Casino del Giardino Farnese (original) (raw)
Casino Farnese al Gianicolo
(Vasi at work in the Grand View of Rome)
Links to this page can be found in Book 10, Day 6 and Rione Trastevere.
The page covers: [The plate by Giuseppe Vasi](#The Plate) Today's view [Casino Farnese al Gianicolo](#Casino Farnese) [Casa di Michelangelo](#Casa di Michelangelo) [Casino Riario](#Casino Riario) [Villa Lanti](#Villa Lanti) [Monumento ad Anita Garibaldi](#Monumento ad Anita Garibaldi) [Faro del Gianicolo](#Faro del Gianicolo) Sacro Cuore di Ges�
#### The Plate (No. 198 - ii)
This is the fourth etching Giuseppe Vasi dedicated to Farnese properties in Rome after [Palazzo Farnese](Vasi73.htm#The Plate), [La Farnesina](Vasi88.htm#The Plate) and [Orti Farnesiani](Vasi197.htm#The Plate); probably this attention to the Farnese was due to the fact that he was allowed to live and work in their palace by Charles VII, King of Naples who had inherited all their properties; the new Neapolitan owners however were not much interested in the small casino shown in this 1761 plate and in 1775 they sold it to the Giraud, who had other nearby estates, i.e. Casino Giraud and [Villa del Vascello](Vasi199.htm#Il Vascello). The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map here below which shows: 1) Casino del Giardino Farnese; 2) Casino Riario; 3) Villa Lanti.
#### Today
## The view from Porta S. Pancrazio in June 2010 (the inset shows [Monumento a Re Vittorio Emanuele II](Vasi65.htm#Monument to Victor Emmanuel))
The casino was located very near Porta S. Pancrazio and because of its commanding view in all directions, including that beyond the walls towards [Villa Corsini](Vasi199.htm#The Plate) and [Villa Doria Pamphilj](Vasi200.htm#The Plate), it was chosen by Giuseppe Garibaldi as his headquarters during the 1849 Defence of Rome; at that time the casino was known as Villa Savorelli; French guns reduced it to a pile of rubble; in 1856 it was rebuilt with some minor changes.
#### Casino Farnese
## The reconstructed building seen from Passeggiata del Gianicolo
The casino was built by Cardinal Girolamo Farnese in ca 1650; he was a member of the Castrobranch of the family; the architect of the casino is not known; the property included an older building which belonged to Pope Paul III Farnese. In 1885 the casino was bought by Clara Jessup Heyland from Philadelphia who changed the name of the villa into Villa Aurelia (a reference to the nearby ancient Roman road) and who bequeathed it in 1909 to the American Academy of Rome, to which it still belongs.
## Musei Capitolini: Stele of Statilius Aper, the head of the deceased is modern
Cippus of Aper, a measurer of works, and of his wife Orcivia, erected to them by his parents, who also chose it as their own place of sepulture, as is recorded by the lower inscription. Aper stands in relief in the niche with a dead boar at his feet to his right, alluding to his name (Latin aper: wild boar), and his scrolls to his left, holding a papyrus in his left hand; and above, instead of a pediment, is the portrait of his wife, sculptured in a shell, at the sides of which are dolphins, the emblems of conjugal fidelity, according to Pliny. On the sides are the instruments used in mensuration. The second inscription in front is a poetic elegy alluding to the name and early age (22) of the deceased. Rev. Jeremiah Donovan - Rome Ancient and Modern - 1843 The stele was found in 1542 on the Janiculum during the papacy of Pope Paul III who placed it in Palazzo del Belvedere.
#### Casa di Michelangelo
## Reconstructed fa�ade of "Casa di Michelangelo"
The large avenue which today links Porta S. Pancrazio with Piazzale del Gianicolo and Monumento a Giuseppe Garibaldi is embellished by the fa�ade of a Renaissance building (it is just a fa�ade which hides a water reservoir); it once belonged to a demolished house near Piazza del Campidoglio where it is said that Michelangelo lived for a few years (that where he spent thirty years and died was located near S. Maria di Loreto in the same area); the great artist chose to live far apart from the papal court to have greater privacy. The fa�ade is an 1874 reconstruction by Domenico Jannetti in Via delle Tre Pile, a street leading to [Piazza del Campidoglio](Vasi80.htm#The Plate); in 1941 the need to enlarge this street led to relocating the fa�ade to its current location. It stands opposite Monumento a Ciceruacchio.
#### Casino Riario
## The platform on the former site of Casino Riario from which every day a field gun fires at twelve o'clock
In a [view of Book 5](Vasi87.htm#The Plate) Vasi showed three casinos which enjoyed a commanding view over Rome: in addition to Casino Farnese he showed Casino Riario and Villa Lanti; Casino Riario was part of Giardino Corsini and it was the site chosen by Vasi for drawing his 1765 Grand View of Rome; it was pulled down at the end of the XIXth century to make room for Piazzale del Gianicolo.
#### Villa Lanti
## The loggia seen from Passeggiata del Gianicolo (left) and from near [Carceri Nuove in Via Giulia](Vasi71.htm#Carceri Nuove) (right)
The lane on the right, inside the gate (Porta S. Pancrazio), leads to the Villa Lante. Augustus J. C. Hare - Walks in Rome - 1875 In 1884 Passeggiata del Gianicolo. a large avenue on the top of the hill from [Acqua Paola](Vasi90a.htm#Acqua Paola) to [S. Onofrio](Vasi123a.htm#The Plate) replaced the lane mentioned by Hare. In the redesign of the area Villa Lanti (or Lante) lost its gardens, but the casino is still there with its elegant loggia.
## (left) Bust of Herman Liikanen from Finland who joined [Garibaldi's 1860 expedition in southern Italy](Storia29.html#Red Shirts); (right) fa�ade of the casino
The casino was built in 1519-1531 for Baldassare Turini, a member of the papal court who was a close adviser to Popes Leo X and Clement VII who both belonged to the Medici family; according to Vasari the building was designed by Giulio Romano who painted some of its halls; similar to Villa Medici, the casino was built on high ground so that it could enjoy a fine view. In 1551 the estate was acquired by the Lanti (or Lante) who had a [palace in town](Vasi113.html#Palazzo Lante) and a villa at Bagnaia. They sold it in 1817; after various passages of property it was eventually bought by Finland; today it houses The Finnish Institute in Rome.
## View of Rome from a terrace adjoining the villa (you may wish to see a 2008 Grand View of Rome from Villa Lanti). The wall is decorated with the text of the Constitution of the Roman Republic which was approved on July 3, 1849, the day the Republic surrendered to the French
#### Monumento ad Anita Garibaldi
## (left) Monument by Mario Rutelli (the image used as background for this page shows a detail of the statue of Anita); (right) detail of the relief
A small square along Passeggiata del Gianicolo houses the Monument to Ana (Anita) Maria Ribeiro da Silva, the Brazilian first wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi. It was erected in 1932 and it is one of the last works by Mario Rutelli, a sculptor who is best known for the [statues of Fontana delle Naiadi](Vasi35.htm#Fontana delle Najadi).
## Museo della Repubblica Romana e della Memoria Garibaldina at Porta S. Pancrazio: (left) Postcard and stamp issued by the Republic of S. Marino on the 100th anniversary of Anita's death; (right) XIXth century engraving depicting her agony
After the fall of Rome Anita joined her husband who was attempting to reach Venice; she died of fever in the lagoon of Comacchio near Pomposa; the following is an excerpt from G. M. Trevelyan's Garibaldi's Defence of Rome: "With infinite difficulty and danger they (Garibaldi and his friend Bonnet) proceeded to carry the agonising woman across two miles to Cavallina farm, where they arrived well after midday; (..) here Anita was laid on a bed and given such nourishment as she could take. (..) Garibaldi took Anita in a cart towards the Zanetto farm on the borders of the great lagoon, where, at Bonnet's request, every comfort was being prepared. (..) Anita growing hourly worse, and no longer well able to understand what was going on around her, was in agony at the idea of being separated from Garibaldi. Bonnet - he said at last - you cannot imagine all that this woman has done for me, nor how tenderly she loves me. I owe her an immense debt of gratitude and love. Let her come with me. (..) Anita in her last hours still held by the not dogmatic religion of her husband; during her long death agony throughout the first four days of August, there were no sign of craving on her part for those miraculous consolations which she had rejected in her days of health and strength. Dying on the breast of Garibaldi, she needed no priest. (..) The last words that Garibaldi had heard Anita say to him concerned the children whom she left to his care (she was carrying their fifth child when she died). Then for long hours her speech had failed. All day she was losing her hold on life, and Garibaldi could but clasp her closer in his arms, as their boat glided over the smooth surface of the lagoon. No longer conscious of anything save that he was there, the dying woman may have fancied that they were escaping once more over the well-known waters of another lagoon now all too far away; or that they were riding together to war in the first glory of youth and love, over rolling, infinite spaces."
#### Faro del Gianicolo
## (left/centre) Faro del Gianicolo; (right) detail
In the second half of the XIXth century millions of Italians migrated in search of a better life; Argentina received a very large number of Italian migrants; they formed a community which maintained strong ties with Italy; in 1911 in conjunction with the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of Italian Unity, that community commissioned Manfredo Manfredi to design a lighthouse which alternates green, white and red lights, the colours of the Italian flag; the imposing monument is very much in the style of Monumento a Re Vittorio Emanuele II, also because it was decorated with the same botticino stone.
#### Sacro Cuore di Ges�
## (left) Bell tower seen from Villa Lanti; (right) flaming hearts at the entrance
By looking down from Villa Lanti towards the River Tiber one can see a small bell tower. It belongs to the church of Sacro Cuore di Ges� which is inside a nunnery founded in 1837 by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart. The gate of the nunnery shows the symbols of the order.
Next plate in Book 10: [Casino e Villa Corsini fuori di Porta S. Pancrazio](Vasi199.htm#The Plate). You have completed Day 6 itinerary and your tour of Rione Trastevere! Move to Day 7 or to Rione Borgo.
Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:
###### [Palazzo Lanzi](#Villa Lanti)
##### A pi� del Gianicolo resta questo palazzo, ed altri casini di varie persone con deliziosi giardini, e nell'alto del monte evvi della medesima famiglia Lanti un giardino, e casino eretto con disegno di Giulio Romano, il quale vi fece alcune pitture, ajutato per� da' suoi allievi; e vi sono de' bassirilievi antichi, fra' quali un vaso molto bello. Bench� il proprio nome di questo colle fosse quello di Vaticano, secondo alcuni glie lo cambi� poi Giano, il quale quivi ebbe la sua Citt� a fronte del Campidoglio abitato nel tempo stesso da Saturno, perci�, come dicemmo, quello fu detto Saturnia, e questo Gianicolo. Altri per� dicono esser cos� detto, � quod ineum tamquam per Janum populus Romanus primitus transivit in agrum Hetruscum �, poich� i Romani da questa parte passarono a vedere le ricche, e popolate terre Toscane, dando vera interpetrazione al nome, il quale non vuol dire altro, che passare innanzi. E sull'alto evvi un [magnifico casino di ritiro](#Casino Riario), da dove talmente si scopre l'abitato di Roma, con tutte le tue campagne, che di l� appunto io presi il partito del gran prospetto di Roma, che ho dato alla pubblica luce.