View source for Villa Giulia

{{Short description|Villa in Rome, Italy}}
{{About|the building in Rome|the museum itself|National Etruscan Museum|the Villa Giulia in Naples|Villa Giulia (Naples)|the Villa Giulia in Palermo|Villa Giulia (Palermo)}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2007}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Villa Giulia
| image               = Villa Giulia (Roma) 2.jpg
| image_caption       = Renaissance façade by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola
|image_size=270
|mapframe-frame-width=270
|mapframe=yes
|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view
|mapframe-zoom=12
|mapframe-marker=building
|mapframe-wikidata=yes
| building_type       = [[villa]]
| architectural_style = [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]]/[[Mannerism|Mannerist]]
| address             = piazzale di Villa Giulia 9
| location_city       = Rome
| location_country    = Italy
| coordinates         = {{Coord|41|55|06|N|12|28|40|E|region:IT-RM_type:landmark|display=it}}
| start_date          = 1551
| est_completion      = 1553
| client              = [[Pope Julius III]]
| architect           = [[Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola]], [[Bartolomeo Ammanati]], [[Giorgio Vasari]]
}}
The '''Villa Giulia''' is a villa in [[Rome]], Italy. It is named after [[Pope Julius III]], who had it built in 1551–1553 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the [[National Etruscan Museum|Museo Nazionale Etrusco]], a collection of [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] art and artifacts.

==History==
===Location===
The villa was built in an area of Rome known as the 'Vigna Vecchia' (which was once against the [[Aurelian Walls|city walls]]), lying on the slopes of ''Monte Parioli'', as a 'Villa Suburbana' and a place of repose.

===Design===
The pope, a highly literate connoisseur of the arts, assigned the initial design of the building to [[Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola]] in 1551–1553. The [[nymphaeum]] and other garden structures, however, were designed by [[Bartolomeo Ammanati]], all under the supervision of [[Giorgio Vasari]]. [[Michelangelo]] also worked there. Pope Julius took a direct interest in the villa's design and decor and spent vast amounts of money on enhancing its beauties. Villa Giulia became one of the most delicate examples of [[Mannerist architecture]].

Only a small part of the original property has survived intact, comprising three vineyards which extended down to the Tiber, and to which the pope traveled often by boat. The villa, as was customary, had an urban entrance (on the Roman [[Via Flaminia]]) and a formal but rural garden entrance. The villa itself was on the threshold between two worlds, that of the city and that of the country, an essentially Roman concept. A medal struck in 1935 shows the villa as substantially complete, but with a pair of cupolas which were never executed.

Vignola's urban front of the building is a somber two-story facade with each story being given equal value. It has at its centre the triple rhythm of a richly detailed [[Rustication (architecture)|rusticated]] [[triumphal arch]] flanked by symmetrical wings of two bays only. The facade is terminated at each end by [[Doric order|Doric]] [[pilaster]]s. In this facade of the Villa Giulia is the genesis of the seven-bay 18th century [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] villa, which was reproduced as far away as the [[Tidewater region of Virginia]].

[[Image:Villa giulia, terzo cortile 05.jpg|thumb|upright|left|View of the nimphaeum loggias]]
The rear of the building has Vignola's large hemispherical [[loggia]] overlooking the first of three courtyards, laid out as a simple [[parterre]].

At its rear the visitor passes through the ''[[Casina (architecture)|casina]]'', which again has a hemispherical rear facade, enclosing paired flights of re-entrant marble steps that give access to the heart of the villa complex: a two-story [[Nympheum]] for alfresco dining during the heat of the summer. This three-levelled structure of covered loggias, decorated with marble statuary, reclining river gods in niches, and balustrading, is constructed around a central fountain. Here in this cool environment, sheltered from the blazing sun, day-long picnics would be held. The central fountain, ''Fontana dell'Acqua Vergine'', was designed and sculpted by Vasari and Ammannati: it depicts river gods and [[caryatid]]s. The fountain's source, the [[Acqua Vergine]], also supplies the [[Trevi Fountain]] in Rome.

The ''Casino della Vigna'' ("little house in the [[vineyard]]"), as it was sometimes known, and its gardens were set in the midst of vineyards, which could be viewed from shaded arcades on the outsides of the garden walls. Papal parties embarked on boats at the gates of [[Apostolic Palace|the Vatican]] and were transported up the [[Tiber]] to the villa's long-gone private landing stage.

===Later history===
Following Pope Julius' death, his successor [[Pope Paul IV]] confiscated all the properties he had assembled; the villa was divided, and the main building and part of the gardens became the property of the [[Camera apostolica]]. The Villa was reserved for the use of the new pope's [[House of Borromeo|Borromeo]] nephews.  It was restored in 1769 on the initiative of [[Pope Clement XIV]], confiscated by the new state of [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] in 1870, and given over to the National Etruscan Museum in the early 20th century.

==In popular culture==

In the third season of ''[[Medici (TV Series)|Medici]]'', it is the site of the first meeting between [[Clarice Orsini]], wife of [[Lorenzo Medici]], and [[Caterina Sforza]]'s wife of [[Girolamo Riario]], that takes place in what would appear to be the palace of a fictitious “Cardinal Bianco.” The meeting scene is filmed in the courtyard of the hemicycle of Villa Giulia in Rome (now home to the [[National Etruscan Museum]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/works-and-artists/i-medici-3-ten-locations-where-the-series-about-lorenzo-the-magnificent-was-filmed|title=Medici 3: ten locations where the series about Lorenzo the Magnificent was filmed|work=Finestre sull Arte|date=November 23, 2019|author=Redazione|access-date=2023-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Medici_episodes |title=List of Medici Episodes Season 3 (2019)|work=Wikipedia|date=December 3, 2019|access-date=2023-03-18}}</ref>{{Circular reference|date=April 2023}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Villa Giulia modified.jpg|Villa Giulia façade, [[Giorgio Vasari]]
Villa giulia, primo cortile, 01.jpg|Villa Giulia court, [[Giorgio Vasari]]
Villa giulia, primo cortile, emiciclo 03.jpg|Semicircular portico at the rear of the Casino, [[Vignola]]
Villa giulia, portici con affreschi di pietro venale e altri, 01.jpg|Semicircular portico at the rear of the Casino, [[Vignola]]
File:Villa giulia, secondo cortile, ninfeo 17.jpg|Nymphaeum loggia, detail, [[Bartolomeo Ammanati]]
Villa giulia, secondo cortile, ninfeo 01.jpg |Nymphaeum loggia, [[Bartolomeo Ammanati]]
File:Michelangelo medals 010.jpg|A 1935 medal at the [[British Museum]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Valle Giulia]]
*The [[Sol Wurtzel House]] in [[Bel Air, Los Angeles]], designed by [[Wallace Neff]] and modelled on the Villa Giulia

==Further reading==
* Coolidge, John. (1943) ''Art Bulletin'' '''25'''.
* David R. Coffin. (1979) ''The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome''

==References==
{{Reflist}} 

==External links==
{{commons-inline}}
* [http://www.villagiulia.beniculturali.it/ Official website]
* [http://www.italycyberguide.com/Geography/cities/rome2000/B1.htm Villa Giulia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030908012720/http://online.caup.washington.edu/courses/Arch351/Assets/Slides/Lecture17.gallery/source/villa_giulia__plan.html Villa Giulia plan]

{{Sequence
| prev = [[Villa Farnesina]]
| list = Landmarks of Rome
| curr = Villa Giulia
| next = [[Villa Madama]]
}}
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{{Monuments of Rome}}
{{Giorgio Vasari}}
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[[Category:Mannerist architecture in Italy]]
[[Category:Villas in Rome|Giulia]]
[[Category:National Etruscan Museum]]
[[Category:Rome Q. III Pinciano]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1553]]
[[Category:Giorgio Vasari buildings]]
[[Category:Renaissance villas in Italy]]