Villa Pianciani
Villa Pianciani is a complex situated on top of a hill that dominates the Spoleto Valley in Umbria. The complex is the work of architect Giuseppe Valadier and comprises different buildings and a vast historical park. It is one of the most elegant examples of the late 18th century architecture of the region.
| Villa Pianciani | |
|---|---|
 Villa, annex and chapel | |
| |
| Former names | La Delizia Dei Pianciani |
| General information | |
| Type | villa |
| Architectural style | Baroque/Neoclassic |
| Town or city | Spoleto |
| Country | Italy |
| Coordinates | 42.785694°N 12.693209°E |
| Renovated | 2010 |
| Owner | private |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Giuseppe Valadier |
History
The construction of the Villa Complex was undertaken by the Pianciani family, an ancient and noble family that played a significant role in Spoleto's historical events. The family transformed a pre-existing building into the lavish ’Delizia dei Pianciani’ (The Piancianis’ Delight). The work was entrusted to the young architect Giuseppe Valadier who became one of the greatest Italian architects of the century. It was initiated at the request of Count Alessandro Pianciani to celebrate his marriage with Costanza Collicola, a member of an important noble family of Spoleto.[1]
The Villa, an addition to the family's other properties in Pianciano and Lake Trasimeno, became a summer estate for the family. Alessandro's sons had interests that expanded beyond the borders of Umbria. Vincenzo Pianciani moved to Rome to become the Director of Finance of the Papal States, where he founded The Savings Bank of Rome and his marriage with Amalia Ruspoli allowed him to enter the Roman aristocracy. Among his children, Giambattista Pianciani was a well-known physicist, a professor in the Roman College (where he wrote his famous essay ‘Dogmatica’) and then a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.. When he returned to Rome, he became the General Prefect of Studies.[1]
The best known historical figure of the family was Luigi Pianciani, a patriot who was exiled to England until 1860, then returned to Italy to become the first elected Mayor of Rome, Deputy and Senator of the Kingdom of Italy. The importance of the Pianciani family reached its peak during the time of Luigi Pianciani. The family's financial fortunes, unfortunately, weakened over the following generations. Vincenzo had seven children but Carlo only had one child, a girl, Matilde Pianciani. The current owners of the Villa are the descendants of Matilde.[1]
Architecture
The Complex was designed by Giuseppe Valadier, Italy's first architect in the modern sense of the word. Designer, urban planner and restorer, he is mainly recognised for the layout of Piazza del Popolo in Rome (from 1793 to 1815) with its emphasis on a harmonic and functional layout of buildings and external spaces.[2]
Valadier built Villa Pianciani on an existing medieval structure, creating a splendid and spectacular residence. It is one of the very few villas designed by the distinguished architect.
Within the historical Park are:
- the ‘Villa’ originally called ‘Casino Principale’ (main house),
- the ‘Cappella’ (chapel),
- the Old Kitchens, a three-story house connected to the main Villa,
- the ‘Rudere’ (an actual ruin),
- the 'Casale Dei Rombi', a large two-story building once used as stables and for storage.
In the past, there were two buildings symmetrical to the access axis. The park, also designed by Valadier, is distinguished by various architectural elements: the Secret Garden, a large elliptic esplanade in front of the facade encircled by a two-wall portico which opens on to two opposite open-sided galleries with panoramic views and two vast symmetrical Gazebos (pavilions) in wrought iron decorated with roses. The geometric and symmetric character of the layout adheres to traditional Italian gardens, combining decorative elements, comfort and nature. All architectural elements are, aesthetically, limbs of a body whose style, character and complementary functions give the structure unity and artistic value.[2]
The Buildings
The Main House
Also known as ’La Delizia dei Pianciani’ (The Piancianis’ Delight) for its beauty, the spacious central construction of the Villa is characterised by the panoramic scene. They were conceived by Valadier as an elongated facade of 11 openings spatially extended within the exedra of the square. The exedra and square, along with the internal and external of the Villa, were conceived as the primary architectural thought. The main house is typical of the elegant beauty of Roman baroque of French contemporary buildings in the century when the Villa was built.[2]
The construction expands towards the top of the hill towards the rear of the chapel in the direction of the sunset. Pietro Ferrari (1762-1825), an architect from Spoleto, took over the end of the works and finished the east wing of the house. Inside the building, there are three floors: the ground floor, the mezzanine and the noble floor:
- on the ground level there are huge halls and a wide patio.
- on the mezzanine level that runs through the northwest side of the Villa, there's a small library and service rooms.
- on the noble level, there are rooms with balconies on both sides and a vast terrace overlooking Spoleto and the valley below.
Villa Pianciani has preserved the decoration and furniture of the century: ceiling panels, paintings on the walls with eloquent painted landscape scenes, door frames and framed displays, fake marble and chiaroscuro with small floral elements or with small figures. The decorative elements are mainly handworks by unknown craftsmen, dating back to the years following the construction till the first decade of the 19th century. The techniques used were water paintings for plaster and for canvas, tempera paintings and decorative carvings in paper using the technical characteristics of the local workers of the era.[2]
The Chapel
The Chapel, a small jewel from Italian Neoclassicism, is also the work of Valadier. It is situated behind the main house, on the highest point of the hill. The triangular tympanum, the porch with four columns, the symmetric structure of the barrel-vaulted isle and the two lateral sacristies show strong ties to Palladian architecture. However the inside, decorated with precious decorations of the decade, is still to be restored.[2]
The Secret Garden
When entering the property, there is a small forest on the left where the Neoclassical style of a ’Secret Garden’ is visible. Designed by Valadier as an entity that unites with the rest of the Villa, the ’Secret Garden’ is composed of an elliptic wall, cobbled stairs, a shrine arch and the remains of a fountain and a sundial. Roman statues and iron banisters were characteristic in this period and used to adorn the garden. The influences of the Enlightenment are also evident, with a passageway and fake ruins to create a space in which to wander and dream.[2]
The Annex
The Annex is traditionally called the ’Casino delle Vecchie Cucine’ (a lodge of the Old Kitchens). It is an independent building close to the Villa with three levels that originally housed the kitchen and the majority of the services. This building, more linear than the Main House, is on the northwest side of the hill, offering a magnificent view of the valley in the direction of Montefalco and Assisi. The third floor is on the same level as the main entrance of the Villa and overlooks the park. The second floor is internally connected to the ground floor of the Villa via a spacious underground tunnel excavated into the hillside. The two bottom floors of the Annex follow the natural height difference of the hill and stop at the independent and spacious garden of the ’Piazzale del Tramonto’ which can also be reached by a separate driveway (’Viale dei Gelsi’).[2]
Building in the park
An additional building, recognisable today only as a ruin, represents the unique survivor of two symmetric artefacts originally set at the sides of the main avenue of entry and named ’barracks’. These buildings, located at the sides of the path to the main house and inclined parallel to the axis, guided the gaze of the visitor along the entrance to focus the attention on the facade of the main building.[2]
The park
Giuseppe Valadier also designed a large park around the Villa dominating the Valley. Across from the entrance way, surrounded by oaks, is a 2000 m2 park where nature, landscape and architecture live in peaceful harmony. Magnificent cypress trees lead to the peak of the hill with two lateral paths that guide the way along the property. The central axis continues through a vast geometric square that contains two large pavilions made of wrought iron and decorated with roses ending in a vast elliptical square limited by exedras. The layout is in the geometric and symmetric lines of traditional Italian gardens, while the park as a whole follows the contour of the land in the style of English naturalism with hundreds of box hedges that create shaded winding walkways called ’Cocchi’, bounded by pergolas and flowers.[2]
The restoration
Over the centuries, the majestic furnishings of precious items and Roman statues that decorated the Villa and the Park suffered badly. After the 1990s, the line of the family that inherited one part of the Villa Complex − the descendants of Matilde Pianciani − were able to buy back the other half. In the first decade of the 21st century, working with the ’Soprintendenza alle Belle Arti’ of Umbria, a part of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, and with the support of the Italian government, important work, restoration and architectural improvement were carried out to recover the original designs. Contemporary art also features in the final decoration of the complex.[3]
Historical site
The historical site is a National Monument, a member of the Dimore Storiche Italiane (Italian Historic Houses) and a landmark for the territory.[4]
The Association
The Matilde Pianciani Cultural Association (a non-profit organisation) was created to protect, promote and develop the Monumental Complex of Villa Pianciani, including the obligation to manage and endorse annual programs. Villa Pianciani in Terraja also aims to raise awareness of the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Umbria. The Association organises art and language courses, host events and welcomes volunteers and tourists from around the world.[5]
See also
References
- Pietrangeli, Carlo (1992). Ricordo di una famiglia Umbro-Romani: I Pianciani. Strenna dei Romanisti.
- Benedetti, A. (1997). La Delizia Dei Pianciani A Terraja. Edizioni Dell'Accademia Spoletina 38, SPOLETIUM.
- "Restoration of Villa Pianciani".
- "Dimore Storiche Italiane".
- "Matilde Pianciani Cultural Association". www.villapianciani.it. Retrieved 2020-02-14.