The Palazzo Corsini also served as the meeting place for the Accademia dei Lincei (literally translated as the Lynx-eyed Academy) which was founded in 1603 as a society in pursuit of the sciences. It's membership included Galileo. Naturally, the Catholic Church did not support Galileo's research...but that's another long story. Many years later during the fascist regime in Italy, the Lincei was suppressed since its director was a Jew.
Back to the 18th century, Lorenzo Corsini became Pope Clement XII in 1730 and purchased the Palazzo for his nephew, Neri Corsini. Neri was the bibliophile in the family and it was he that had the library constructed. The biblioteca is divided in to several well decorated rooms with beautiful ceiling frescos. The original rooms of the library are each devoted to a discipline: history, literature, philosophy, the sciences and then the largest room of all dedicated to books of religion and religious history.
Overall, this library did not appear as "dusty" as the Angelica (the oldest public library from 1608). Later we learned that every one and a half years, each volume is removed from its shelf and its pages dusted. The Italian librarian that accompanied us was very well-informed about the history of the library; yet he apparently had not been properly informed of our visit --despite two months of advance planning and five emails. As a result, he apologized that he did not prepare any books for our viewing pleasure. "Non e' culpa mia, e miei director," he said in that typical "pass the buck" Italian way. However, persistence always pays. In the end, since we had now engaged him for almost two hours, he was able to pull a few things off the shelves for us to peruse. Really, a very Italian experience.
We turned the pages of an original manuscript from the 1400's with gold leaf applied to colorful, original etchings. He also pulled the first edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. This is always a crowd pleaser, but I had already seen one of the first editions at the Angelica. There are apparently 30 copies printed in the first edition.
We stepped outside onto an enormous terrace and took in the view of the amazing Corsini gardens. The property is so vast that the private gardens originally extended all the way up to the Gianicolo.
After concluding our visit at Palazzo Corsini and the Biblioteca Corsiani, we strolled across the road to the Villa Farnesina. This pleasure palace was built for Agostino Chigi. Chigi came from a banking family in Siena and he became the financier to Pope Julius II (1503-13). He and and the Pope maintained a very close relationship and the Pope bestowed upon him all types of riches. Chigi became the richest man in Rome and a patron of the Renassaince arts. The Villa is now called Villa Farnesina because the Farnese family purchased the villa after Chigi's death.
Villa Farnesina was not were Chigi resided, it was his refuge across the river. It was the place where he coddled courtesans and threw massive parties. Everyone tells the story of the dinner parties that Chigi held along the banks of the Tiber where he instructed his guests to toss their silver dinner plates into the river at the conclusion of each course -- just to underscore his supreme wealth. What his guests didn't know is that he had nets placed in the river and his servants later fished the silver wares out from the Tiber. Similar to Villa Giulia, Villa Farnese was also able to serve as a theater for dramatic performances. It was all about entertainment and otium.
This Villa is well-known for the incredible frescos which decorate its rooms. It is a great example of high renaissance style -- the best money could buy. The Villa itself was completed in 1509, and built by notable architect Baldassarre Peruzzi. The entrance to the Villa is called the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche as the fable is frescoed on the vault by Raphael and his workshop in 1518 (actually, only a small part was painted by the master). To one side is the Loggia of Galatea which is the room that introduces the owner of the villa by way of his astronomical signs. This gallery was frescoes by several artists including Peruzzi who laid out Chigi's horoscope in 1511, and Sebastiano del Piombo who painted mythological scenes in the lunettes. Raphael was said to have frescoed the Galatea.
Upstairs in the Villa is a large banquet room called Hall of the Perspective Views where Chigi at the end of his life finally married Francesca Ordeasca by whom he'd had four children. Pope Leo X officiated the ceremony. This room was frescoed in 1519 by Peruzzi with urban and rural views between fictive columns, and with divinities above the doors and windows. The final room on view was Chigi's bedchamber. Again, this was not his principal residence, but the man clearly needed a place to enjoy himself privately from time to time. The bed itself (which was not on display) was said to have cost more than the land on which the Villa was built. In this room, he commissioned a fresco from Sodoma.
It had been quite a full morning in Trastevere. Afterwards, and for my first time in Rome, I got on the bus. Josh had a busy morning too. He unpacked everyone's gear and had gone to the covered market and paid a visit to the butcher. He had prepared a delicious lunch of roasted potatoes, salad and pork chops -- I was so thankful! By the time I got home it was after 2pm and I was starving!
After lunch I walked over the grocery store. Josh drove to collect the kids from school and then me and the groceries from the store. Before I knew it, it was time to cook dinner. Olivia was "too tired" to go to swimming, so she laid in bed and listened to music. But Charlotte toughed it out and went to practice. It's a good thing too, because she found out she is swimming the 200 Fly AND the 400 IM in the meet this weekend. She'll have needed a little practice.
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