Thursday, March 31, 2022

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana - Villa Giulia

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Classical Scenes
ca. 1552-53
ceiling frescoes
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Diana and her Nymphs
ca. 1552-53
ceiling fresco
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Pastoral Scene with Women
ca. 1552-53
ceiling fresco
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Dance of Diana and Nymphs
ca. 1552-53
ceiling fresco
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Classical Scenes
ca. 1552-53
ceiling frescoes
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Banqueting Gods
ca. 1552-53
ceiling fresco
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Diana Bathing with Nymphs
ca. 1552-53
ceiling fresco
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Bacchanal
ca. 1552-53
ceiling fresco
with stucco work by Federico Brandini
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
The Seven Hills of Rome - Caelian Hill with the Colosseum
ca. 1552-53
fresco
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
The Seven Hills of Rome - Capitoline Hill
ca. 1552-53
fresco
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
The Four Seasons - Spring
ca. 1552-53
fresco
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
The Four Seasons - Autumn
ca. 1552-53
fresco
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Triumph of Galatea
ca. 1552-53
fresco
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Personification of Music
ca. 1552-53
oil on plaster
Villa Giulia, Rome

Taddeo Zuccaro and Prospero Fontana
Personification of Peace
ca. 1552-53
oil on plaster
Villa Giulia, Rome

"When Giovanni Ciocchi del Monte, better known as Pope Julius III, had Villa Giulia built at the beginning of his papacy in 1550, the area just outside the walls of the city was still countryside, covered in vineyards and farms.  The del Monte estate stretched from the Aurelian walls to the Milvian Bridge.   It covered the entire area close to the Tiber and inside Via Flaminia, which crossed it, along the hills in front of Villa Borghese and the Monti Parioli.  In fact what today is called Villa Giulia, a building set amid courtyards, nymphaeums, and gardens, is only one of the three that made up the original complex.  . . .  Pope Julius had [this palazzo] built to his own design.  He had Michelangelo look over the drawing and improve it, and subsequently had Vasari, Vignola, and Ammannati enlarge it and supervise its construction between 1551 and 1555.  . . .  This masterpiece has gradually been despoiled over the centuries and has lost much of its decoration, including the gilded stuccoes and the sculptures that embellished the exterior and interior.  Prospero Fontana's and Taddeo Zuccaro's splendid frescoes that have survived in the rooms next to the entrance hall and in the main hall on the first floor give us an idea of the splendor that has been lost."

– Carlo Cresti and Claudio Rendina, Palazzi of Rome, translated by Janet Angelini (Potsdam: H.F. Ullmann, 2005)