Casino di Pio IV
The Casino di Pio IV , also known as Casina or Villa Pia known is a building in the Vatican City , located on the grounds of the Vatican Gardens is located. Today it is the seat of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences , the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas . Pope Pius XI , the founder of the current Pontifical Academy of Sciences, made the Casina the seat of the academy in 1936.
history
The casino was originally commissioned by Pope Paul IV as Casina del Boschetto in 1558 . After the death of Pope Paul IV on August 18, 1559, Pope Pius IV took over the unfinished building project and commissioned the Mannerist architect Pirro Ligorio with a modified extension, which was now intended for relaxation and as a representative environment. The building was completed in 1561.
description
The building consists of a large main part of the building with an elliptical inner courtyard with a low wall in front of it. The inner courtyard has a small fountain in the middle , two opposite, free-standing pavilions on the sides with entrance portals to the inner courtyard and a loggia facing the Vatican museums , which is outwardly equipped with a magnificent fountain in the style of a nymphaeum .
The exterior of the building is decorated with rich sculptural stucco , which was once complemented by around fifty ancient Roman sculptures. A group of at least six well-known painters, including Federico Barocci , Federico Zuccari and Santi di Tito , designed the interior with frescoes .
literature
- Walter Friedländer : The Casino Pius the Fourth . Verlag KW Hiersmann, 1912.
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 15.5 ″ N , 12 ° 27 ′ 10.7 ″ E