DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19775#0016
THE GARDENS OF ITALY.
T
Another writer says that Albani's nobility of soul
made him so beloved that he was often given, or
helped to find, things that might otherwise have
escaped him. Immediately within the entrance
we come upon a series of box avenues, all con-
verging towards a circle formed by eleven splendid
pines, which stand round a space in the middle of
which an antique obelisk is the central feature.
About it there is a curious story. It belonged
to the Prince of Palestrina, who refused to sell
it to the Cardinal at any price. Shortly after
the Prince went on a journey, whereupon the
Cardinal sent a large body of men who entered
the garden by force, bore oil" the obelisk, and
placed it in the gardens of the Villa Albani.
As the Cardinal was excessively powerful in
Rome, the Prince did not dare to bring an action
against him, but made a joke of the whole
affair, complimenting him on his exploit and
remaining upon friendly terms. It is now sur-
mounted by the mount and star of the Albani
family, and stands out beautifully against a group
of cypresses and a background of far blue moun-
tains. Close-cut hedges of cypress, set with busts
and terminal figures, screen the approach to the
great formal garden which lies in front of the
villa. The casino opposite is ablaze with masses
of azaleas. " It is roses, roses all the way " in
the long flower-beds, flanked by pots of lemon
and orange trees, noble fountains make a centre
here and there, a river god reclines under a
portico, for which we can find the original
drawing of Marchionni in an old book on the
table within. In one of his letters Winckelmann
says : " The Cardinal has brought from Tivoli
on a carro drawn by sixteen bullocks a female river
deity of colossal size, well preserved," and here,
sure enough, she is, reclining on the edge of a
marble reservoir. " I write from our villa, which
grows more beautiful every day," he says ; " one
of the last acquisitions is a colossal head of Trajan,
in perfect preservation except the nose." The
nose has been restored, and the colossal bust
looms from a bower of honeysuckle. " The
Cardinal has just brought to his villa the few
last of the best statues left in the Villa d'Este,
at Tivoli."
The lower storey of the villa is faced by a
spacious open colonnade, which runs its whole
length, and along which stand statues and vases.
In the photograph we can see, midway, a
beautiful reclining statue of Agrippina.
Within doors the rooms are gleaming with
marble, rich with gilding, and are still rich in
masterpieces of painting and sculpture. One of
Perugino's most exquisite panel paintings glows
upon the wall ; above one mil ntel-piece is framed
the splendid sulky Antinous, crowned with lotus
blossom ; over another is that most lovely and
delicate bas-relief of the parting of Orpheus
and Eurydice ; archaic Greek reliefs, fine Roman
work, alabaster vases, sarcophagi, statuettes,
frescoes, are placed with thought and care which-
ever way you turn ; bits of exquisite classic carving
are let in as overdoors ; everywhere inscriptions tell
us how Alexander Albani built and adorned the
edifice, and how Alexander Torlonia restored it
in i 871.
Winckelmann speaks of many beautiful things
which have since disappeared, 294 of the finest
specimens having been carried off in the French
invasion. He tells us, too, of the English visitors
whom the Cardinal entertained—Milady Montagu,
Milady Bute, Lord Baltimore, and " the celebrated
and famous Wilkes of England." He speaks of
the head of a Pallas, which he holds to be the
most perfect beauty under the sun, but which
was snapped up while he was thinking about the
price, and tells us he has become so wrapped up
in the villa that he cannot bear anyone to visit
it without him, and when a German count wanted
to go and visit it with one of his acquaintances,
he said, " No ! plump."
There is a charming small casino at the far
side of the garden, which was probably the great
Professor's private apartment. It is easy to
imagine him and the Cardinal exulting over their
new acquisitions, deciding their positions, sauntering
in the gardens, which grew more beautiful year
by year, while Winckelmann wrote his famous
works on art. His patron gave him time and
opportunity for perfecting himself as a connoisseur.
He was sent to other galleries to see any treasures
they possessed, and gradually acquired a certainty
of eye and taste which made him the greatest
living authority on sculpture. Truth, harmony,
and beauty were his guiding principles, and he
joined to wide knowledge and reading a ready
and tenacious memory. He was an indefatigable
worker, and book after book came from his hand,
on engraved gems, on the state of art and science
in Italy, and his greatest on the history of Greek
art. The revised edition of this was just finished,
in 1768, when the pleasant friendship that had
lasted for eleven years came to an end in dismal
tragedy. Winckelmann decided to go for a tour
to Vienna, to see old friends and to accept some
of the invitations he had received from famous and
learned men. In Vienna he was received with the
most gratifying honours. The King and Queen
loaded him with presents, the Ministers, many of
them great connoisseurs and patrons of art, expressed
their gratitude to the man who had written its
famous history. He passed delightful days in the
old villa of Schonbrun, where the Baron de Sperges
invited him to meet the Queen and a bevy of
archdukes and archduchesses. On June 1st he
left Vienna on his return to Rome, from which he
had with difficulty remained so long away. His
letters written at this time to the Cardinal express
his continual longing to get back. On his arrival
at Trieste he was obliged to wait for a ship for-
Ancona, and struck up an acquaintance with a
stranger, who lodged next door to him in the inn,
(
T
Another writer says that Albani's nobility of soul
made him so beloved that he was often given, or
helped to find, things that might otherwise have
escaped him. Immediately within the entrance
we come upon a series of box avenues, all con-
verging towards a circle formed by eleven splendid
pines, which stand round a space in the middle of
which an antique obelisk is the central feature.
About it there is a curious story. It belonged
to the Prince of Palestrina, who refused to sell
it to the Cardinal at any price. Shortly after
the Prince went on a journey, whereupon the
Cardinal sent a large body of men who entered
the garden by force, bore oil" the obelisk, and
placed it in the gardens of the Villa Albani.
As the Cardinal was excessively powerful in
Rome, the Prince did not dare to bring an action
against him, but made a joke of the whole
affair, complimenting him on his exploit and
remaining upon friendly terms. It is now sur-
mounted by the mount and star of the Albani
family, and stands out beautifully against a group
of cypresses and a background of far blue moun-
tains. Close-cut hedges of cypress, set with busts
and terminal figures, screen the approach to the
great formal garden which lies in front of the
villa. The casino opposite is ablaze with masses
of azaleas. " It is roses, roses all the way " in
the long flower-beds, flanked by pots of lemon
and orange trees, noble fountains make a centre
here and there, a river god reclines under a
portico, for which we can find the original
drawing of Marchionni in an old book on the
table within. In one of his letters Winckelmann
says : " The Cardinal has brought from Tivoli
on a carro drawn by sixteen bullocks a female river
deity of colossal size, well preserved," and here,
sure enough, she is, reclining on the edge of a
marble reservoir. " I write from our villa, which
grows more beautiful every day," he says ; " one
of the last acquisitions is a colossal head of Trajan,
in perfect preservation except the nose." The
nose has been restored, and the colossal bust
looms from a bower of honeysuckle. " The
Cardinal has just brought to his villa the few
last of the best statues left in the Villa d'Este,
at Tivoli."
The lower storey of the villa is faced by a
spacious open colonnade, which runs its whole
length, and along which stand statues and vases.
In the photograph we can see, midway, a
beautiful reclining statue of Agrippina.
Within doors the rooms are gleaming with
marble, rich with gilding, and are still rich in
masterpieces of painting and sculpture. One of
Perugino's most exquisite panel paintings glows
upon the wall ; above one mil ntel-piece is framed
the splendid sulky Antinous, crowned with lotus
blossom ; over another is that most lovely and
delicate bas-relief of the parting of Orpheus
and Eurydice ; archaic Greek reliefs, fine Roman
work, alabaster vases, sarcophagi, statuettes,
frescoes, are placed with thought and care which-
ever way you turn ; bits of exquisite classic carving
are let in as overdoors ; everywhere inscriptions tell
us how Alexander Albani built and adorned the
edifice, and how Alexander Torlonia restored it
in i 871.
Winckelmann speaks of many beautiful things
which have since disappeared, 294 of the finest
specimens having been carried off in the French
invasion. He tells us, too, of the English visitors
whom the Cardinal entertained—Milady Montagu,
Milady Bute, Lord Baltimore, and " the celebrated
and famous Wilkes of England." He speaks of
the head of a Pallas, which he holds to be the
most perfect beauty under the sun, but which
was snapped up while he was thinking about the
price, and tells us he has become so wrapped up
in the villa that he cannot bear anyone to visit
it without him, and when a German count wanted
to go and visit it with one of his acquaintances,
he said, " No ! plump."
There is a charming small casino at the far
side of the garden, which was probably the great
Professor's private apartment. It is easy to
imagine him and the Cardinal exulting over their
new acquisitions, deciding their positions, sauntering
in the gardens, which grew more beautiful year
by year, while Winckelmann wrote his famous
works on art. His patron gave him time and
opportunity for perfecting himself as a connoisseur.
He was sent to other galleries to see any treasures
they possessed, and gradually acquired a certainty
of eye and taste which made him the greatest
living authority on sculpture. Truth, harmony,
and beauty were his guiding principles, and he
joined to wide knowledge and reading a ready
and tenacious memory. He was an indefatigable
worker, and book after book came from his hand,
on engraved gems, on the state of art and science
in Italy, and his greatest on the history of Greek
art. The revised edition of this was just finished,
in 1768, when the pleasant friendship that had
lasted for eleven years came to an end in dismal
tragedy. Winckelmann decided to go for a tour
to Vienna, to see old friends and to accept some
of the invitations he had received from famous and
learned men. In Vienna he was received with the
most gratifying honours. The King and Queen
loaded him with presents, the Ministers, many of
them great connoisseurs and patrons of art, expressed
their gratitude to the man who had written its
famous history. He passed delightful days in the
old villa of Schonbrun, where the Baron de Sperges
invited him to meet the Queen and a bevy of
archdukes and archduchesses. On June 1st he
left Vienna on his return to Rome, from which he
had with difficulty remained so long away. His
letters written at this time to the Cardinal express
his continual longing to get back. On his arrival
at Trieste he was obliged to wait for a ship for-
Ancona, and struck up an acquaintance with a
stranger, who lodged next door to him in the inn,
(