HEMICYCLE

Villa Giulia, Room of the Seven Hills

Villa Giulia was commissioned by Pope Julius III, Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, between 1550 and 1555, and is a splendid example of a Renaissance villa. The greatest artists of the era took part in its design: Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammannati, perhaps with the contribution of Michelangelo Buonarroti and Giorgio Vasari as well. The decorative apparatus was entrusted to the Bolognese painter Prospero Fontana, who made use of a large group of collaborators. 

Villa Giulia, hemicycle

The long porticoed exedra follows the characteristic semicircular layout of the Villa and is a transitional space between the indoor rooms and the outdoor gardens. The walls and vault were frescoed by a team of painters led by Prospero Fontana: starting from the walls, within aedicules and amid grotesque decorations, a series of deities from classical mythology are depicted. On the vault, the decoration is divided by arches into many sections. Each portion is characterised by a plant: jasmine, roses and vines follow one after another. Among the trellises and branches of the plants, amorini and satyrs (mythological inhabitants of nature) appear, as well as many birds, such as the peacock, the parrot, the owl, the seagull busy eating a fish, the stork and mallard ducks. These animals, together with the flowering plants and clusters of grapes, represent lush and fertile nature, like the kind that must once have surrounded the Villa.

Let us walk through the exedra together and touch the plant and animal elements that surround us.

Frescoes featuring amorini among the roses

The jasmine plants, the roses and the vine that dominate the vault of the exedra evoke a paradisiacal place, and at the same time carry precise meanings: the jasmine, which we find at the centre and at the ends of the exedra, was very widespread in Tuscany, the land of origin of the family of Julius III. Its flowers are white and pure, and for this reason it is a  symbol of purity.
The second plant is the rose. There are both white and red ones. This choice is not coincidental, but evokes a very well-known ancient myth: that of the goddess Venus and her beloved Adonis.

A parrot among bunches of grapes

The third plant is the vine. We find it at the centre of each arm of the exedra. Among its branches, rich with clusters of grapes, satyrs — mythological companions of Dionysus — climb. Grapes and wine are among the most ancient symbols of prosperity and fertility. Three vineyards were also present on the extensive grounds of Villa Giulia. These three allegorical plants take on greater significance if considered not only individually but as a whole, as parts of an ideal regenerative place.

The vault is also enriched by a large number of birds that populate the pergola: in addition to those already mentioned, one can also recognise the dove, the swallow, the eagle, the pheasant, the hoopoe, the owl, the heron, the rooster and many more. It is likely that some of these birds could once be admired in the flesh, as two aviaries were located in the villa's gardens. All these birds, together with the flowering plants laden with fruit, restore to us a precise image: that of a living, abundant and lush nature, the very same that could be admired in the splendid villa destined for the rest and regeneration of Julius III and his guests.

Beyond the vault, the walls of the exedra are also fully decorated, in a particular style that was very fashionable at the time: it is called grotesque and features an interweaving of fantastical plants, fantastic human figures and bizarre animals.

Diana among grotesques

Grotesque painting was born in the Renaissance and was inspired by the decorations of the ancient palace of Emperor Nero, the Domus Aurea: when it was rediscovered, one could only enter it from above, as if into an underground cave. Artists were so fascinated by its paintings, called grotesques for this very reason, that they began to imitate them and use them to decorate noble villas and palaces.

Here at Villa Giulia the grotesques have red and yellow backgrounds, vivid and luminous. Among its fantastical motifs, many deities from classical mythology appear, but not only. Within aedicules, entering the exedra on the right side, the following are depicted: Mars, Mercury, Fortune, Prudence, Apollo and Dionysus. On the opposite side: Neptune, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn with the infant Jupiter in his arms, Diana and finally Bacchus. Each figure carries a precise meaning in relation to the pope and his Villa. In particular, Prudence — Julius III's preferred virtue — and Fortune allude to the pope's emblem, in which virtue is depicted seizing Fortune: it indicates how prudent action favours fortunate opportunities.