DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68272#0148
z3°
THE GARDENS OF ITALY.
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 still contain many
masterpieces of painting and sculpture. One of Perugino’s most exquisite panel paintings
glows upon the wall ; above a mantelpiece is framed the splendid sulky Antinoiis, 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 whichever way you turn ; bits of exquisite
classic carving are let in as overdoors. At every turn inscriptions tell us how Alexander Albani
built and adorned the edifice, and how Alexander Torlonia restored it in 1871.
Winckelmann speaks of many beautiful things which have since disappeared, two hundred
and ninety-four 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, as being
139.—GARDEN FRONT VILLA ALBANI.
snapped up while he was
thinking about the price.
He tells us he has
become so wrapped up
in the villa that he cannot
bear anyone to visit it
without him, and when
a certain German count
desired to go and visit it
with one of his acquaint-
ances he said, “ No ! ”
plump.
There is a charming
small casino at the far side
of the garden, which was
probably the great Profes-
sor’s private apartment.
It is easy to imagine him
with the Cardinal exulting
together over their new
acquisitions, deciding
their positions, and saun-
tering in the gardens,
which grew more beautiful year by year, while all the time Winckelmann was writing 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 thus he 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, greatest of all, his work
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 a dismal tragedy.
Winckelmann decided to go on a tour to Vienna to see his old friends and to accept some of
the invitations which 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 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.
THE GARDENS OF ITALY.
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 still contain many
masterpieces of painting and sculpture. One of Perugino’s most exquisite panel paintings
glows upon the wall ; above a mantelpiece is framed the splendid sulky Antinoiis, 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 whichever way you turn ; bits of exquisite
classic carving are let in as overdoors. At every turn inscriptions tell us how Alexander Albani
built and adorned the edifice, and how Alexander Torlonia restored it in 1871.
Winckelmann speaks of many beautiful things which have since disappeared, two hundred
and ninety-four 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, as being
139.—GARDEN FRONT VILLA ALBANI.
snapped up while he was
thinking about the price.
He tells us he has
become so wrapped up
in the villa that he cannot
bear anyone to visit it
without him, and when
a certain German count
desired to go and visit it
with one of his acquaint-
ances he said, “ No ! ”
plump.
There is a charming
small casino at the far side
of the garden, which was
probably the great Profes-
sor’s private apartment.
It is easy to imagine him
with the Cardinal exulting
together over their new
acquisitions, deciding
their positions, and saun-
tering in the gardens,
which grew more beautiful year by year, while all the time Winckelmann was writing 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 thus he 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, greatest of all, his work
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 a dismal tragedy.
Winckelmann decided to go on a tour to Vienna to see his old friends and to accept some of
the invitations which 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 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.