Landscape and Identity in Early Modern Rome
Villa Culture at Frascati in the Borghese Era
Published on 14. October 2002
Book
Hardback
442 pages
978-0-521-59257-4 (ISBN)
Description
Throughout the early modern period, the villas of Frascati played a central role in Roman social politics. In the mid-sixteenth century, humanists and churchmen built villas on ancient ruins and pursued the ancient ideal of learned leisure, hoping to acquire an aura of virtue and sophistication associated with eminent Romans who had sojourned at Frascati in antiquity. New families penetrated Roman society and began to climb from the ranks of the ecclesiastical nobility into the secular aristocracy. In this study, Tracy Ehrlich analyses the Villa Mondragone, built by Pope Paul V Borghese in an effort to demonstrate how architecture, landscape and rituals of villeggiatura (villa life) were used to forge a new identity as a Roman noble house. She also explores the relationship between landscape and identity and, in so doing, reevaluates the conventional privileging of the city over the countryside. This title has been awarded the Salimbeni Prize, Italy's top award for a book in the area of art history.
Reviews / Votes
"Ehrlich succeeds in establishing both what was accomplished at the Villa Mondragone and how the cultural resources available in early modern Rome were used to make it happen." Renaissance Quarterly "[A] hefty and handsome volume with wonderfully informative illustrations of the villa culture at Frascati...Even if you have little interest in architecture, the way this scholar keeps buildings linked with sociodynamics will hold your attention and win your admiration." Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance "Well researched..." Landscape Architecture "This scholarly but entertaining tome--relatively jargon-free--is brimming with photos, estate maps and bird's-eye views of the Frascati region." Wall Street Journal "This fine book exemplifies the potential richness of a truly contextual history of an architechtural program. Highly recommended." Choice "Ehrlich's insightful analysis has covered much new ground...Ehrlich has marshaled a broad range of disciplinary techniques to make such an exploration possibleand has demonstrated the richness and incisiveness that are possible when art historians give serious attention to the needs, desires, and visions of a patron." - CAA Reviews, J. Nicholas Napoli, Rutgers UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
12 Plates, color; 139 Halftones, unspecified; 16 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 286 mm
Width: 225 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
1737 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-59257-4 (9780521592574)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Content
Part I. The Roman Setting: 1. Papacy and aristocracy; 2. The Borghese; Part II. Frascati in the Renaissance: Tusculo Restituto: 3. The revival of villeggiatura in the Farnese era; 4. The first papal villas; Part III. Frascati in its Heyday: the Borghese at the Villa Mondragone: 5. Architecture and ceremony; 6. Otium cum negotium; Part IV. Land, Landscape, and Family Lore: 7. An agricultural enterprise; 8. A dynastic seat; 9. Land into landscape.