Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

You may wish to see a page on the town first.

(left) Rear side of the façade (eastern wing) with a loggia: (inset) a view of Hagia Sophia; (right) evidence of a "graffito" decoration in the southern wing of the courtyard

The palace which Vincenzo Giustiniani bought from the Anguillara in 1595 had an "L" shape (eastern and southern wings of the courtyard). He added the northern wing (left in the image) and when it was completed he had the whole courtyard decorated by Antonio Tempesta. The frescoes have almost disappeared but one can still figure out that they depicted a triumphal procession. Antonio Tempesta was a renowned painter who worked also at the decoration of Villa d'Este and who is best known for a 1593 map of Rome, actually a bird's eye view. Coats of arms of the Giustiniani were painted between the windows of the top floor.

Room of Summer (southern wing): "grotesque" decoration of the ceiling with tiny heraldic symbols of the Anguillara (eels) and of the Orsini (a five-petal rose) surrounding a view of Bassano

In origin the palace of Bassano was a castle, but during the second half of the XVIth century it was embellished by creating a series of large decorated rooms by the Anguillara, once a powerful family in control of most of the towns of this area. They had family bonds with the Orsini who in that period turned their castle at Bracciano into a residence suited to house the daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici.

(left) Fountain in the courtyard; (right) bridge leading from the palace to the gardens

Vincenzo Giustiniani closed the courtyard with a low wall housing a fountain which was decorated with an ancient statue; a passage above the wall linked the southern and northern wings and it gave access to a bridge which led to the gardens. Bridges leading to gardens can be seen in many Renaissance and Baroque palaces, e.g. Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Colonna (Rome and Genazzano) and Castello Ruspoli of Vignanello.

View of the gardens from the loggia

The model Vincenzo Giustiniani had in mind in the redesign of his Bassano property was Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola. This was particularly true for the gardens which similar to those of Caprarola were surrounded by a wood. The long years of neglect have taken their toll and visits to the gardens are not permitted because of safety reasons. Galleria Giustiniana, a book of etchings displaying the collection of antiquities of the Giustiniani, shows that the gardens near the palace were embellished with fountains and statues; two curved ramps led to a central point from which a passage cut through a wood reached a hunting lodge.

Hall of the Caesars - ceiling: coat of arms of the Giustiniani between allegories of Justice and Strength

The Lives of the Caesars is a book written by Suetonius which contains the biographies of Julius Caesar and of the first eleven emperors (the last being Domitian). Having a collection of ancient busts of the "Twelve Caesars" was a must for an important Italian family and the Giustiniani placed them in the main hall of their palace. They are no longer there because the Odescalchi moved them to Bracciano when they sold the building to the Italian State (you may wish to see the collection of busts at Musei Capitolini and at the Uffizi of Florence).
The halls of the palace are empty and their walls (with the exception of that of Phaeton) have lost the frescoes which decorated them whereas most of the ceilings retain them.

(left) Loggia; (right) detail of a statue of Emperor Augustus

The loggia was slightly redesigned by Vincenzo Giustiniani by creating three niches where he placed statues of his collection. The only one left was complemented by a modern head (as shown in some old postcards) in line with the usage of the time. The chequered floor of the loggia was another change introduced by Vincenzo Giustiniani and it originates from his historical background, because slate was often used in the palaces of Genoa.

Loggia: detail of the ceiling

The prevailing decoration of the ceilings in the eastern and south wing was based on grotesque, similar to what occurred at Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola. It is generally thought that the Anguillara recruited assistants to Taddeo and Federico Zuccari who masterminded the decoration of Caprarola. The Giustiniani made only some small changes to these ceilings by inserting small images and/or their heraldic symbols.

Room of Eros and Psyche (corner of the eastern and southern wings): (ceiling) Psyche being admitted to the Council of the Gods; (in the frame surrounding the fresco) coat of arms of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani

Vincenzo Giustiniani commissioned the decoration of this room to Bernardo Castello, a painter who had worked for the main families of Genoa, e.g. the Spinola. The subject had been painted in 1518 by Raphael and his assistants at Villa la Farnesina. In the painting by Castello there is more movement and the figures are slightly elongated, two features which characterized XVIIth century art both in painting and sculpture (see the angels of Ponte S. Angelo).

Ceilings of the Rooms of the Four Seasons (southern wing): (left) Summer; (right) Autumn

Art historians are not sure whether these paintings were commissioned by the Anguillara or by the Giustiniani, but these too were influenced by those by Taddeo Zuccari at Caprarola. The subject was a very popular one in antiquity; see Roman floor mosaics (e.g. at Ostia and in Tunisia) and sarcophagi (e.g. in Rome and in Tunisia).

Parnassus Room (southern wing with a view over the gardens): part of the ceiling

The very fine decoration of this ceiling suggests that it was executed by Antonio Tempesta. The musical instruments at the corners testify to the interest of Vincenzo Giustiniani for music (see a page on the decoration of musical instruments of that period). The Giustiniani had a predilection for works of art depicting Justice and Emperor Justinian (see a statue they had in Rome), because of the resemblance in the sounds of these words with their name. In this ceiling two small heraldic eagles hold mottoes related to justice: IUPPITER ME MISIT CUM JUSTIS and IUSTA SUM ET CUM JUSTI MANEO.

Parnassus Room: Map of Genoa (see that of Scio)

The two maps which decorate the ceiling are a clear reference to the history of the Giustiniani. The depiction of maps came into fashion when in 1580-1583 a long corridor of the Vatican Palace was decorated with maps of Italy and of some cities and sites of famous battles (you may wish to see the map of Rome). Antonio Tempesta was among the painters who worked there.

Ceiling of a small room next to the Parnassus Room which is thought to have been a chapel

The main painting portrays God the Father and the small ones events of the life of Moses, so it was most likely a chapel, although it had a double entrance and no evidence is left of the altar. What puzzles the viewer is the depiction of Ephesian Diana in the corners of the ceiling. Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este had placed a statue of the goddess at the centre of a large fountain of his villa at Tivoli, probably ignoring its pagan significance and the same occurred at Bassano.

Hall of Eternal Happiness (northern wing); the framed scene portrays Joseph being tempted by Potiphar's wife

The northern wing was added by Vincenzo Giustiniani and it was decorated in a completely different manner than the other ones. The ceiling of the Hall of the Eternal Happiness was painted in 1610 by Paolo Guidotti who was allowed to add il Cavalier Borghese to his name by Pope Paul V, because of statues he had made for his nephew Cardinal Scipione Borghese.
Guidotti, in addition to being a painter, was an architect, a sculptor, a mathematician and an astrologist. Hall of the Eternal Felicity is an early example of the illusionist ceilings of the XVIIth century which reached excellency when Andrea Pozzo painted that of S. Ignazio.

Room of Diana (northern wing): Pan giving some wool to Diana and Cupids holding symbols of the goddess by il Domenichino (1609); see another fresco of this room in the historical section

During his ten active years in Rome, between 1595 and 1605, Annibale Carracci (..) became the creator of a grand manner, a dramatic style buttressed by a close study of nature, antiquity, Raphael, and Michelangelo. It was this style, equally admired by such antipodes as Poussin and Bernini, on which the future of official painting depended for the next 150 years. (..) A phalanx of young Bolognese artists, observing Annibale's success, chose to follow him to Rome. (..) Guido Reni (1575-1642) and Francesco Albani (1578-1660) appeared in Rome shortly after 1600, (..) Domenichino (1581-1641) came soon after. (..) Annibale used Domenichino for work in the Galleria Farnese. (..) Palazzo Giustiniani. Bassano di Sutri. The ceiling of a small room was painted by Domenichino with stories of the myth of Diana, in the manner of the Farnese Gallery.
Rudolf Wittkower - Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750 - Penguin Books
The scene of Pan and Diana had a literary reference:
It was with such a gift of snowy wool, if it's to be believed,
that Pan, god of Arcady, charmed and beguiled you, O Moon,
calling you into the deep woods: nor did you reject his call.
Virgil - Georgics III - Translation by A. S. Kline
See other paintings by il Domenichino at Grottaferrata, at S. Andrea della Valle and at S. Carlo ai Catinari and an ancient statue depicting Pan's sexual appetite.

Hall of Phaeton (northern wing with views of the gardens) by Francesco Albani; a painted bust of a woman from this hall is shown in the image used as background for this page

The frescoes of the large hall by Albani. On the ceiling of the hall Albani represented the Fall of Phaeton and the Council of the Gods, the latter placed in tight groups round the edges of the vault - the whole an unsuccessful attempt at illusionistic unification. Wittkower
Albani developed a very complex decoration for this hall: a socle of fake marbles, fake tapestries with scenes related to the event depicted in the ceiling and fake busts and furniture. He did not achieve an overall illusionistic effect, yet one which pleases the eye. We may assume Vincenzo Giustiniani was proud to show this hall to his guests and then lead them to the gardens through a small door at its end.
The Fall of Phaeton was extensively described by Ovid in The Metamorphoses (Book II):
(The Sun, Phaeton's father) "Ask for any favour, so that I can grant it to you. May the Stygian lake, that my eyes have never seen, by which the gods swear, witness my promise." Hardly had he settled back properly in his seat when the boy asked for his father's chariot and the right to control his wing-footed horses for a day. His father regretted his oath. Three times, and then a fourth, shaking his bright head, he said "Your words show mine were rash; if only it were right to retract my promise! I confess my boy I would only refuse you this one thing. It is right to dissuade you. What you want is unsafe. Phaethon you ask too great a favour, and one that is unfitting for your strength and boyish years. Your fate is mortal: it is not mortal what you ask. Unknowingly you aspire to more than the gods can share. Though each deity can please themselves, within what is allowed, no one except myself has the power to occupy the chariot of fire."
Translation by A. S. Kline

Hall of Phaeton: (side wall) Neptune cannot stand the heat

The sea contracts and what was a moment ago wide sea is a parched expanse of sand. Mountains emerge from the water, and add to the scattered Cyclades. The fish dive deep, and the dolphins no longer dare to rise arching above the water, as they have done, into the air. The lifeless bodies of seals float face upwards on the deep. They even say that Nereus himself, and Doris and her daughters drifted through warm caves. Three times Neptune tried to lift his fierce face and arms above the waters. Three times he could not endure the burning air. Ovid

Hall of Phaeton: (ceiling) Fall of Phaeton and symbols of the zodiacal constellations

But the all-powerful father of the gods climbs to the highest summit of heaven, from where he spreads his clouds over the wide earth, from where he moves the thunder and hurls his quivering lightning bolts, calling on the gods, especially on him who had handed over the sun chariot, to witness that, unless he himself helps, the whole world will be overtaken by a ruinous fate. Now he has no clouds to cover the earth, or rain to shower from the sky. He thundered, and balancing a lightning bolt in his right hand threw it from eye-level at the charioteer, removing him, at the same moment, from the chariot and from life, extinguishing fire with fierce fire. Thrown into confusion the horses, lurching in different directions, wrench their necks from the yoke and throw off the broken harness. Here the reins lie, there the axle torn from the pole, there the spokes of shattered wheels, and the fragments of the wrecked chariot are flung far and wide. But Phaethon, flames ravaging his glowing hair, is hurled headlong, leaving a long trail in the air, as sometimes a star does in the clear sky, appearing to fall although it does not fall.
The Fall of Phaeton was depicted on a sarcophagus at Villa Medici and it had already been painted at Caprarola. Return to the page on the town.

You may wish to see other historical palaces in the environs of Rome which retain large ceiling frescoes, e.g. Palazzo Pamphilj at Valmontone, Palazzo Rospigliosi at Zagarolo and Palazzo Chigi at Ariccia.

From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana - other pages:
Civitavecchia, Allumiere and Tolfa
Civitavecchia - Terme Taurine
Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia
Oriolo Romano and Capranica
Sutri
Bassano, Monterosi and Campagnano
Nepi and Castel Sant'Elia
Civita Castellana
Museum of Agro Falisco at Civita Castellana