Villa Farnesina in the 19th century as seen by the Duke of Ripalda and Count Primoli. An exhibition in Rome

Entitled The Nineteenth Century at Villa Farnesina . The Duke of Ripalda, Count Giuseppe Primoli and Rome’s New Capital of Italy the exhibition that theAccademia dei Lincei in Rome is hosting from Jan. 12 to Feb. 25 at its Villa Farnesina venue. The exhibition is curated by Virginia Lapenta and Valeria Petito and comes in the wake of the Lincei’s November 9, 2021, Villa Farnesina conference: An Example of Resilience and Enhancement from Roma Capitale to Today (a title referring to the whole long history of Villa Farnesina, to all the initiatives that by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei have been pursued with the aim of preserving and enhancing more and more this extraordinary Villa), in the framework of which some preliminary results were presented, exemplifying the activities planned ex-ante in view of the establishment of the “Lincean Center for Research on Cultural Heritage Villa Farnesina” (acronym CERIF).

The exhibition opens in conjunction with the publication of the conference proceedings and aims to highlight the common aspects of two characters, the Duke of Ripalda, namely the Spaniard Salvador Bermúdez de Castro, and Count Primoli, both “foreigners” in a city they did not know. They got to know each other and frequented each other (as evidenced by Giuseppe Primoli’s diaries from those years), and moreover they both lived in palaces overlooking the Tiber, Villa Farnesina and Palazzo Primoli, which had to undergo profound changes related to the construction of embankments to contain the river. There will also be a section in the exhibition, in collaboration with Pirelli & C. S.p.A. and the Pirelli Foundation, that will precisely highlight how the construction of the Tiber embankments to rehabilitate the young capital of the Kingdom of Italy, considered a feat of national prestige, instead constituted for the Villa Farnesina the first example of resilience. Around 1950, in fact, what the Duke of Ripalda had feared came to fruition: as heavy motorized traffic increased on the stretch of the Lungotevere adjacent to the Villa Farnesina, an accentuation of damage began to appear on the building’s exterior and in the frescoed plasterwork decorating the interior. In 1956, a commission of specialists appointed by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, chaired by Lincean Fellow Gustavo Colonnetti, studied the plan for the defense of the Farnesina, which took the form of “a floating plate” of rubber bricks by Saga-Pirelli whose most complete confidence in the practically unlimited durability of the chosen device was confirmed by the latest surveys carried out by the INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology).

Both the Duke of Ripalda, who arrived in Rome in 1861, and Count Primoli, who returned in 1871 after being born there, thus found themselves living and living with the profound social and urban transformations of the city that had become the capital of Italy. The exhibition itinerary intends to accompany the visitor in the discovery of these two figures starting from their meeting: telling their story will highlight their relationship with the changing city, and the photographs taken by Count Primoli in the last years of the 19th century will become the fil rouge guiding the various stages of the itinerary.

Each stage is also intended to highlight, with graphically and chromatically identifiable panels, the nineteenth-century appearance of the Villa Farnesina room in which the visitor finds himself, emphasizing the details and particulars of the decorative apparatuses by delving especially into the pictorial ornamentation in mock curtains and grass juices specially designed to complement the existing Renaissance fresco decoration. A multimedia room will recount the evolution of wall textile decorations that from the 16th century to the contemporary age, from tapestries to corami and wallpaper also characterized the Villa Farnesina as formidable indicators of the owner’s wealth.

The last section of the exhibition located on the second floor will tell the story of the city “around the Villa Farnesina,” with a focus on Palazzo Farnese, Palazzo Corsini and, thanks to the collaboration with the Capitoline Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, on the vicissitudes of the Aurelian Walls in the nineteenth century, in particular on the so-called “Farnesina” section, which can be seen today inside the Villa’s garden and constitutes one of the few remains of the city walls still preserved on the right bank of the Tiber. After the annexation of Rome to the new Italian state the wall layout, deprived of its defensive function, followed the needs of urban expansion. Many sections were sacrificed to allow connections between the interior of the city and the suburbs, while some isolated portions were converted into artists’ studios and dwellings. The exhibition curated by theÉcole française de Rome of some drawings that were part of a collection exhibited for the first time presents the work ofarchitect Virginio Vespignani, one of the protagonists of the artistic-architectural process of renovatio urbis that sought to bring Rome closer to the models of modern European capitals, delving into the issue that had already become a state affair since the Napoleonic period: the restoration and transformation of the walls that the emperors had bequeathed to the popes. A series of essays, placed as an appendix to the conference proceedings, delve into all the topics covered in the exhibition.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and the Primoli Foundation, in partnership with the École française de Rome, the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, Pirelli & C. S.p.A. E Fondazione Pirelli, under the patronage of the Associazione Amici dell’Accademia dei Lincei. The organizing committee is composed of Roberto Antonelli, Giorgio Parisi, Francesco Bruni, Antonio Calabrò, Louis Godart, Lamberto Maffei, Paolo Podio Guidugli, Alberto Quadrio Curzio, Umberto Quadrino, Antonio Sgamellotti, Lucia Tomasi Tongiorgi, Alessandro Zuccari; the scientific committee of Roberto Antonelli, Adrián Almoguera, Ebe Antetomaso, Marianna Franco, Virginia Lapenta, Brigitte Marin, Maria Luisa Meneghetti, Alessio Monciatti, Claudio Parisi Presicce, Valeria Petitto, Ludovica Rosati, Simonetta Serra. The exhibition opens Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (last entry 1:15 p.m.). Second Sunday of the month from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entry 4:15 p.m.). Guided tours every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in English and 12 p.m. in Italian, and every second Sunday of the month only in Italian at 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. For groups (minimum 15 maximum 25 people) reservations required and mandatory use of whisperers. Tickets can be purchased at the Villa Farnesina, Via della Lungara 230; purchase online at www.villafarnesina.it. Full 10 euros, reduced 9 euros for over 65s, teachers, ICOM, FAI and Touring Club members, reduced 7 euros for children 10 to 18 and students, reduced school groups 5 euros (teacher free admission), free for children under 10, disabled with accompanying persons, journalists, tour guides.

Image: Braun & C., Villa Farnesina, Loggia di Galatea (1869; photograph; Rome, Archivio Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro)

Villa Farnesina in the 19th century as seen by the Duke of Ripalda and Count Primoli. An exhibition in Rome

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