“ONCE UPON A TIME” THE NEW JOURNEY TO DISCOVER THE PAINTED VAULTS OF THE MUSEUM
“Once Upon a Time” is an in-depth tour conducted by museum staff and dedicated to the cycle of painted vaults starting from Friday, December 15th , until Friday, February 9th , 2024.
The initiative aims to highlight the extraordinary redevelopment work of the villa promoted by Prince Marcantonio IV Borghese at the end of the 18th century (1770-1800). A remarkable but little-known effort that involved a radical restructuring of the building and the update of its interior decoration.
The task was entrusted to the architect Antonio Asprucci (1723-1808), highly renowned and talented, one of the first to introduce Neoclassicism as an architectural style in Rome. Asprucci, collaborating with a renowned team of Italian and foreign artists, including Gavin Hamilton, Tommaso Conca, Mariano Rossi, the quadraturist Giova Battista Marchetti, and others, conceived the surfaces of the rooms as scenarios for ancient and modern marbles already present in the building. The walls were covered with polychrome marble stuccoes, the beautiful seventeenth-century fireplaces were replaced with others known as “French style,” leaning against the wall and adorned with precious materials, and the vaults were compartmentalized by elegant architectural quadratures, with precious stucco frames and paintings at the center in close dialogue with the masterpiece placed at the center. The entire decorative cycle of the vaults assumed a descriptive character, intended for the guest of Villa Pinciana, aimed at exalting the Borghese family and its ancient origins.
The initiative is free, and reservations are mandatory by calling the number: 06 67233755 (Monday to Friday, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm).
Visits take place from Tuesday to Friday, excluding the Christmas holidays.
The meeting point is at 11:30 am at the museum’s Information Desk, located next to the Ticket Office. The tour lasts about 40 minutes and includes the visit of rooms I, II, and III. Admission to the museum does not entitle you to visit other rooms.