Palazzo Farnese (Caprarola)

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The entrance facade of the Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola
Aerial view of the Palazzo Farnese, on the left the town of Caprarola, on the right the gardens

The Palazzo Farnese , also Villa Farnese or Villa Caprarola in Caprarola is one of the most important palaces of the Renaissance and Mannerism in Italy. It is famous for the numerous mannerist frescoes that decorate the walls and ceilings inside.

The building should not be confused with the Palazzo Farnese in Rome or the Villa Farnesina , also in Rome .

origin

Gaspar van Wittel : View from Palazzo Farnese towards Caprarola , 1720–1725

The Palazzo Farnese is located on the southeast slope of the Monti Cimini , a densely forested volcanic hill about 60 kilometers northwest of Rome. Originally, the powerful Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III. , from 1520 by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger erect a fortress here over a five-sided foundation. The place was also suitable to serve as a summer retreat. Construction stopped when Alessandro was elected Pope in 1534.

Only ten years after the death of Paul III. construction work was resumed in 1559. The client and builder was now a grandson of the former Pope, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese of the same name , known as " il Gran Cardinale " (the Great Cardinal). He decided to convert the fortress of Caprarola into a residential palace and chose this place because his doctors advised him to relax in healthy air and because of the favorable location during his frequent trips north from Rome.

architecture

Layout

The architect that Alessandro chose for this difficult and inhospitable site was the Bolognese Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola , who had been strongly influenced by Michelangelo in his youth . The first plans date back to 1555, construction actually began in 1559. The palace is an important and exceptional example of Mannerist architecture in the style of a palazzo in fortezza . Ornaments used sparingly support the proportions and harmony of the facades.

Vignola's plans called for a pentagon built around a circular colonnaded courtyard - a unique plan. In the courtyard, pairs of Ionic columns flank niches with busts of Roman emperors . The gallery and upper floors are reached by five spiral staircases, including the most important one, the Scala Regia , which leads to the main rooms.

From the outside, one approaches the Palazzo Farnese through steps that start in the town's piazza. The series of terraces begins with the basement ( sotteranei ) dug into the tuff , surrounded by steep winding stairs that lead to the next higher terrace. This basement appears as a series of supporting pillars and walls, large, heavy and barred doors in the walls seem to lead into the interior of the house, while above them a curved, double external staircase with parapets leads to the terrace above, which in turn is the double staircase to the main entrance on the Piano dei Prelati floor. This bastion- like floor (which looks like a second ground floor) is set back, the main entrance a strict arch, flanked by three windows on each side.

The two-storey piano nobile above is dominated on the entrance facade by a central loggia with five enormous arched windows, and above it another two floors, the numerous windows are divided by recessed pillars.

inside rooms

View from below into the dome of the Scala Regia
Europe and North Africa as a fresco in the "Map Room" ( Sala del Mappamondo )
The Gran Cardinale as a peace broker between Francis I of France and Charles V , detail of a fresco by Taddeo Zuccari in the Sala dei Fasti farnesiani

The entire palace is painted over and over with frescoes, and represents a unique testimony to Mannerist art. Under the direction of the brothers Taddeo and Federico Zuccari worked a whole host of artists, including Jacopo Bertoja , Antonio Tempesta , Giovanni de 'Vecchi , Raffaellino da Reggio , also Bartholomäus Spranger and the young El Greco in their Italian apprenticeship. The basis of the decoration consists of grotesque painting , as it was reinvented at the beginning of the 16th century by Raphael based on ancient models. Mythological , allegorical , biblical and historical scenes are worked into the grotesques .

The most important room is the Scala Regia (Royal Staircase), an elegant spiral staircase that leads through three floors and is supported by pairs of columns in the Doric style . She was u. a. by Antonio Tempesta with frescoes provided and is of a dome crowned.

There are apartments with numerous representative rooms both on the ground floor and in the piano nobile . The famous frescoes by the brothers Taddeo and Federico Zuccari portray people such as Alexander the Great , Hercules and of course the Farnese family themselves: in the Hall of the Farnese Annals ( Sala dei Fasti Farnesiani ) are the most significant moments in the family history of the Farnese and the 'Gran Cardinale 'Alessandro Farnese depicted. In addition to the frescoes, the summer dining room also contains a grotto-like decoration. The Sala del Mappamondo is also important, with large maps of the known world on the walls and a sky map with zodiac signs as a ceiling painting. This room was painted in 1573/74 by the specialist Giovanni Antonio Varese , who also worked in the Vatican. In the round chapel Zuccari painted himself and the architect Vignola in the form of their patrons (San Taddeo, San Giacomo, etc.).

Gardens and Casino

The gardens are as impressive as the palazzo. This is surrounded by a moat, the gardens are reached via three drawbridges from the piano nobile . In the lower garden there was once a grotto-like theater. A walk and ascent through a forest ( bosket ) leads to a catena d'acqua (a trickle-like cascade ), at the end of which there is a casino , an elegant little summer house with a loggia . This is also decorated inside with frescoes and surrounded by other garden parterres .

history

Alessandro Farnese died in 1589 and left the property to his relatives, the Dukes of Parma . It was quiet around the palace, the famous collection of the cardinal was brought to Naples by the heirs after the family died out (1731) (see: Farnese collections ). In the second half of the 19th century the palazzo became the residence of the heir to the throne of the young Italian kingdom for a time .

Today the casino and gardens are one of the residences of the Italian President. The palace with its numerous rooms and all its frescoes is owned by the Italian state and open to the public.

The Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola has often served as a film set because of its impressive decorations and as a replacement for the interior of the Vatican, for which no filming permit can be obtained. He is z. B. seen in the films Luther and The Godfather III .

  • The top landing of the Scala regia

  • Scala Regia dome

  • Sala dei Fasti Farnesiani

  • Sky constellations on the ceiling of the Sala del Mappamondo

  • Cover with the Judgment of Solomon and grotesque decoration

literature

  • Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, ISBN 88-8016-280-2
  • Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003.
  • Eckhard Leuschner : Otium and Virtus. Contemplation as an exercise of virtue in the Stanza della Solitudine of Caprarola. In: Thomas Weigel, Joachim Poeschke (Hrsg.): Leitbild Virtue. The Virtus representations in Italian municipal palaces and princely residences from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-86887-005-3 , pp. 229-253.
  • Daniel Arasse & Andreas Tönnesmann: Der Europäische Mannerismus 1520–1610 , Munich: CH Beck, 1997, pp. 144–148, p. 173.

Web links

Commons : Palazzo Farnese  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, ISBN 88-8016-280-2 .
  2. ^ Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003.
  3. ^ Daniel Arasse & Andreas Tönnesmann: Der Europäische Mannerismus 1520–1610 , Munich: CH Beck, 1997, p. 148 and p. 173.
  4. ↑ See the website for the town of Caprarola , accessed on July 26, 2018.
  5. ^ Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003, p. 8.
  6. ^ Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, p. 11.
  7. ^ Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, p. 15.
  8. ^ Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003, p. 8.
  9. ^ Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, pp. 15-17.
  10. ^ Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003, p. 8.
  11. ^ Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, pp. 15-17.
  12. ^ Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, p. 17.
  13. ↑ Graziella Frezza & Fausto Benedetti: Il palazzo Farnese a Caprarola, Rome: Edizioni de Luca, 2001, pp. 21 & 37.
  14. ^ Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003, p. 43.
  15. ^ Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003, p. 43.
  16. ^ Arcangelo Gentilucci: Il Gran Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola , Ronciglione 2003, p. 53.

Coordinates: 42 ° 19 ′ 44 ″  N , 12 ° 14 ′ 12 ″  E