Part One: Framework
Architecture and language have long been considered analogues; however, once this comparison is held under scrutiny for any substantial length of time, the issues of its conceptual simplification become clear. In How do Buildings Mean, architecture is described as not “simply a language” such that “buildings cannot, in actuality, simply be read. Rather, the process of designing, building, and interpreting architecture should be likened, not to reading, but to a series of translations.”[1] The concept of translation necessitates a change in language or medium and with this shift comes a change in meaning. In the context of architecture, a building exists in multiple phases each with its associated media. A building is designed through the medium of drawing or image and language (communication with the client.) During the process of construction, a building is changed from some imagined final drawing to a physical form which can be experienced, occupied, and used, changing it further. Afterwards, if we are lucky, the building is then drawn, photographed, and written about, moving to an existence in further mediums. Through each of these translations, meaning is almost certainly changed; in this sense, the process of architecture can be understood as a complex version of the children’s game “Telephone.”
The Villa Giulia is a perfect example of an architecture whose meaning and existence is produced by a series of translations in this way, and since a study of these moments and mediums has not been undertaken directly, I highlight these translations to analyze some of the relationships produced therein. To understand these translations through image, written language, and form, context of the historical moment of this villa’s construction is essential.
The Villa Giulia was built during a period of the Renaissance when architectural drawings were beginning to become standardized. Evidenced by a drawing from the White collection, prior to the construction of the Villa Giulia, there was a full plan drawing of the complex completed to scale.[2] This drawing was certainly completed prior to construction specifically due to some details which only existed during the first phase of construction and were adjusted or covered during later phases. The use of standardized architectural drawings used for construction is essential to the idea of architectural translation since it is the transition point between design and construction which necessitates a change in meaning.”[3] During this time period as well, language itself was being standardized by the use of the newly invented printing press.[4] The dramatic increase in written language and ease of access to printed text created the need and the medium for more structured languages.
The concept of the villa as established by the Romans, required a permanent residence for the owner elsewhere: specifically, in a city. The heightened decentralization of the middle ages allowed the idea of the villa to become formally and physically lost; a summer or winter retreat for study and relaxation was hardly a necessity when fortification and feudal disputes were a primary focus.[5] And while in more dense urban areas, some antique works, counter-intuitively, survived the ages through reuse and spoliation, rural architectures received no such attention and were often lost to time.[6] However, in the Early Renaissance, villas became a necessary typology again for several reasons: as a solution to problems of re-urbanization (noise, disease, safety, etc.), as a space for the academic and humanist pursuits, and as agricultural investments. As looking to antique precedent became relevant, the idea of the villa was particularly problematic since there were no known classical precedents.[7] No ancient villas were discovered until the later Renaissance and “Hellenistic landscape paintings with villa views” were not found until after 1500.[8] The only existing source was Roman literature; and while villas were a popular topic of treatises, very little was said or defined.[9] Vitruvius’s “Ten Books of Architecture” hardly described villas and while the letters of Pliny described two villas in extraordinary detail, they were so lavish that it would take the financial changes of the High Renaissance before these descriptions would become directly influential on villa construction.[10]
Without a clear model to follow and due to the fact that villas were often built on ancestral and previously feudal lands, architects of the Early Renaissance primarily “renovated and rebuilt medieval rural castles.”[11] Even when villas were built as original structures, they still continued the language of gothic and fortified detailing and form with an enclosed and irregular plan often looking inward at a courtyard and always using tower-like elements.[12] Ackerman clearly expresses the continuation of these elements as being purely formal at villas like Careggi by highlighting the fact that “defense was no longer a significant function of the villa; if Careggi looks like a castle, it is not because it had to, but because the taste for traditional architecture was stronger than the aspiration to invent plausible reconstructions of Roman villas.”[13] During the High Renaissance the need for antique precedent would outweigh the convenience of medieval form and the idea of the villa, which had been maintained through Roman writings, began to re-emerge through visual restitutions and formal translations. The letters of Pliny describing his Laurentine and Tuscan villas were an essential resource in this search for Roman precedent for the Renaissance villa. Numerous plan drawings and perspectives were produced by various architects from this point forward. Several villa designs of the High Renaissance can be traced to descriptions of the Laurentine villa in particular, including the Belvedere court, Villa Madama (incomplete), and the Villa Giulia.[14]
These moments merged in such a way at this time and place to produce a unique building which is clearly a product of its contexts through the mode of translation. The standardization of language and architectural drawing and revival of the search for Roman precedent necessitated that architects translate ideas from Roman textual sources into construction plans to build the ideal Renaissance villa.
Specifically, the semicircular courtyard at the Villa Giulia directly recalls Pliny’s Laurentine villa with its “two colonnades coming together to form the letter D.”[15] Another example of Pliny as precedent at Villa Giulia is expressed by Bartolomeo Ammannati in a letter dated May 1555, to Marco Benavides describing the nearly complete Villa Giulia in its current state.[16] Ammannati describes four plane trees in a sunken travertine court,[17] directly referencing a sentence from Pliny detailing “a small court that is shaded by four plane trees. In their midst water rising from a marble basin nourished the surrounding plane trees and the ground under the plane trees with a gentle shower.”[18]
Thus far, I have primarily studied the conceptual and textual translations which form some of the meanings of this building. However, the physical translation (movement of objects from one physical location to another) which occurs at the Villa Giulia is also relevant to the meanings encapsulated in its stonework. This building, while stripped of much of its decoration over the course of time, [19] originally included the spolia of ancient statuaries, marble stonework, and specifically fourteen ancient ionic columns.[20] The statues were arranged throughout the complex, and the marbles were used for tables, flooring and other ornamentation. The fourteen columns are located at the entrance portal from the main court to the nymphaeum and varied in color, including black and green marbles. They were likely removed from the Baths of Tivoli since the excavations of this ancient structure were commissioned and paid for by Pope Julius III in June 1552.[21] Since the Villa Giulia and many other villas at the time referenced Roman baths for the production of their grand spaces, it is neither surprising nor unintentional that the Pope would use spolia from this type of complex in the structure of his own villa intended for use as ceremonial entrance and reception to the city by foreign dignitaries.[22]
[1] William Whyte. “How do Buildings Mean?” (History and Theory, May 2006), 154.
[2] Richard J. Tuttle, “Vignola e Villia Giulia,” (Casabella, June 1997), 57.
[3] Whyte. “How do Buildings Mean?” 153.
[4] “Printing Press,” (Encyclopedia Britannica, Dec. 2018).
[5] James Ackerman, “Sources of the Renaissance Villa,” (Acts of XX Int. Congress of History of Art II, 1960), 6.
[6] Pierre Du Prey, The Villas of Pliny from Antiquity to Posterity, (University of Chicago Press, 1994), 14.
[7] Ackerman, “Sources,” 6.
[8] Ackerman, “Sources,” 6.
[9] Ibid, 6.
[10] Ibid, 6.
[11] Ibid, 8.
[12] Ibid, 8.
[13] Ibid, 9.
[14] Ackerman, “Sources,” 6.
[15] Helen Tanzer and James Egbert, The Villas of Pliny the Younger, (New Yok, 1924), 8.
16] Tillman Falk, “Studien Zur Topographie Und Geschichte Der Villa Giulia in Rom,” (Römisches Jahrbuch Für Kunstgeschichte , 1971), 171-173; Note: Appendix I contains the original Italian text. Appendix II contains the English translation
[17] Appendix II, line 316
[18] David R. Coffin, The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome, (Princeton University Press, 1988), 163.
[19] Coffin, The Villa in the Life, 174.
[20] Ibid, 160.
[21] Ibid, 163.
[22] Ibid, 150.
[2] Richard J. Tuttle, “Vignola e Villia Giulia,” (Casabella, June 1997), 57.
[3] Whyte. “How do Buildings Mean?” 153.
[4] “Printing Press,” (Encyclopedia Britannica, Dec. 2018).
[5] James Ackerman, “Sources of the Renaissance Villa,” (Acts of XX Int. Congress of History of Art II, 1960), 6.
[6] Pierre Du Prey, The Villas of Pliny from Antiquity to Posterity, (University of Chicago Press, 1994), 14.
[7] Ackerman, “Sources,” 6.
[8] Ackerman, “Sources,” 6.
[9] Ibid, 6.
[10] Ibid, 6.
[11] Ibid, 8.
[12] Ibid, 8.
[13] Ibid, 9.
[14] Ackerman, “Sources,” 6.
[15] Helen Tanzer and James Egbert, The Villas of Pliny the Younger, (New Yok, 1924), 8.
16] Tillman Falk, “Studien Zur Topographie Und Geschichte Der Villa Giulia in Rom,” (Römisches Jahrbuch Für Kunstgeschichte , 1971), 171-173; Note: Appendix I contains the original Italian text. Appendix II contains the English translation
[17] Appendix II, line 316
[18] David R. Coffin, The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome, (Princeton University Press, 1988), 163.
[19] Coffin, The Villa in the Life, 174.
[20] Ibid, 160.
[21] Ibid, 163.
[22] Ibid, 150.
1a. Façade drawn by author, after description by Bartolomeo Ammannati
1b. Entrance and main building drawn by author, after description by Ammannati
1c. Main courtyard and “scene” drawn by author, after description by Ammannati
1d. Nymphaeum drawn by author, after description by Ammannati
Part Two: Process
After a challenging translation using Google Translate©, my limited half-semester study of Italian, and my own intuition to translate Bartolomeo Ammannati’s letter, written in 16th century Italian, into modern English, I began the almost equally challenging process of translating this text into drawings. Seeing as how it is remarkably difficult to ignore your own prior knowledge and experience, both consciously and subconsciously, I struggled to use only what evidence I could find in the English text, rather than the plans I had studied rigorously during research for this project and my memory of being on-site. However problematic this is, it calls into question the other precedents and references that architects creating restitutions of Pliny’s Villas may have used and relied on—with or without realizing it. This would require another study altogether, but it is not irrelevant to the questions I am asking of the Villa Giulia and its creators.
For me to be able to produce the plan drawings (figures 2c and 2d), I needed to sketch numerous study sketches (figure 2b) and take detailed notes (figure 2a) to narrow down what was formally significant in the text and arrange it coherently for myself. I began where Ammannati began, from the water, working my way down the Strada Flaminia towards the semicircular piazza and strange avenues concentrating at the edge of the valley where Villa Giulia stands today. However, since the primary focus of the study was on the building itself, I have neglected some of these details in the drawings, only highlighting the piazza and my understanding of the street arrangements.
After starting the site plan with this information, I began my façade drawing (figure 1a) which required making many assumptions, as the rest of my drawings would later. These assumptions include (but likely are not limited to) the proportions of the façade (height to width), window spacing, locations of windows and niches, and the rusticated corners. I continued to make similar assumptions on later drawings. In figure 2d particularly, the nymphaeum is rectangular, and while I know from study that both the nymphaeum and its smaller subterranean fountain are both semicircular, there is no mention in Ammannati’s text of this formal move. Following my classical knowledge and the rectilinear “scene” just before this space, I was forced to assume, incorrectly, that the lower courtyard, stairs, and nymphaeum were all rectilinear.
One problem of the translation into hand-drawing is that some information is necessarily lost if no text is included. You can see on figure 2c, that I labeled the spaces Ammannati described as the theater and proscenium, as well as the room types in the building to maintain some of the additional information that the text contains. In figure 2d, there is a hint at the spoliated floor pattern in the loggia between the main court and nymphaeum, but the materiality, color and texture are all lost. Most reproduced versions of the Laurentine and Tuscan villas were not in color or accompanied with enough text to provide the same level of information and detail that Pliny’s text contains. This is an important factor in the idea that translating between mediums necessitates a change in meaning. While I could have photo-collaged my drawings with various marbles and ancient statuaries as closely resembling the description from Ammannati’s text as possible, I chose to hand-draw these perspectives to highlight the different kinds of information and changes that occur during translation.
A further step would require translating these hand-drawn images back into written description or into a physical model without using the original text by Ammannati. The effect of this further translation would be similar to the one I have just produced, somewhat a simplification, but generally just a bit different from what the original text contains.
In retrospect, this project could have potentially been more fruitful, and definitively quite different, if completed by two people: one to translate the text from Italian to English, and another (who has not studied the building in such depth) to produce images from this text, the first person could then look at the images and produce a text describing them. The two could then work together to analyze what they have created and compare it further to the “original” building. The separation of these translations is useful in eliminating some of the unconscious inclusion of outside references between medium changes. However, in purposefully trying not to include these unconscious references, I became acutely aware of each of my decisions in the drawing process. All of these decisions helped me to realize and substantiate the idea that the translation between mediums in architecture changes a building and its meaning over time.
2c. Plan of piazza, main building, and semicircular interior court, drawn by author, after description by Bartolomeo Ammannati 1 Corinthian opera entry 2 Chambers 3 Bedrooms 4 Half-rotunda
2d. Plan of loggia, nymphaeum, and rear orange garden, drawn by author, after description by Bartolomeo Ammannati
Appendix:
Original Italian text of letter From Ammannati to Benavides, 1555
Conoscend'io il bellissio animo Vostro, eccellentissimo Messer Marcho, dillettarsi (dilettarsi) di vedere, ed intender' cose nuove, et virtuose, sarei molto mancato del vio debito se non vi havesse (avesse) particolarmente con una mia dato haviso (avviso), in quel piu breve modo a me possibile, della bellissima, et ricchissima fabrica fatta nella Villa Giulia dalla Santissima Memoria di Giulio terzo pontefice Massimo. E perche Vostra Eccellenza la veggia prima con l'imaginativa che co'l senso, cercaro a parte per parte farglila vedere, ma non cosi bene et per ordine con la penna, come farei co'l disengo. Bench'io spero fra pochi giorni mandarle anchor questo. E tanto piu che gia ho la magior parte dei disegni fatti. Secondo che alla giornata facevo mettere in opera; intanto Ve la figurarete in quests maniera. E prima cominciaro dal Tempio di Santo Andrea posto su la strada Flaminia, fatto in forma Ovale, d’opera Corinthia, bolto ben ordinato dentro, e di fuori; nella tavola de’l artare vi e dipinta l’Assuntione della Madonna e nelli nicchi san Piero e s.to Andrea, S. Paolo, e S.. Giovanni, con molti et vari ornamenti. Uscito di chiesa per una porta che risponde in un cortile, ornato di loggette fatte a verdure, vi trovarete un boschetto di lauri molto belle, e dilettevole.
Tornato nella strada Flamlnia. c caminato ben docento canne, vi e una croce di strada, che una porta al palazzo principal di Villa Giulia, fatta tutta di nuovo; e'l principio di detta strada fa due facciate dove e una bella fontana, nella quale condusse l'acqua la felicissima Memoria di papa Giulio. Senza aver mai havuto luce che in tal luogo ve si potesse trovar acqua, Mil havendo anticamente in praticha la sua villa fece cavare profondamente e con diligentia, non perdonando a spesa, per far questo ben publico. Di dove e hoggi il suo pallazzo insino a questo principio di strada. Et vedendo che questo suo desiderio riusciva, con ogni studio si delibero farli l'ornamento che hora se gli e fatto, d'opera corinthia, con colonne e pilastri, et nel mezzo una gran pietra di palmi dodici per ogni verso. Con una iscritione che dice: JULlUS III PONT. MAX. PlJBLICAE COMMODITATI ANNO Ill. Con doi nicchi per banda, a i quali vi son dentro doi statue, la Felicita et l'Abbondantia. Sotto L'epitafio vi e una gran testa anticha, et bellissima d'uno Apollo, che getta detta acqua in un vaso grande, e bello di granito; su il fine vi sono quatro acrotterie; in una de i lati vi e la stutua di Roma e nel' altra quella di Minerva; e nel' altre doi, doi piramide di granito, e nel mezzo un Nettuno, tutte antiche et bellissime. Dalla parte di dentro di detta facciata si volse accomodar s.S.ta senza incomodar il publico, di fontane, et di peschiere, con molti giochi d'acque, dove son tre Ioggie c.on colonne di marmo. E molti altri ornamenti di pitture, et di stucchi. E queste loggie sboccano ne i viali di docento canne di longhezza, con bellissimo ordine. Al' incontro di questa fontana nella strada, vi e un comodo casamento, con un portone alto ben trenta palmi, e tutto di pietra molto riccho. Et vi e una pergola in volta, o vero archo, che v'ha insino al fiume, coperta di vcrdura, longa ottanta canne, nel fine vi e il porto fatto comodamente per smontar di barcha, quando papa Giulio veniva a spasso a cosi bella villa.
Partito da questi primi luoghi per andar al palazzo, al qual si puo pervenire e per la strada publica e per i viali ornati di vari frutti, si truova dinanzi al detto palazzo, fatta in semicircolo una piazza, in questa forma per accomodar le strade che arrivassero con bellezza in quel luogo; perche col palazzo si e voluto obedire ad una bella, et amena valle. La facciata dunque del palazzo e d’opera toschana sino al primo piano, et a bozze. Alla porta principale vi sono colonne rustiche con finestre di qua e di Ia di trevertini, di poi al secondo ordine, una Ringhiera, di sopra alla porta, di balaustri, con molte finestre et nicchie. Al fine del palazzo vi e un cornigione che lo ricinge intorno, e doi risalti dalle bande, dove vi sono aoccomodate doi belle scale lumache. Insomma il tutto benissimo aco'pagnato, con doi portoni da I lati che inboccano ne i viali, che son da I lati de I giardini. Nel’intrata del palazzo vi e un ornamento d’opera corinthia con molte nicchie tutte piene di statue antiche in habito di consoli. Da I lati poi vi sono doi cameroni con molto ornamento di stucchi et pittura, con partimenti bellissimi e bene intesi; e sopra le porte vi sono I ritratti degl’imperatori antichi, di marmo molto belli. Nel mezzo de detti cameroni vi son doi gran tavole di marmo longhe palmi diciassette, et larghe sei, con fregi intorno di vari misti, et I piedi di marmo accompagnati et ornati di misti come le tavole. Et vi sono tre piedi per tavola, per rispetto della longhezza, et sottigliezza loro. Cosa molto rara et bella. Dietro a queste vi sono molte camerette come ricerca la comodita. Al’incontrode l’intrata vi e un archo grande simile alla porta, per il qual s’entra in una loggia circolare, tutta dipinta, et recinta di stucchi, con pilastri et colonne, che corisponde l’una parte a l’altra, et fa facciata a un cortile con doi ordini di forma di semicircolo, bene e con diligenza compartito, che rende gran vahezza a chi lo vede, si per la varieta, come per la buona proportione.
Finito il mezzo tondo segue tanto di diritto che fa una crociera per inboccar doi grandissimi viali, et distendendosi poi due braccia come farebbe un huomo a far una croce da quindeci canne per ogni banda, trovano un bellissimo boscho che delli suoi luoghi ameni, et dillettevoli sarebbe troppo longo lo scriverne, e queste braccia son tutte piene di stantie sotto, et sopra, et al principio di queste, vi e una bellissima cappella, e sopra le porte, delle stantie di sopra, vi sono teste antiche di marmo, molto belle. E tutti li palchi intagliati con ricchi sfondati d’oro. Che in un solo vi e entrato dieci milia pezze d’oro, co’suoi fregi intorno; e dipinto in uno I sette colli, in un alro villa Giulia, ne gli altri diverse, et belle historie. Il fin poi del palazzo e terminato da un viale et seguita un altr’ opera non disegual da questa, per che il viale, per farne comparatione, fa il proscenio et il cortile orchestra, et il semicircolo del palazzo fa teatro, e quest’ altra ch’io Vi descrivero fa scena. E serve per cortile, il qual ha tre facciate ornate di colonne e pilastri, e cornigioni di marmo, come ricercha l’ordine jonicho. Essendo quest’ opera jonicha. Et fra I colonnati vi sono accommodate quatordeci nicchie, sette nella faccia a man destra, e sette alla sinistra; et in ciaschuna nicchia vi e una statua anticha. Nella faccia a man dritta nel mezzo vi son doi figure in un pezzo di marmo, Marte e Venere in atto di far carezze a Marte, che con estrema dolcezza et pieta cerchi ritenerlo seco mentro egli intento a terribile impresa, tutto soleccito cerca partirsi da lei. L’altra ignudo apoggiato su la clava qual tiene sotto il braccio sinistro; et ha nella destra mano tre pomi. Seguita l’altra nicchia, nella quale e dentro il dio pan con le sue zampogne et una pelle in mano; del resto e tutto ignudo. Nel altra nicchia vi e la statua di Lavinia figlia del Re Latino. L’altre re da sinistra, a quella del mezzo, in una Venera e Cupido che scherza con l’arme di Marte; nel altra un Deo Selvano; e nel altra una femina vestita d’habito longo.
Al’incontro vi sono l’altre sette statue della medesima grandezza delle dette. In quella di mezzo vi e un Bacco che s’apoggia ad un fauno, e nel’altre una sol figura per micchia; e son queste Vertunno, Pomona ed Hercole, Deianira, et un Comodo in habito d’ hercole, e un Deo Selvano. Nella faccia in fronte dove si puo dire che incominci la ricchezza, si vedano quatro colonne di misti, doi neree doi di virde mischiate d’altri colori, tanto belle quanto si possi vedere; et quatro colonne di marmi venati. Et fra le colonne e pilastri vi sono alcuni ornamenti di misti di varie sorti, e nel mezzo come camei, et vi sono scolpite le due imprese ch’erano di Papa Giulio, la Giustitia e la Pace, et la Fortuna presa dalla Virtu per I capelli; ne gl’altri doi la charita e la Religione; e nel vano di mezzo una bellissima porta di misti gialli tanto lucidi e belli, che parano di fino metallo. L’ordine di sopra per non haver pietre simili a quelle di sotto si longhe, e per la loro rarita e volendo far colonne ci siamo acomodati per sostegno al diritto d’ogni colonna di terminoni avvolti in panni, con le teste simili a I pregioni che gia scolpivano gli antichi. Quali sono d’un mistio verdone con alcune macchie simili a gl’habiti turcheschi. Et sono posti per reggere il cornigion di sopra; e ne I vani fra l’uno e l’altro vi sono cinque quadri con fregetti ed altri ornamenti di diverse inventioni. In quel di mezzo vi e un Hercole assiso in atto di fiume, et una feminina apresso in habito di vergine che fuggie.
Che dinota l’acqua della fontana secreta, de la quale anchora non jo scritto; et chiamasi quest’acqua vergine, perche correndo col fiume hercole, non si mescola con lei. Gli altri quatro sono I pwuatro elementi; per la terra e posto Eva et suoi fgliuoli; per l’acqua Venere et Dei merini; per il foco (sic!) Giunone et altri venti e cosed’aria per far riccha l’historia. Per il fuoco e post oil modo che dicano che fa trovato il primo fuoco; ed e questo: un boscho d’alberi sbattuto dal vento intorno al quale si vedano gente far sacrifici ed altre cose che vi s’opera il fuoco. In questa facciata ve si vedono anchora doi altri quadri. E cosi sequitano l’altre tutte d’un ordine medesimo, salvo che I termini quali so’ variati, per mostrar che col disegno si trovano varie inventioni. Et per ogni faccia vi son sette vani; quel di mezzo e un tondo ben ornato, e dentro vi e’l ritratto di Traiano imperatore, coronato di quercia; et in doi altri un ovato per ciaschuno, e in uno il ritratto di Vespasiano, e in l’altro di Tito imperatori. Teste antique e bellissime. Ne gli altri quatro quadri, in ciascuno I e una historia de mezzo rilievo; e’l medesimo esi vede nella facciata a questa rincontro; salvo che le teste quali so variate. E in quella di mezzo vi e’l ritratto di Ottaviano Augusto, e di Teberio, e di Claudio, con quattro altre historie, come le dette. Di sopra il cornigion ultimo, qual’ e di marmo, e che ricinge il detto cortile d’ogn’ intorno, vi sono l’Acrotterie ad ogni riscontro di colonna, e pilastro, e sono tranta. Et a ciaschuna vi e sopra una statua, quasi tutte feminette, belle, e moderne, et fanno fine e come ballo a detto cortile. Cosa tanto riccha quanto bella a vedere. Anchora nel mezzo di questo cortile vi e una pila di porfido che tiene un cignoin mano, il qual getta per la boccha acqua. Cosa bella e rarissima. Anchora vi sono doi vasi di mistio verde, che in molti luoghi parano di smeraldo finissimo.
Seguitato il darvi avviso della fontana secreta e della loggia tanto riccha quanto bella. Ch’entrando per la porta di misti gialli (qual di sopra ho scritto) si vede, ed ivi per la lucidezza de I misti ve si specchia chiunque v’harriva. Vi sono adunque quatordei colonne, quatro di mistio verde, l’altre di vari colori; ma sempre doi compagne. I loro capitelli sono tutti intagliati e d’ordine jonicho, per rispondere al cortile ch’e nel medesimo piano. Fra una colonna, et l’altra vi son quatro porte di marmo doppie, e per doi s’entra in doi camerette fatte per comodita di detta loggia; et hanno I loro palchi intagliati ed I pavimenti di mattoni intagliati che rispondeno a’ palchi. In chiascuna camera vi e una tavola di mistio verde, con un fregio di marmo biancho, piene di vari misti. L’altre doi porte conducano a doi scale che vanno da basso ad un altro piano verso la ontana Pur in detta loggia ve si vede un parapetto di balaustri di marmo mistio fatto per comodita di chi vuole veder da basso, si bene accomodato che non impedisce le bellissime colonne di misti verdi. La volta e di stucchi e di pittura con oro tanto ricca, e di figure e di rilegamento tanto bella, quanto si possi vedere; et e scompagnata la pianta, le colonne, et I vani delle porte insieme con ogn’ altra cosa.
E nelle lunette verso I muri vi son sette ritratti d’imperatori di bronzo, antichi et bellissimi. Il pavimento e di misti di tutte le sorti che e stato possibile trovare. E le sue rilegature o vero guide sono di marmi venati. Uscito della loggia e scendendo per le due scale dette di sopra s’harriva in un spatioso et comodo piano lastricato di travertini, nel quale vi sono quatro platani dalla banda circolare che fanno un bellisimo vedere, et molto rallegra la vista il verde fra quel biancho; et e utile per l’ombra al mezzogiorno. Su questo medesimo piano vi e un parapetto di pilastri, e cartelle, et balaustri rilegati, che fanno sponda ad un altro piano piu abasso, dove e un’acqua continua e bella. Al’incontro de detti pilastri del parapetto vi sono altri pilastri pieni d’intagli; in alchuni Trofei al modo antichi in altre ellere, in altri viti, e in altri foglie ‘oliva; ciaschuna al proposito della figura che e nel nicchio ivi a canto. E sostengano un Triglife; e son dieci nicchi ornati di stucci, e pieni di statue antiche, I nomi son questi, la Fede, Minerva, la Concordia, due Muse e doi fauni, et Bacco. Et in doi grandi, nel uno Arno, nel altro il Tevere. In questo medesimo piano vi son doi belle loggette, l’una al’incontrode l’altra, e ricchmente ornate di stucchi con figure et festoni a bellissima foggia, con cinque quadri, in quel di mezzo vi e l’historia de l’acqua vergine, in quel modo che la recita Frontio; ne gli altri le quatro stagioni dell’anno. Et in chiascuna facciata di detta loggia vi e un nicchio grande in mezzo a dui piccoli; nel grande Hercole, ne gli altri Mercurio e Perseo.
Vi sono al’incontro tre altre nicchi simili a questi; nel maggiore Cerere; ne gli altri Apollo e Giacinto. A l’incontro de l’entrata, nel grande vi e Venere, ne’ piccoli Adone e Cupido. I pavimenti di dette loggie sono d’invetriati di vari colori e con groppi rilegati; e per due scale, c’hanno principio di vari colori e con groppi rilegati; e per due scale, c’hanno principio sotto una di queste loggette si scende nel altro ultimo piano dal qual si vede l’estremo della bellezza di tutta questa fabbrica, si per la quantita di marmi e statue antiche e misti, si per la bellissima acqua Vergine. Questo piano se io non lo disegnasse in carta, con parole non lo potrei cosi bene esprimere, come si converrebbe alla sua bellezza; e tanto piu essenda pianta variata, et nuova inventione. Fra l’altre cose vi sono quatro putti di marmo, antichi, con urne in spalla, che versano acqua; cosa molto bella e rara. Ma il pavimento assai piu riccho de gli altri et I nicchi molto piu adorni, et le figure assai piu belle et in maggior copia, rendano maraviglia e vaghezza a chi le vede insieme con l’ornamento e risalti assai piu che in alcuna altra parte, per esser questo sia il punto della prospettiva. Nel uscire vi son due uccelliere le quali rispondeno nella fonte; e in un belissimo cortile del qual breveemente vi descrivero la forma. Questo dunque e lungo canne cinquanta, e largo quineci; e nelle teste vi son tre portoni di pietra rusticha, e d’opera rusticha, quali entrano in certe grotte sotto d’un monte, dove vi sono accomodati luoghi freschi e dilettevoli con fontane; che si son fatti acio vi sia d’ogni cosa variata. Nel mezzo di questo cortile vi e una gran pila di porfido antich, delle maravigliosecose che diano in Roma. L;ornamento non e finito perche andava con grandissima spesa, e tempo e morte ne ha interrotti questi, et altri disegni belli et honorevoli, de’ quali non scrivo per non haver havuto effetto.
Anchora vi sono dui bellissimi Giardini di Naranci che mettano in mezzo questo cortile e la fontana. In uno de detti giardini vi e un porcho cignale, tanto bello e ben fatto, che chiunche lo vede si maraviglia quanto bene con lo scharpello si puo imitar la natura, e dar vivacita a I marmi. E nel altro un leone che tiene sotto una fiera, cosa molto rara e bella. Della agricoltura non diro in lingo, piantandosi per tutto de gli alberi, e di tutte le sorti; ma diro che ve ne sono piantati trentasei milia, e di poi spaliere grandissime e di tutte le sorti. E per la villa ad ogni tanti passi vi son luoghi da riposare e far tavole a l’ombra, o loggie di verdure o di muro comodissime; et fra gli altri in cima d’um colletto molto ameno vi e una fabricha tanto bella e comoda, e con tanti ornamenti, che sarebbe questa sola bastante ad’ ogni gran prencipe, si per le statue, e molte pitture, come per I beli giardini ornati di spaliere e bellissimi viali, una casa per il castaldo, e comodo per tutte le sorti d’animali Vi e un dilettevole boschetto da ucellare a tordi, che per tutto si camina sotto la verdura; acio non impedischa l’ucellare il sole. La veduta di questo monticello e tanto bella, quanto si possi desiderare; per che vede tutta Roma, il Tevere e la bella strada Flaminia, con tutti I Sette Colli, e il Vaticano con la gran fabricha di S. Pietro, e’l Palazzo del papa; et e scoperto alle quatro regioni, e piu a quella di levante.
Tutto il sito di questa amena, et bella lla si puo dire che sia con tutte quelle qualita che si ricercano, perche vi sono monticelli, valette, piano, acqua ed aria bonissima; tal che ben si puo dire che la santissima memoria di Papa Giulio havesse perfetto giuditio a farci si degna ed honorevole opera; la quale ne porta tutte le principal parti della architettura, Region sana, comodita, bellezza e perpertuita. Veramente perpetua memoria e spasso a tutto il mondo si puo dire, si per ragionarlo, come anchora per goderla; perche la somma cortesia e bonta dell’ Ill.mo signo Baldovino fratello et erede di tanta memoria con tutte quelle cortesie che si possono desiderare, fa fare, e mostrare, da gli huomini, che per questo vi sono salariati, quanto di bello vi ho descritto. Si che V. E. venendo a Roma, si come ella mi scrive et io desidero, la potra veramente veder che di quanto vi ho scritto ho detto il vero.
Instanto mi tenga nella sua buona gratia; et io restando suo Amorevol servitore, di cuore me le racomando.
Di Roma alli Il maggio del LV.
Di V. E. Ser.re Bartolomeo Ammannati
Translated English text by author, reviewed by professor Jane Zaloga
Knowing your beautiful soul, most excellent Messer Marcho, and your delight to see and understand new and virtuous things, I would be indebted to you if I did not give you my notice, in that shortest way possible, of the beautiful, very rich construction made in the Villa Giulia by the Most Holy Memory of Julius the third pontiff Massimo. And because Your Excellency first glimpses it with the imaginative sense, I seek with my pen to write it truthfully and with such order as I would do with drawing. Although I hope in a few days to send you another with drawings, especially since I already have made the majority of the drawings. And first I start from the Church of Santo Andrea placed on the Strada Flaminia, made in Oval form following the Corinthian order; in the table of the art there is painted the Assumption of the Madonna and inside the niches are sculptures to San Piero and S.to Andrea, S. Paolo, and S. Giovanni, with many and various ornaments. Out of the church through a door that responds to a courtyard, adorned with loggias made of vegetables, you will find a grove of laurels very beautiful, and enjoyable.
Back to the Strada Flaminia. There is a well-mannered chimney, there is a street crossing, which leads to the main palace of Villa Giulia, which is completely new; the origin of that road makes two facades where there is a beautiful fountain which led to the water in the happy memory of Pope Julius. Without ever having had the water that in such place light could be found, and having experience in the ancient times had his villa made to extract deeply and with diligence, not forgiving to expense, to make this well public. Where his palazzo is today is now the origin of the street. And seeing that his desire was successful, with each study they decided to make them the ornament that now is made of Corinthian columns and pillars, and in the middle a large stone of twelve palms in each direction. With an inscription that says: JULlUS III PONT. MAX. PUBLICAE COMMODITATI ANNO Ill. With (two) niches per band, of which there are statues inside, the Felicity and the Abbondantia. Under the epitaph there is a great antique head, most beautiful of an Apollo, who throws this water into a large, beautiful vase of granite; on the end there are four acroteria; in one of the sides there is the statue of Rome and in the other one of Minerva; and in the other walls of the granite pyramid, and in the middle a Neptune, all ancient and very beautiful. From the inside part of the façade, he turned to sit downstairs without disturbing the public, of fountains, and of fishponds, with many plays of water, where there are three loggias of marble columns. And many other ornaments of paintings, and stuccos. And these lofts emerge in the avenues of seemly long-length reeds, with beautiful order. At the meeting of this fountain in the street, there is a comfortable tenement, with a door thirty or so palms high, and all of very rich stone. And there is a pergola in vault, or real arch, which has the river, covered with vegetables, eighty long reeds, and finally there is the port made comfortably for dismounting a boat, when Pope Julius came to walk at such a beautiful villa.
Starting from these first places to go to the palace, and for the public road and the avenues decorated with various fruits, it is seen in front of the said palace, made in semicircular, a piazza, in this form to accommodate the streets such that they arrived with beauty in that place to obey a beautiful, and pleasant valley. The façade of the Palazzo is therefore of Tuscan work up to the first floor, and then of ashlar masonry. At the main door there are rusticated columns with local windows all made of travertine, the second order has a railing of banisters above the door along with many windows and niches. Surrounding the top of the building there is a cornice which stands out from the bands, where there it accommodates the beautiful stairs. In short, everything is very well accompanied, with the gates from the sides that begin in the avenues, that are from the sides of the gardens. In the entrance of the palace there is a Corinthian opera ornament with many niches full of ancient statues in the habit of consuls. From the side entrances, there are chambers with a lot of stucco and painting ornamentation, with beautiful and well-designed partitions; and above their doors are portraits of the ancient emperors made of very beautiful marble. In the middle of these rooms there are large tables of marble (seventeen palms and six broad), with various friezes, and legs of marble accompanied and ornamented with blends like the tables. And there are three legs per table, out of respect for the length, and subtlety of them. These are very rare and beautiful. Behind these rooms there are many bedrooms for the search of comfort. Back at the intersection of these two wings there is a large arch similar to the door, through which one enters a circular loggia, all painted, and fenced with stuccoes, with pillars and columns, which correspond to one another, and it makes a façade to a courtyard with orders of semicircular form, well and with shared diligence, which is very satisfying to whoever sees it, both for the variety and for the good proportion.
After the half-rotunda follows so the order that makes a straight path to connect the great avenues, and then spreading out two arms like a man would make a cross (from fifteen cannes for each band), then find a beautiful wood of pleasant places, and delightfulness. It would be too long to write of it, and these arms are all full of ancient works (stale), and at the beginning of these there is a beautiful chapel, and above the doors of the stale there are very beautiful ancient marble heads. All the platforms are carved with rich golden breakers with at least ten thousand pieces of gold place in each, and all surrounded by friezes. Painted in one is the seven hills, in another Villa Giulia, and in the others are varied and beautiful histories. The end of the building is completed by an avenue and followed by another work not unequal from this, so that the avenue, to make comparisons, makes the proscenium and the courtyard makes the orchestra, and the semicircle of the palace makes the theater, and what I describe to you now is a scene. The scene serves as the courtyard, which has three facades adorned with columns and pillars, and marble cornices, as the ionic order requires. Being this ionic opera, between the colonnades there are enclosed fourteen niches, seven in the right-hand side, and seven in the left; and in each niche there is an antique statue. In the face straight in the middle there are figures in a piece of marble, Mars and Venus in the act of caressing. Venus, with extreme sweetness and piety seeks to consider him, although he has intent to terrible enterprise, and by all request tries to leave her. The other naked on the club that he holds under his left arm; and he has three apples in his right hand. In the following niche, the god pan with his bagpipes and a skin in his hand; after all, everything is naked. In the next niche there is the statue of Lavinia, daughter of the Latin King. The other kings from the left, to that of the vehicle, in a Venera and Cupido joking with the arms of Mars; in the other a Deo Selvano; and in the other a woman dressed in long-legged hairless. At the meeting there are the other seven statues of the same size of the others. In the middle of it there is a Bacchus who leans on a faun, and in the other a solitary figure by fist; and these are Vertunno, Pomona and Hercole, Deianira, and a Comodo in habito d 'hercole, and a Deo Selvano. In the front face where one can say that wealth becomes apparent, there are four columns of mixed colors, with blacks and greens mixed with other colors, as beautiful as one can see; and four columns of veined marbles. And among the columns and pillars there are some ornaments of various kinds of mixed marbles, and in the middle as cameos, and there are carved the two enterprises that belonged to Pope Julius, Giustitia and Peace, and Fortuna taken by Virtu; in the next there is charity and religion; and in the middle compartment a beautiful door of yellow blends so shiny and beautiful, adorned with metal above. The order above does not have stones similar to those below, and because of their rarity and our intent to make columns we have chosen to support the right of each column of terminations wrapped in cloths, with the heads similar to the prayers that already carved the ancients. These marbles are of a mixed green with some spots similar to the Turkish tradition. And they are placed to support the cornigion above; and in the rooms between one and the other there are five paintings with friezes and other ornaments of different inventions. In the middle there is Hercules seated in the act of a river (seated like a river?), and a female opened in the habit of a virgin fleeing. This marks the water of the secret fountain, of which is also not written; and we called this virgin water, because while running with the river Hercules, it does not mix with her. The others are the four elements; for the earth are placed Eve and her sons; for the water Venus at the sea; for the fire (sic!) Juno and also winds and air to make the history rich. Juno stands for the fire and oil since it is said that he found the first fire. Also there is a forest of trees beaten by the wind around which people can see themselves making sacrifices and other things that fire works on them. In this façade you can also see other paintings. And so the others follow each other in such an order, except that the terms such as 'varied', to show that the design contains various inventions. And for every face there are seven rooms; the middle one and a well decorated round, and inside there is a portrait of a Trajan emperor, crowned with oak; and in others one ovate for each, and in one the portrait of Vespasiano, and in the other beautiful antique busts of Tito emperors. In each of the other four pictures, and an ancient low relief sculpture; it is the same as one sees in the facade at this meeting; unless the heads such as changed. And in the middle one there is a portrait of Ottaviano Augusto, and of Teberio, and of Claudio, with four other histories, as he said them. Above the last cornigion, which is of marble and recreates the said courtyard of all around, there are the Acrotteries at each column of which there are thirty. And there is a statue on each, almost all of them feminine, beautiful, and modern, and they end and dance to the courtyard which is so beautiful to see. In the middle of this court there is a porphyry pillar holding a swan in its hand, which throws water from its mouth. It is beautiful and very rare. There are also vases of mixed green marbles, which in many places are adorned with very fine emerald.
Following the rich and beautiful loggia which gives you notice of the hidden fountain, and by entering through the door of mixed yellow marble (as I have written above), one sees therein the mirror of the mixed columns before. There are therefore four columns, four of green mixed marble, and the others of various colors; but always with companions. Their capitals are all carved and ionic, to respond to the courtyard on the same floor. Between one column and the next, there are four double marble doors, and through one enters into the rooms made for the comfort of this loggia; and they have carved platforms and the carved brick floors which respond to the platforms. In each room there is a table of green mixed marbles, with a frieze of white marble, full of various mixtures. The other doors lead to stairs that go from low to another level towards the alder tree. In this loggia you can see a parapet of mixed marble balustrades made for the convenience of those who want to see from below, well arranged such that it does not impede the beauty of the mixed green columns. The vault is of stuccowork and painting with rich gold, and of figures and binding as beautiful as can be seen; and the plant, the columns, and the doorways are together (in harmony) with each other. And in the lunettes towards the walls there are seven portraits of bronze emperors, ancient and beautiful. The floor is mixed with all sorts of marbles that could be found. And its bindings or true guides are of veined marbles. Leaving the loggia and going down the two stairs described above you arrive in a comfortable space paved with slabs of travertine, in which there are four plane trees from the circular band that make a beautiful sight of the green between the white. It is useful for the shadow at midday. On this same floor there is a parapet of pillars, and scrolls, and bound balusters, which make an edge to another further abyss, where lies a continuous and beautiful water. At the meeting of said pillars of the parapet there are other pillars full of carvings; in some are trophies in ancient fashion in other Hellenistic fashion, in others are vines, and in others olive leaves; each pillar is in relation to the figure that is in the niche there. These all support a triglyph and there are ten niches decorated with stuccos, and full of ancient statues, [The names are these, the Faith, Minerva, the Concordia, two Muses and the fauns, and Bacchus. And in large gods, in one Arno, in the other the Tiber.] On this same floor there are beautiful loggias, one opposite the other, and richly decorated with stuccos with figures and festoons in beautiful shape, with five paintings, in the middle there is the history of water virgin, in that way that Frontio recites it; in the others the four seasons of the year. And in each of the façades of the loggia there is a large niche in the middle of two small ones; in the large one is Hercules, in the others Mercury and Perseus.
There are three other niches similar to these in the meeting; [in the greater Ceres; nor the other Apollo and Hyacinth. At the meeting of the entrance, in the great vi and Venus, in the little Adonis and Cupid.] The floors of these lofts are glazed in various colors and with bound edges. The two staircases have a principle of various colors also with bound rungs, and originate under one of these small loggias. Through these two staircases we go to the highest floor, from which we can see the extreme of the beauty of this whole villa, the quantity of ancient and mixed marble and statues and the beautiful Virgin water. This plan, if I did not draw it in paper, I could not so well express it with words as would describe its beauty, because it is a varied work, and a new invention. Among other things there are four ancient marble puttos (cherubs) with very beautiful and rare urns on their shoulders, pouring water. But the floor is much richer than the others and with much nicer adornments, and the figures much more beautiful and in greater rarity, making those who see them marvel and wonder. Together with the ornament they stand out much more than in any other part, this is the point of perspective. On leaving, there are two aviaries which respond to the fountain; and in a very beautiful courtyard, the form of which I will briefly describe to you. This courtyard is fifty canne long, and fifteen canne wide; and upon witnessing, there are three gates of rustic stone, and of rusticated work, which lead into certain caves beneath a mountain, where there are accommodated fresh and delightful places with fountains; in every one there is all variety of things. In the middle of this courtyard there is a large pillar of ancient porphyry, of the marvelous colors that they give in Rome. The ornament is not finished because it went with great expense, and time and death has interrupted these, and other beautiful and honorable drawings, of which I do not write because it has no effect.
Also there are beautiful Gardens of Oranges which place this courtyard and the fountain in the middle. In one of these gardens there is a swan, so beautiful and well done, that anyone who sees it marvels how well you can imitate nature with the chisel and give life to the marbles. In the other garden is a rare and beautiful lion that exhibits pride. Of agriculture I will not speak long, with plantings all of trees, and of all the fates; but I will say that thirty-six thousand are planted there and they are very great impetus to all destinies. For the villa, every so many steps there are places to rest and make tables in the shade, or loggias of vegetables, or very comfortable walls; and among the others on top of a very pleasant collar there is a work so beautiful and comfortable, and with so many ornaments, that it would be the only one sufficient for every great prince, with statues, and many paintings, like the beautiful gardens decorated with knights and beautiful avenues, a house for the castaldo, and convenient for all the fates of animals. There is a delightful little bird to thrive with thrushes, that for all it goes under the vegetables; but does not prevent the bird from sunning. The view of this mound is as beautiful as you can wish for; for that it sees all Rome, the Tiber and the beautiful Strada Flaminia, with all the Seven Hills, and the Vatican with the great work of St. Peter, and 'the Pope's Palace; and discovered in the four regions, and more in that of the east.
All of this pleasant and beautiful site has all those qualities that are sought, because there are mounds, valleys, ground, water and very good air. This site is so beautiful that we can say that the holy memory of Pope Julius had perfect judgment to give us worthy and honorable work which carries all the principal parts of the architecture: (region) safety, comfort, beauty and perpetuity. Truly perpetual memory and fun for the whole world can be said, with reason, as well as to enjoy it; because the sum courtesy and goodness of the Ill.mo signor Baldovino, brother and heir of so much memory with all those courtesies that can be desired, do, and show, by the men, that for this there are salaried, how much of beauty I have described to you. Yes, V. E. Coming to Rome, as she writes to me and I desire, I can truly see that I have told the truth about what I have written to you.