| Abstrakt: |
The article reconstructs the history of the casino Manfroni Bernini, better known in Rome as the Casina delle Rose, now the home of the Casa del Cinema in the Villa Borghese. In the early 17th century the vineyard situated just outside the Porta Pinciana belonged to the heirs of Cardinal Ferratini; it was purchased by the powerful Cardinal Antonio Maria Sauli for himself and for his confidant (almost a family member) Antonio Manfroni. A casino — a small, rustic house intended as a place of resort or casa di delizie — was then erected on the new property. Thanks to the finding of unpublished documents, it is now possible to discover the names of the artists/craftsmen employed in its construction and decoration and the various phases of the work. The building, once completed, was decorated by the painter Tarquinio Ligustri, as demonstrated by documentary references and stylistic comparisons, in particular between a scene still preserved in the original part of the building and a fresco, of similar subject, painted by the artist some years earlier in the Roman church of San Vitale. On the death, of the cardinal, the house passed, according to his testamentary provisions, to Antonio Manfroni and his descendants until the extinction of the family towards the end of the 18th century. It was then transferred to the Bernini family; the conveyance of the property is here explained for the first time on the basis of documentary evidence. It was then Mariano Bernini, descendant of the famous sculptor, who restored the building and remodelled its garden and vineyard according to modern (Enlightenment) criteria. The Casina delle Rose remained in the hands of his children and grandchildren until it was sold in 1833 to Prince Francesco Borghese, who was then enlarging the grounds of the neighbouring Villa Borghese. The study describes the layout of the gardens and of the rooms inside the house under its various owners, thanks to the rediscovery of unpublished plans and drawings dating from the 17th to the 19th century, which effectively complement the descriptions in the inventories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
