DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19776#0013
VILLA FARNESE,
CAPRAROLA.
FROM the broad plain of the Sabina, out of
which Soracte rises in sudden isolation,
the road ascends up the steep slope,
ending in a long, straight street leading
through the little town, getting steeper and
steeper, till right in front, towering in tremendous
grandeur, the famous palace of the Farnese sits
enthroned against the hillside, built upon huge,
rock-like bastions which give it almost the effect
of a fortress.
The country-side here owned the Orsini as
lords about the year 1200. The Farnese first
came into notice in the fifteenth century with
Cardinal Alexander Farnese and his two legitima-
ted sons, Pier Luigi and Ranuccio, and soon
gained splendour from the power and influence of
Giulia Farnese, the mistress of Pope Alexander
Borgia. Paul III. finally established the fortunes of
the House when he became Pope, in 1534; his
grand ideas of nepotism being his most distinguished
characteristic. He created his nephew, Prince of
Parma and Piacenza, and adding other Church lands,
summed up the whole in the dukedom of Castro,
and until the death of Pier Luigi, in 1 547, the ducal
residence was in Ronciglione. It appeared, how-
ever, to be more in the interests of the House
that its representative should live in the centre
of this part of the estates, and Pier Luigi's eldest
son, Cardinal Alexander II., was therefore
encouraged to build the palace of Caprarola. " It
is Vignola's great work," says Ferguson. "The
plan is unique, or nearly so, being a pentagon
enclosing a circular court. . . The object
of adopting this form was to give it a fortified or
castellated appearance, as all citadels of that age
were pentagons." The five-sided plan gives the
singular effect of two angles from every point of
view, and the balustraded terrace and ascent, with
what was formerly a drawbridge, give it an
appearance of impregnable strength and solidity.
The entrance admits to a circular court set
round with pillars, and a magnificent round stair-
case leads to the upper floor, from which open
all the state rooms, decorated by the brothers
Zuccaro, Tempesta, Pietro Bernini (the father of
Lorenzo), and other minor artists. The three
Zuccaro brothers came from Urbino, in 1543,
with the hope of emulating their great fellow-
townsman, Raphael, and their talent satisfied the
taste of the day for decorative work to an extent
which procured them all the custom they could
desire. They constituted a sort of firm which
became known as the Zuccari. Taddeo was
thirty-seven years the elder, and his is the best
work. He lies buried in the Pantheon, with
the epitaph written by his brother Federigo,
" In death and in art resembling Raphael." We
need not quarrel with this definition, but content
ourselves with admitting the appropriate feeling
for decoration which has given such a rich, gay,
and attractive appearance to these great halls,
where pictures relating to the power and grandeur
of the Farnese are set in frameworks of stucco
looking like delicate lace, and airy and graceful
" grotesques."
These pictures are full of interest here, where
all is so suggestive of the Farnese. The walls of
the great Council Chamber have frescoes of all the
towns that belonged to them, Parma, Piacenza,
Castro, Vignola, Scarpellino, Capo di Monte,
Camina, Ronciglione, Fabrica, Isola, and Caprarola.
The chapel has old stained-glass windows. Another
hall, " the Hall of the deeds of the Farnese,"
is given up to the great events of the House.
The marriage of Orazio Farnese with Diana,
daughter of Henry II. of France, is represented,
and that of Ottavio with a daughter of Charles V.
All the characters in these and the other scenes
are portraits, and in stiff gowns of gold brocade, or
brocaded doublets and thick hose and ruffs, we see
Catherine de Medici, Henry of Navarre, the Great
Constable, the Dukes ot Guise and Nemours,
Mine, de Montpensier, and Mile, de Rohan.
Alessandro and Orazio are seen accompanying
Charles V. on a campaign against the Lutherans ;
and in the bearers of the canopy held over the
Emperor's head we have portraits of the three
brothers Zuccari. Paul III., who took such care
of his family, is shown appointing Pietro Farnese
Commander of the Papal Forces, and Orazio
Governor of Rome. Ranuccio receives the Golden
Rose from his uncle, and the Pope himself is
portrayed presiding at the Council of Trent,
making peace between Francis I. and Charles V.,
( ' >
CAPRAROLA.
FROM the broad plain of the Sabina, out of
which Soracte rises in sudden isolation,
the road ascends up the steep slope,
ending in a long, straight street leading
through the little town, getting steeper and
steeper, till right in front, towering in tremendous
grandeur, the famous palace of the Farnese sits
enthroned against the hillside, built upon huge,
rock-like bastions which give it almost the effect
of a fortress.
The country-side here owned the Orsini as
lords about the year 1200. The Farnese first
came into notice in the fifteenth century with
Cardinal Alexander Farnese and his two legitima-
ted sons, Pier Luigi and Ranuccio, and soon
gained splendour from the power and influence of
Giulia Farnese, the mistress of Pope Alexander
Borgia. Paul III. finally established the fortunes of
the House when he became Pope, in 1534; his
grand ideas of nepotism being his most distinguished
characteristic. He created his nephew, Prince of
Parma and Piacenza, and adding other Church lands,
summed up the whole in the dukedom of Castro,
and until the death of Pier Luigi, in 1 547, the ducal
residence was in Ronciglione. It appeared, how-
ever, to be more in the interests of the House
that its representative should live in the centre
of this part of the estates, and Pier Luigi's eldest
son, Cardinal Alexander II., was therefore
encouraged to build the palace of Caprarola. " It
is Vignola's great work," says Ferguson. "The
plan is unique, or nearly so, being a pentagon
enclosing a circular court. . . The object
of adopting this form was to give it a fortified or
castellated appearance, as all citadels of that age
were pentagons." The five-sided plan gives the
singular effect of two angles from every point of
view, and the balustraded terrace and ascent, with
what was formerly a drawbridge, give it an
appearance of impregnable strength and solidity.
The entrance admits to a circular court set
round with pillars, and a magnificent round stair-
case leads to the upper floor, from which open
all the state rooms, decorated by the brothers
Zuccaro, Tempesta, Pietro Bernini (the father of
Lorenzo), and other minor artists. The three
Zuccaro brothers came from Urbino, in 1543,
with the hope of emulating their great fellow-
townsman, Raphael, and their talent satisfied the
taste of the day for decorative work to an extent
which procured them all the custom they could
desire. They constituted a sort of firm which
became known as the Zuccari. Taddeo was
thirty-seven years the elder, and his is the best
work. He lies buried in the Pantheon, with
the epitaph written by his brother Federigo,
" In death and in art resembling Raphael." We
need not quarrel with this definition, but content
ourselves with admitting the appropriate feeling
for decoration which has given such a rich, gay,
and attractive appearance to these great halls,
where pictures relating to the power and grandeur
of the Farnese are set in frameworks of stucco
looking like delicate lace, and airy and graceful
" grotesques."
These pictures are full of interest here, where
all is so suggestive of the Farnese. The walls of
the great Council Chamber have frescoes of all the
towns that belonged to them, Parma, Piacenza,
Castro, Vignola, Scarpellino, Capo di Monte,
Camina, Ronciglione, Fabrica, Isola, and Caprarola.
The chapel has old stained-glass windows. Another
hall, " the Hall of the deeds of the Farnese,"
is given up to the great events of the House.
The marriage of Orazio Farnese with Diana,
daughter of Henry II. of France, is represented,
and that of Ottavio with a daughter of Charles V.
All the characters in these and the other scenes
are portraits, and in stiff gowns of gold brocade, or
brocaded doublets and thick hose and ruffs, we see
Catherine de Medici, Henry of Navarre, the Great
Constable, the Dukes ot Guise and Nemours,
Mine, de Montpensier, and Mile, de Rohan.
Alessandro and Orazio are seen accompanying
Charles V. on a campaign against the Lutherans ;
and in the bearers of the canopy held over the
Emperor's head we have portraits of the three
brothers Zuccari. Paul III., who took such care
of his family, is shown appointing Pietro Farnese
Commander of the Papal Forces, and Orazio
Governor of Rome. Ranuccio receives the Golden
Rose from his uncle, and the Pope himself is
portrayed presiding at the Council of Trent,
making peace between Francis I. and Charles V.,
( ' >