The Farnese Gardens (Italian : Orti Farnesiani sul Palatino), or "Gardens of Farnese upon the Palatine", are a garden in Rome, central Italy, created in 1550 on the northern portion of Palatine Hill, by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. They were the first private botanical gardens in Europe; the first botanical gardens of any kind in Europe were started by Italian universities in the mid-16th century, only a short time before.
Alessandro Farnese was appointed Cardinal Deacon of the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 at the age of 14, by Paul III, his grandfather, who had been elected to the papacy two months previously. He is remembered for being an antiquarian who assembled the greatest collection of Roman sculpture assembled in private hands since antiquity, the famous Farnese Collection. [1] In 1550, when Farnese acquired a northern portion of Palatine hill (historically the oldest of Rome's seven hills) he had ruins from a Roman palace of Tiberius at the northwest end of the hill top filled in, and converted to a summer home. The site overlooks the Roman Forum and is near the Arch of Titus.
The garden was divided into the classic style of quadrants with a well or a fountain at its centre, deriving from the design of the Roman peristilium palaces of the area, as re-created by the noted architect Vignola. [2] [3] The villa's design was first attributed to Michelangelo but later to Vignola and Rainaldi. The gardens were arranged in terraces. Steps from terrace to terrace ran past the Ninfeo della Piogga (a nymphaeum) to end in the Teatro del Fontanone. Aviaries were situated in the center Casina, which boasted frescoes. Walking paths at the base of the Domus Tiberiana included underground passages and ancient sculptures. [4]
Though little of the Farnese Gardens survives today, some remnant structures may be seen. [5] The gardens became popular again in the 18th and 19th centuries as Grand Tour travelers visited Rome. [4]
From the name of these gardens is derived the name of the plant Acacia farnesiana and from its floral essence, the important biochemical farnesol.
Parma is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second most populous city in Emilia-Romagna after Bologna, the region's capital. The city is home to the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world. Parma is divided into two parts by the stream of the same name. The district on the west side of the river is Oltretorrente. Parma's Etruscan name was adapted by Romans to describe the round shield called Parma.
Pope Julius III, born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1550 to his death, in March 1555.
The Palatine Hill, which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire". The site is now mainly a large open-air museum whilst the Palatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites.
Palazzo Farnese or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French embassy in Italy.
The Farnese Hercules is an ancient statue of Hercules made in the early third century AD and signed by Glykon, who is otherwise unknown; he was an Athenian but he may have worked in Rome. Like many other Ancient Roman sculptures it is a copy or version of a much older Greek original that was well known, in this case a bronze by Lysippos that would have been made in the fourth century BC. This original survived for over 1500 years until it was melted down by Crusaders in 1205 during the Sack of Constantinople. The enlarged copy was made for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, where the statue was recovered in 1546, and is now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples. The heroically-scaled Hercules is one of the most famous sculptures of antiquity, and has fixed the image of the mythic hero in the European imagination.
The Villa Farnese, also known as Villa Caprarola, is a pentagonal mansion in the town of Caprarola in the province of Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-west of Rome, originally commissioned and owned by the House of Farnese. A property of the Republic of Italy, Villa Farnese is run by the Polo Museale del Lazio. This villa is not to be confused with two similarly-named properties of the family, the Palazzo Farnese and the Villa Farnesina, both in Rome.
GiacomoBarozzida Vignola, often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Church of the Gesù in Rome. The three architects who spread the Italian Renaissance style throughout Western Europe are Vignola, Serlio and Palladio. He is often considered the most important architect in Rome in the Mannerist era.
Villa Lante is a Mannerist garden of surprise in Bagnaia, Viterbo, central Italy, attributed to Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola.
The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is an important Italian archaeological museum, particularly for ancient Roman remains. Its collection includes works from Greek, Roman and Renaissance times, and especially Roman artifacts from the nearby Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum sites. From 1816 to 1861, it was known as Real Museo Borbonico.
Alessandro Farnese, an Italian cardinal and diplomat and a great collector and patron of the arts, was the grandson of Pope Paul III, and the son of Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma, who was murdered in 1547. He should not be confused with his nephew, Alessandro Farnese, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, grandson of Emperor Charles V and great-grandson of Pope Paul III.
The Palazzo Barberini is a 17th-century palace in Rome, facing the Piazza Barberini in Rione Trevi. Today, it houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome.
The Palazzo Spada is a palace located on Piazza di Capo Ferro #13 in the rione Regola of Rome, Italy. Standing very close to the Palazzo Farnese, it has a garden facing towards the Tiber river.
The Palazzo Venezia or Palazzo Barbo, formerly "'Palace of Saint Mark'", is a large early Renaissance palace in central Rome, Italy, situated to the north of the Capitoline Hill. Today the property of the Republic of Italy it houses the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia. The main (eastern) facade measures 77 metres (253 ft) in length, with a height of about 31 metres (102 ft). The north wing, containing the "Cibo Apartment", extending westwards, measures 122 metres (400 ft) in length. It covers an area of 1.2 hectares and encloses two gardens and the Basilica of Saint Mark. It was built in the present form during the 1450s by Cardinal Pietro Barbo (1417-1471), titular holder of the Basilica of Saint Mark, who from 1464 ruled as Pope Paul II. Barbo, a Venetian by birth as was customary for cardinals of the Basilica of Saint Mark, lived there even as pope and amassed there a great collection of art and antiquities. During the first half of the 20th century it became the residence and headquarters of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who made notable orations from its balcony to huge crowds filling the Piazza Venezia.
Palazzo Farnese is a palace in Piacenza, northern Italy.
Hortus conclusus is a Latin term, meaning literally "enclosed garden". Both words in hortus conclusus refer linguistically to enclosure. It describes a type of garden that was enclosed as a practical concern, a major theme in the history of gardening, where walled gardens were and are common. The garden room is a similar feature, usually less fully enclosed.
Italian garden typically refers to a style of gardens, wherever located, reflecting a number of large Italian Renaissance gardens which have survived in something like their original form. In the history of gardening, during the Renaissance, Italy had the most advanced and admired gardens in Europe, which greatly influenced other countries, especially the French formal garden and Dutch gardens and, mostly through these, gardens in Britain.
The Farnese Collection is one of the first collections of artistic items from Greco-Roman antiquity. It includes some of the most influential classical works, including the sculptures that were part of the Farnese Marbles, their collection of statuary, which includes world-famous works like the Farnese Hercules, Farnese Cup, Farnese Bull and the Farnese Atlas. These statues are now displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples in Italy with some in the British Museum in London.
The Palazzo Fusconi-Pighini is a Renaissance-style palace located on Piazza Farnese #44 in the rione Regola of central Rome, Italy.
Villa Mills, formerly known as Villa Mattei al Palatino, was a villa in Rome located above the Palatine Hill between Via di San Bonaventura and Via dei Cerchi, in the Campitelli. The structure was built over the Domus Augustana and the Domus Flavia. It was demolished at the beginning of the twentieth century to allow excavations of the archaeological site.
The Domus Tiberiana was an Imperial Roman palace in ancient Rome, located on the northwest corner of the Palatine Hill. It probably takes its name from a house built by the Emperor Tiberius, who is known to have lived on the Palatine, though no sources mention his having built a residence. It was enlarged by the successors to Tiberius, and would have been the principal Roman residence of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero during the early part of his reign. Relatively little is known of the structure archaeologically, since the Farnese Gardens have occupied the site of the main level since the 16th century, making excavation difficult.