rehabilitation work undertaken during the Ventennio, such as the work on the water theater of the Fontana dell’Ovato (1925-26) or the creation of the Neptune or Rossi - Salvati Fountain (1927-29).

Period footage also comes from Istituto Luce Cinecittà and dates from the period between 1930 and 1978. These films also tell a parallel narrative of guests and important events. Complementary to this visual memory is the refined and vintage image of the villa evoked in the exhibition by advertisements from the 1970s.

“The exhibition recounts Villa d’Este through vintage photos and films to share a memory rich in untold stories and visual testimonies,” said VILLAE director Andrea Bruciati. “The initiative expresses the Institute’s desire to make the UNESCO Heritage jewel, not only a place of delight and contemplation, but an intellectually active site, an incubator of ideas and new wonder. In fact, soul of the exhibition narrative will be that universal and evocative character that determined the inclusion of Villa d’Este in the World Heritage List. The narrative is entrusted to images and words and has been conceived for an international audience, including Chinese, which it is hoped in the months will return to visit our sites and experience their powerful intellectual and visual fascination.”

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Villa d'Este celebrates its 20th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with vintage photos and footage

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