Adriano a Baia

Nexus Network Journal, 2013

2016

Villa Adriana or Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli (Rome) is the largest and most famous Roman Imperial villa and needs no introduction. But the Accademia does, because is in a private property, in the southern part of the Villa, not open to visitors, and it is very little known and studied. This is why the author decided to study it, using for the first time digital technology and laser scanner to draw a new updated plan and discover its features. After the survey, the starting point was reading previous antiquarian sources and studies, collecting ancient maps and drawings, to see what had been done and studied before. It turned out to be an extraordinary journey among the greatest artists of all times, who visited and studied the Accademia and the rest of the Villa. This is how and why this book was born: to tell the story of the building and of its works of art, and to talk about the outstanding artists, antiquarians and architects who studied there and were inspired by its imposing ruins. Rediscovering this place is also important to understand the nature of the structure that some scholars believed to have been a villa within the Villa, that is to say the residence of Hadrian's wife, Vibia Sabina. There is no evidence about this, hence the importance of knowing more about a site for which it is still possible to answer questions about its real nature and connotation, although it is badly kept. The author's choice to write this work in English is a very effective action in order to expand knowledge and open to the whole world the analysis of a monument like no other, which since several decades has a place of excellence within the Unesco World Heritage Sites. Villa Adriana vicino a Tivoli (Roma) è la più grande e famosa villa romana imperiale e non ha bisogno di alcuna presentazione. Ma il sito dell'Accademia sì, perché si trova in una proprietà privata, nella parte meridionale della Villa, non è aperto al pubblico ed è molto poco conosciuto e studiato. Questo è il motivo per cui l'autrice ha deciso di focalizzare su di esso la sua attenzione, utilizzando per la prima volta una tecnologia digitale e una tecnica a scansione laser per tracciare una nuova pianta aggiornata e scoprire la configurazione dell'area. Dopo questa indagine, il punto di partenza del lavoro è stato rappresentato dalla lettura di precedenti fonti e studi antiquari e dalla raccolta di mappe e disegni antichi, per vedere che cosa era stato fatto e analizzato in precedenza: uno straordinario viaggio tra i più grandi artisti di tutti i tempi, che hanno visitato e studiato l'Accademia e il resto della Villa. Questo è il modo e il motivo per cui il volume è nato: raccontare la storia del palazzo e delle sue opere d'arte, e parlare degli artisti eccezionali, antiquari e architetti, che vi hanno studiato e sono stati ispirati dalle sue imponenti rovine. Riscoprire questo luogo è anche importante per capire la natura di una struttura che alcuni studiosi hanno creduto essere stata una villa all'interno della Villa, e precisamente la residenza della moglie di Adriano, Vibia Sabina. Dato che di questo non ci sono prove, è ancora maggiore l'importanza di sapere di più su un sito che, benché mal conservato, può ancora rispondere a domande circa la sua vera natura e connotazione. La scelta dell'autrice di scrivere in lingua inglese si propone lo scopo di ampliare la conoscenza e aprire al mondo intero l'analisi di un monumento importante come nessun altro, che da diversi decenni ha un posto di eccellenza all'interno del patrimonio mondiale UNESCO.

American Journal of Archaeology 90, 69-85, 1986

All the threads of evidence point to the Greek world of the Hellenistic period as the fountain-head of the "ruler and compasses approach" to design, embodied in the centralized buildings of Hadrian's reign that represent one of the highwater marks of the "Roman architectural revolution." Analysis of the plans of six of these buildings in Rome, Tivoli and Baiae, some having an Imperial association, reveals how important geometrical principles were to advanced Roman architectural design.

Thermalism in the Roman Provinces. The Role of Medicinal Mineral Waters across the Empire, 2024

The setting of Late Antique Baiae, its architectural transformation and the subsequent changes in everyday life included one important peculiarity that could be considered almost a rule. This was the process of extensive rearrangement of private houses into private or public balnea, attested in numerous examples across the site. An obviously lucrative business of providing bathing services, accompanied by a number of other social amenities, proliferated across the place quite significantly during the 3th and 4th centuries, and also became the backbone for the establishment of bathing facilities of Late Antique episcopia. Processes of transformation of residential into bathing architecture resulted in some quite ingenious solutions. Considering the outstanding number of cases of these transformative processes in Baiae, I have chosen the most illustrative ones, belonging to similar contexts and sharing the same ideas of creating representative spaces which would cultivate and promote Roman bathing culture. Thus, these processes will be represented and discussed through some case-studies: balnea arranged in private houses using natural hot sulphurous jets, and then balnea in private contexts heated by fire, and bath complexes built ex novo by rearranging a previous building or creating new ones. All the examples, in their architectural planning, purpose and use, testify to changes in local needs during the Late Antique centuries and also demonstrate innovative and interesting improvisations in the process of transformation of residential architecture into places of leisure, body care, healing spa and entertainment across the region, as the contemporary writers say.

BMCR, 2017

«The determination of De Franceschini to search out all pertinent material and to analyze it in such great detail is impressive. Her vast knowledge of Hadrian’s Villa developed over several decades of direct investigation, diligent and careful archival research, and the publication of the results allows her to take her place among those whom she discusses as being fundamental in our understanding of a remarkable, intriguing, and enigmatic ancient Roman site.» Marina De Franceschini, Villa Adriana Accademia: Hadrian's Secret Garden, I. History of the Excavations, Ancient Sources and Antiquarian Studies from the XVth to the XVIIth Centuries. Studies on Hadrian's Villa, 1. Pisa; Roma: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, 2016. Pp. 234. ISBN 9788862278270. €180.00 (pb). Reviewed by Kim J. Hartswick, City University of New York (Kim.Hartswick15@cunyba.cuny.edu) Version at BMCR home site http://www.bmcreview.org/2017/07/20170702.html

M. Lagogianni- Georgakarakos – E. Pappi (eds.), Hadrianus. Hadrian, Athens and the Gymnasia, exh. Catalogue, National Archaeological Museum, Athens / Μ. Λαγογιάννη-Γεοργακαράκου – E. Pappi, Αδριανός. Ο Αδριανός, η Αθήνα και τα Γυμνάσια, κατ. έκθεσης, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο, Αθήνα , 2018

A. Haug - M. T. Lauritsen (Eds.), Decorative Principles in the Roman World, International Conference Kiel 20.–22. february 2019, Decor. Decorative Principles in Late Republican and Early Imperial Italy 2 (Berlin 2021), 2021