For centuries, the monumental ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome have attracted the attentio... more For centuries, the monumental ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome have attracted the attention of humanists, philologists and antique dealers, tickling their curiosity and arousing imaginative reconstructions. From the forefathers to the spokespersons of modern archaeology, it is this discipline that has mostly directed and guided the most recent studies on the complex, from the 1800s to today. However, while the ‘archaeological’ vocation constitutes the most evident and representative essence of these remains, for over a thousand years the whole area over which they lay was mainly used as agricultural land divided and passed on from hand to hand through countless owners. An attempt is made to provide a brief overview of this long and little-known history of use, covering the 300 years from the mid-16th century to the Unification of Italy. Starting from the identification of some of the many figures who have alternated over time as owners of the individual estates in different c...
Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis. New documents and research modify the thesis conce... more Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis. New documents and research modify the thesis concerning the founding of the Academia del Disegno in Rome. The generally held view is that the academy was founded by Federico Zuccari in 1593 and, by the late 17th century, had become the institute of reference in artistic matters and the model for the teaching of fine arts throughout Italy and Europe. However, a new reading of the internal dynamics of the Roman artistic milieu between the 16th and the 17th centuries reveals the nature of a consciously fabricated propaganda operation in the early 17th century with the publication of Romano Alberti's I'Origine et Progresso dell'Academia del Disegno. This operation was implemented with even more efficiency at the end of the century through the joint action of Giovan Pietro Bellori and of Giuseppe Ghezzi.
For centuries, the monumental ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome have attracted the attentio... more For centuries, the monumental ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome have attracted the attention of humanists, philologists and antique dealers, tickling their curiosity and arousing imaginative reconstructions. From the forefathers to the spokespersons of modern archaeology, it is this discipline that has mostly directed and guided the most recent studies on the complex, from the 1800s to today. However, while the ‘archaeological’ vocation constitutes the most evident and representative essence of these remains, for over a thousand years the whole area over which they lay was mainly used as agricultural land divided and passed on from hand to hand through countless owners. An attempt is made to provide a brief overview of this long and little-known history of use, covering the 300 years from the mid-16th century to the Unification of Italy. Starting from the identification of some of the many figures who have alternated over time as owners of the individual estates in different c...
Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis. New documents and research modify the thesis conce... more Adapted from the author's doctoral thesis. New documents and research modify the thesis concerning the founding of the Academia del Disegno in Rome. The generally held view is that the academy was founded by Federico Zuccari in 1593 and, by the late 17th century, had become the institute of reference in artistic matters and the model for the teaching of fine arts throughout Italy and Europe. However, a new reading of the internal dynamics of the Roman artistic milieu between the 16th and the 17th centuries reveals the nature of a consciously fabricated propaganda operation in the early 17th century with the publication of Romano Alberti's I'Origine et Progresso dell'Academia del Disegno. This operation was implemented with even more efficiency at the end of the century through the joint action of Giovan Pietro Bellori and of Giuseppe Ghezzi.
Se la Guerra è da sempre la più violenta, repentina, traumatica e devastante causa di compromissi... more Se la Guerra è da sempre la più violenta, repentina, traumatica e devastante causa di compromissione della forma urbana, per Albano fu invece solo pretesto di trasformazione. Nata sulle rovine di un castrum romano, la città che affonda le radici nel mito di Enea e di Alba Longa, trasse dall’Appia le ragioni stesse della propria storia, instaurando con essa un rapporto osmotico che la legò nel tempo ancor più saldamente a Roma. Assorbendo via via nella propria struttura la consolare, trasformata in strada e piazze comprese entro le mura, la città vi attestò l’invaso centrale del primitivo castellum, quindi il proprio ingresso monumentale dalla capitale, quale espressione compiuta della propria identità urbana. Il ‘700 segnò contemporaneamente il punto di arrivo di tale processo e l’inizio della dissoluzione, ostinatamente messa in atto a partire dal primo ‘900 e compiuta dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. A interventi conclusi il tratto urbano dell’Appia sarebbe tornato ad essere soltanto una (stavolta modesta) arteria stradale.
Nel 1535 Baldassarre Peruzzi rientra definitivamente a Roma. Nella città pontificia investita dal... more Nel 1535 Baldassarre Peruzzi rientra definitivamente a Roma. Nella città pontificia investita dall’azione di papa Farnese, che tenta di restaurare l’immagine della Chiesa colpita duramente dall’offesa del Sacco, si stanno lentamente riaprendo i grandi cantieri. Poco prima si avvia la riorganizzazione dell’Università della Pittura ad opera dei primi artisti rientrati in città. Tra questi, fondamentale è il ruolo svolto da Pietro Viventi e Francesco da Siena, rispettivamente fratellastro e discepolo di Peruzzi. Durante l’esilio forzato è Pietro a curare gli interessi di Baldassarre a Roma e ad aprire la strada al folto gruppo di artisti senesi, alcuni conosciuti, altri quasi ignoti, che emergono all’interno della corporazione, traghettandovi l’eredità peruzziana anche dopo la scomparsa del maestro avvenuta nel 1536. La fitta trama dei contatti ci restituisce una situazione vivace, nella quale, riallacciando le fila con la tradizione della prima stagione romana troncata bruscamente dal Sacco, della quale sono scomparsi dalla scena i grandi protagonisti, sarà Peruzzi - che ne è l’unico superstite - a farsi garante di quella tradizione. A Baldassarre sarà affidata anche la progettazione della chiesa di San Luca all’Esquilino, riflesso tridimensionale della nuova identità dell’istituzione, interrotta dalla sua morte prematura.
La fine del 1588 segnava il trasferimento dell’Università dei Pittori di Roma nella chiesa di San... more La fine del 1588 segnava il trasferimento dell’Università dei Pittori di Roma nella chiesa di Santa Martina al foro Romano, ad essa assegnata da Sisto V. L’insediamento nell’edificio che avrebbe ospitato per oltre tre secoli l’istituzione costituiva l’ultimo atto di un lungo processo, avviato all’indomani del Sacco, che aveva visto, da una parte, la lenta e sofferta riorganizzazione della corporazione che riuniva artisti e artigiani delle Arti della Pittura, e dall’altra la strutturazione sistematica dell’istanza di affermazione della pittura quale arte liberale, scevra da ogni accezione meccanicistica di derivazione medievale. Quest’ultima, tradotta nel tentativo di trasformazione della antica universitas in academia aveva trovato un primo esito nel 1577, con l’emanazione del noto breve di Gregorio XIII, mediante il quale si concedeva l’erezione di un’Accademia del Disegno ai Pittori e agli Scultori di Roma. La concessione pontificia sarebbe in realtà divenuta attuativa solo quattro decenni dopo, passando attraverso il difficile tentativo di dare regole certe alla nuova associazione e mettere a punto il sostrato teoretico del “mestiere di pittore”, ma anche attraverso furiose lotte interne. Fu tra il 1601 e il 1607, grazie al confronto-scontro tra i diversi gruppi artistici capitanati da figure quali Girolamo Muziano, Giovanni De Vecchi, Tommaso Laureti e Ottaviano Mascherino, che, tramite l’intervento diretto delle gerarchie ecclesiastiche e l’emanazione dei primi effettivi statuti accademici, che divenne finalmente effettiva la nuova “fondazione” e l’universitas venne assorbita dalla nuova academia: diversamente da quanto artatamente confezionato e tramandato dalla letteratura scientifica, che ha attribuito al solo Federico Zuccari tale fondazione. Alle complesse trame di questa vicenda, dipanatasi nei 40 anni compresi fra il 1588 e il 1607, è dedicata la comunicazione.
Per poter partecipare basta iscriversi al canale YouTube della Società romana di storia patria co... more Per poter partecipare basta iscriversi al canale YouTube della Società romana di storia patria collegandosi al link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ-oa9BoRsCUHH9PeCVAEdQ/featured
Dall’esilio, alla scalata sociale, all’elezione al soglio di Pietro di Clemente VIII, all’estinzi... more Dall’esilio, alla scalata sociale, all’elezione al soglio di Pietro di Clemente VIII, all’estinzione nell’arco di sole tre generazioni. Fortuna, magnificenza e predestinazione degli Aldobrandini attraverso l’enigmatico racconto della statuaria, dei dipinti e delle incrostazioni lapidee della cappella-mausoleo di famiglia nella chiesa di Santa Maria sopra Minerva a Roma.
lengthy catalogue might have become monotonous, but Sloan's command of the subject and her willin... more lengthy catalogue might have become monotonous, but Sloan's command of the subject and her willingness to challenge past assumptions and advance new ideas make for engaging reading. The fourth part of Light Screens concerns materials and techniques and is subdivided into chapters on the materials used in art-glass windows, on the making of the windows, and on the craftsmen involved in this process. A final chapter, "Beyond Leaded Glass, 1886-1923," explores Wright's uses of glass imbedded in perforated concrete blocks (as in the Alice Millard House, Pasadena, 1923), Pyrex tubing (the S.C. Johnson and Son Headquarters Building , Racine, Wis., 1939), and patterned wood screens over glass in Usonian houses (the Bernard Schwartz House, Two Rivers, Wis., 1939, for example). The two appendixes treat Wright's involvement with the Luxfer Prism Company and provide a list of all buildings and projects between 1886 and 1923 for which art glass was intended. Sloan's Light Screens succeeds on many levels. Above all, it stands as the definitive examination of Wright's art glass, a vast and often misunderstood subject. In addition, the study provides important new insights into Wright's architecture and into the methods by which he created it. Sloan notes the increasing confidence of Wright's use of the leaded-glass medium from the 1890s into the Prairie period, a confidence that parallels the development of the Prairie idiom itself. The character of the window patterns changes dramatically depending upon the nature of the house in question: for heavily massed buildings such as the Mrs. Thomas Gale and Aline Barnsdall houses, Wright introduced diagonal, linear patterns with little color as counterpoints to the buildings' weight; the window patterns of the Robie House cascade downward like stalactites so as to complement the build-ing's hovering floor planes; the Darwin Martin "Tree-of-Life" pattern is rooted in the ground, like the house itself, and exfoliates upward from its square base. Just as each of Wright's buildings was lengthy catalogue might have become monotonous, but Sloan's command of the subject and her willingness to challenge past assumptions and advance new ideas make for engaging reading. The fourth part of Light Screens concerns materials and techniques and is subdivided into chapters on the materials used in art-glass windows, on the making of the windows, and on the craftsmen involved in this process. A final chapter, "Beyond Leaded Glass, 1886-1923," explores Wright's uses of glass imbedded in perforated concrete blocks (as in the Alice Millard House, Pasadena, 1923), Pyrex tubing (the S.C. Johnson and Son Headquarters Building , Racine, Wis., 1939), and patterned wood screens over glass in Usonian houses (the Bernard Schwartz House, Two Rivers, Wis., 1939, for example). The two appendixes treat Wright's involvement with the Luxfer Prism Company and provide a list of all buildings and projects between 1886 and 1923 for which art glass was intended. Sloan's Light Screens succeeds on many levels. Above all, it stands as the definitive examination of Wright's art glass, a vast and often misunderstood subject. In addition, the study provides important new insights into Wright's architecture and into the methods by which he created it. Sloan notes the increasing confidence of Wright's use of the leaded-glass medium from the 1890s into the Prairie period, a confidence that parallels the development of the Prairie idiom itself. The character of the window patterns changes dramatically depending upon the nature of the house in question: for heavily massed buildings such as the Mrs. Thomas Gale and Aline Barnsdall houses, Wright introduced diagonal, linear patterns with little color as counterpoints to the buildings' weight; the window patterns of the Robie House cascade downward like stalactites so as to complement the build-ing's hovering floor planes; the Darwin Martin "Tree-of-Life" pattern is rooted in the ground, like the house itself, and exfoliates upward from its square base. Just as each of Wright's buildings was generated from an idea or theme usually associated with the client, so the art glass stands as a clue-though not necessarily the key-to that idea. Light Screens will also provide a point of departure for intensive studies of the art glass of Wright's more ambitious Prairie houses, such as the Susan Lawrence Dana (Springfield, Ill., 1902), the Darwin D. Martin (Buffalo, N.Y., 1906), the Avery Coonley (Riverside, Ill., 1908), and the Francis V. Little (Wayzata, Minn., 1912) houses. For the Martin House, for instance, Wright designed twenty discrete patterns for the doors, windows, skylights, lay-lights, and furniture fronts of the six-building complex, including seven variations of the Tree-of-Life pattern. Of necessity, given the scope of her project, Sloan does not attempt to account for every design and variation, but concentrates instead on the major patterns, their production, and their significance to the overall architectural composition. Finally, Light Screens: The Complete Leaded-Glass Windows of Frank Lloyd Wright is splendidly produced and handsome to behold, an altogether fitting vehicle for the presentation of these jewellike expressions of Wright's organic design process, and for a stunning piece of scholarship. Archives of the University at Buffalo, N.Y. The barn he refers to is the garage/sta-ble at the Darwin D. Martin House. generated from an idea or theme usually associated with the client, so the art glass stands as a clue-though not necessarily the key-to that idea. Light Screens will also provide a point of departure for intensive studies of the art glass of Wright's more ambitious Prairie houses, such as the Susan Lawrence Dana (Springfield, Ill., 1902), the Darwin D. Martin (Buffalo, N.Y., 1906), the Avery Coonley (Riverside, Ill., 1908), and the Francis V. Little (Wayzata, Minn., 1912) houses. For the Martin House, for instance, Wright designed twenty discrete patterns for the doors, windows, skylights, lay-lights, and furniture fronts of the six-building complex, including seven variations of the Tree-of-Life pattern. Of necessity, given the scope of her project, Sloan does not attempt to account for every design and variation, but concentrates instead on the major patterns, their production, and their significance to the overall architectural composition. Finally, Light Screens: The Complete Leaded-Glass Windows of Frank Lloyd Wright is splendidly produced and handsome to behold, an altogether fitting vehicle for the presentation of these jewellike expressions of Wright's organic design process, and for a stunning piece of scholarship. In 1453, Pope Nicholas V had the aqueduct of the Aqua Virgo repaired (it was the first ancient Roman aqueduct that had been made to function in a millennium): fresh water poured forth from three openings and was collected in a rectangular basin below. Located at the foot of the northern slope of the Quiri-nal Hill, the region known as Trevi grew in stature not only through this act of papal patronage but also through the acquisition, in the late sixteenth century, of the former villa and gardens of Ippolito d'Este, cardinal of Ferrara. Exposed to cooling breezes and commanding a breathtaking view of the Vat-ican to the west, the site became the Quirinal Palace, the preferred residence of popes throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Proximity to this elevated seat of power in Rome caused the neighborhood below to change in character: streets were regu-larized and widened, while artisans' homes and dye houses gave way in part to seigneurial palaces. Most spectacularly , over the course of several decades in the eighteenth century, the Trevi Fountain rose in the form we admire today, especially when our backs are turned to the elaborate facade of SS. In 1453, Pope Nicholas V had the aqueduct of the Aqua Virgo repaired (it was the first ancient Roman aqueduct that had been made to function in a millennium): fresh water poured forth from three openings and was collected in a rectangular basin below. Located at the foot of the northern slope of the Quiri-nal Hill, the region known as Trevi grew in stature not only through this act of papal patronage but also through the acquisition, in the late sixteenth century, of the former villa and gardens of Ippolito d'Este, cardinal of Ferrara. Exposed to cooling breezes and commanding a breathtaking view of the Vat-ican to the west, the site became the Quirinal Palace, the preferred residence of popes throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Proximity to this elevated seat of power in Rome caused the neighborhood below to change in character: streets were regu-larized and widened, while artisans' homes and dye houses gave way in part to seigneurial palaces. Most spectacularly , over the course of several decades in the eighteenth century, the Trevi Fountain rose in the form we admire today, especially when our backs are turned to the elaborate facade of SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio. Its construction (1646-51) was sponsored by the Roman-born prelate Giulio Mazzarino, better known to history as Cardinal Mazarin, who some years earlier had lived nearby. Shortly before 1612, directly north-BOOKS 567 BOOKS 567 Downloaded from
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Alle complesse trame di questa vicenda, dipanatasi nei 40 anni compresi fra il 1588 e il 1607, è dedicata la comunicazione.