Lesson 7: Villa Borghese (sculpture)

Flaminio Ponzio, Villa Borghese, 1612-13, (gardens completed in 1620s) patron: Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Heavily reworked in the 18th century and 19th century.

• Façade
o Plan of the villa is U shaped. This is a typical model of a Renaissance Villa. This was built in 1500 and becomes the prototype for other villas. Villa Farnesina in Trastervere is a prototype of this.
o The garden is the most magnificent Italian garden.
o The garden has a wild element. There are many types of trees.
o There is a change in the garden as it goes toward the house. There are the secret gardens. They are collections of plants/variety/birds.
o In between the zoo and the villa is an aviary. It has parrots and birds of all colors. It is an encyclopedia of the baroque era. Everyone would have been aware of this. This would have been common knowledge.
o Visitors would realize that the owner was the nephew of the pope. The pope is the most powerful to the Christian world. The cardinal nephew is the new nephew to the pope.
o In the loggia, we see the ancient world. It is very important to make these ties with ancient world. The beautiful impact of the ancient world shows that he would also be the hier to the ancient world.
o There is a comparison of the modern and the ancient world.
o Flaminio Ponzio designed the villa/main salona.
o We see the antiquity invading every corner. Almost every object here is ancient. Ancient Roman mosaics are everywhere. The floor is ancient as well.
o It is difficult to trace when the room was created. 1800 the Borghese family was still very important.
o Brownlina Borghese married Napoleon. He stole art from the Borghese family and not we can see this in the Louvre. 30-40% of the Louvre’s Collection is from the Borghese family.
o The ceiling conveys the propaganda of the Borghese family. They were not from Rome, but they connected themselves to Forlus Camillus. He was an ancient Roman soldier who guided the Romans to France. He is in the center of ceiling. There is also a depiction of Romulus interceding Jupiter who is giving power to the soldier to conquer France. The conquering of France extends into the architecture. The ancient world s all around the sculpture, but the ceiling makes it come to life. There are also symbols of the Eagle and Dragons. Eagles = Ceres= who is the mother of Persephone. Dragons= Jupiter and the symbol of the Borghese family.
o Through the main entrance we can see the Rape of Persephone out of the darkness. The statue is against the light of the window. This would have been a silhouette.

Bernini, The flight from Troy (Anchises, Aeneas, Ascanius) 1618-19, based on Virgil, Aeneid

• This is unlike the mannerist sculpture (example of mannerist is the Rape of the Sebine Women of the late 16th century). In the mannerist style there is no movement. There is no effort or energy.
• Bernini is breaking the spiral beauty and is actually creating gravity and suspension. There is no perfect gravity. He is able to carve in the suspended moment of the change of weight.
• There are almost words coming out of the mouths of the characters.
• The family Borghese traced their origins to ancient Rome. They would have liked also to trace their lineage to the origins of Rome and to Aeneas. In a way this sculpture shows Aeneas’ arrival to Villa Borghese. This arrival also symbolizes when Aeneas would have said “ here is the kingdom that will stay forever.”
• Cimpione= someone who supports. This also holds for a political point of view as well.
• Represents the three stages of a man’s life.
o Aeneas (20) is the mid-aged. He is man as an adult. He is closest to the Christ of Michelangelo. He is also in a way the second Christ. He looks as if he is pushed by destiny. He is dressed in a Herculean outfit which is the lion skin.
o Ascanius (3) is the young boy and he holds the flame of Troy. They brought the fire of Troy to Rome. The flame is always on. The child looks like a cupid. The boy almost looks confused, as if he does not know why he is holding a flame.
o Anchises (70) is the oldest who is being held on the shoulders of Aeneas. He has a wisdom about him. Bernini treats his skin differently. It is not as shiny. His veins and muscles are very present. He looks weathered. The father is looking ahead toward Rome. His thigh is wrinkled and the hand of Aeneas is very strong. The hat of the old man is a Fregian hat. Fregia was the old name for Troy.
• We see that there are still elements of support. In Bernini’s later works he gets better and does not need these supports.

Bernini, Pluto and Persephone, patron: Scipione Borghese; advisor: Maffeo Barberini, 1621-22

• Bernini is competing with himself.
• Pluto is the king of the underworld. He almost felt the touch of Persephone. She is the daughter of Ceres who is the god of summer. Pluto came out of the ground, out of the underworld, in order to rape Persephone. She threw the flowers away. This literally can be seen as a ”deflowering” because of the actionof throwing the flowers.
• There is a three headed dog names Serius. This dog of the underworld cannot look at light. He is looking toward the shadow of the loggia. He hides him self behind the foot of Persephone to avoid the light that comes from the window. We can almost see them barking toward the light.
• Because we see the garden just outside the window. It is easy envision Persephone picking flowers in the garden.
• Pluto is coming out of the underworld, but he is almost coming back.
• Sculptural elements
o The X= the embrace and blinding. We have seen this crossing over in the Rape of the Sebine Women and the Bronze statuettes.
o Influence for Pluto could have come from Laocoon and the sculpture of the Horse Women Tamers.
o Influence for Persephone could have come from praxitiles and Phiada. These were the two greatest sculptors of the ancient world. Michelangelo is said to have surpassed them and in turn Bernini is also challenging all of them. Persephone is based specifically on the two of the most famous Venuses: Knidos where she is veiled (covered) and where she is unveiled (uncovered). It is a mixture of these two elements.
• She is not happy,. She does not know where she is going to end up. She is crying. This is the nonvisibility of the art. He is referring to the scripture. The marble tear. Connotation
o The action in the scene
• She is putting one hand on Pluto and pushing him away on his face. She does not want him to see her.
• He has his hand on her thigh. This is a reference to Pygmalion. The touch is very sensual . Pliny the Elder and Quintillian talk about the story of Pygmalion who was a sculptor who transformed his creation into human flesh. It was a libidinous kind of touch/ fondling that caused this. Bernini is competing with sculptor who made his sculpture into human flesh.
• John Sherman refers to the location of this sculpture as “slow fuse.” This is the movement from Hell (the darkness of the loggia) to Sicily (the Sicilian Gardens outside the window). Through this journey you discover poetry and images. Through the art of memory the viewer would have been engaged and moved from darkness to light.
• The Pact of Ceres and Pluto
o Persephone could leave Hates for only summer and spring. This is appropriate subject matter for the villa. This shows the passage of the seasons. The passages of the seasons also represent the resurrection because the of Winter to Spring. This imagery was also used in ancient Roman sarcophagi, Bernini is making this while the Pope Paul IV is dying. It was given as a gift to the new cardinal nephew. The new pope lasted only a year and a half so giving him the statue as a present was a waste.

Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, patron: Scipione Borghese; advisor: Maffeo Barberini, 1623-24

• Poetic background from Ovid and Petrarch (He talked of Laura) in the 16th -17th century. There was another poet who was jewish. He is poet of the renaissance in Italy and he equated Daphne with humidity because she was daughter of the river. What happens to water when it gets hot? Specifically, when it gets touched by the sun (Apollo)? It evaporates. Humidity leaves. Also the laurel tree is always green and needs to be in a dry place to survive. It is evergreen 365 days a year.
• 2 Proposals of placement
o Against the wall
o The back of the sculpture would be against the wall with the foot of Apollo toward the wall. There would have been space behind his foot. It would be as if they were running in from the garden and entering through the wall.
• This would make the sculpture look as if it is a man chasing a woman, but only at first. We would not have been able to see any natural element.
• As we walk around the sculpture we start to see the metamorphosis. Apollo’s expression changes from one of happiness to sadness. Daphne’s female body changes and the tree starts to take over.
• The whole room becomes a space for love, music, and Apollo.
• Finelli was the assistant of Bernini and he was responsible for the leaves and the stones in the sculpture.
• The flying drapery that trails behind them is almost transparent.
• Discussion on Chastity or Sensuality?
o Moralized Ovid saw the myth as a symbol of chastity.
o There is also a renaissance comic version that says that Apollo is chasing her with an erection. This is covered by the nicely placed leaves of Daphne over his genitals. Was this advised by the cardinal? Hmmm….
o We are still left wondering if this is meant to be sensual or not…

Bernini, David, Scipione Borghese; advisor: Maffeo Barberini, 1623-24

• This is not located in its original place in the museum. It would have been located in the next room. The right side of the main salona. There would have been two sculpture at the entrance. One was of David and the other was the Borghese Gladiator. These two sculpture were similar, but it would have represented the Modern art and Ancient art face to face. This would also show the modern as surpassed the ancient. The modern world is better than the ancient world because of t he coming of Christ. They are blessed by the salvation of Christ.
• The David is in competition with the David by Michelangelo. Michelangelo’s has one leg tensed and the other at rest. He is holding the ling and he is looking at Goliath. Bernini’s David shows elements of the sculptor Myron. There were two great sculptors of ancient times. One of Polyklites and he was famous for the Polyklites Controposto. The other was Myron. He was said to have surpassed Polyklites. Myron did the Discobolo. Pliny the Elder spoke about Polyklites and Myron and said the Myron had won because his sculpture was more complex and was more modern. Bernini has done David is the guise of the Discobolo.
• The “arch of flame”= the new greats beating the old greats = Polyklites⇒ Myron⇒ Michelangelo⇒ Bernini
• It was written that the advisor Pope Maffeo Barberini was holding the mirror to Bernini to create a likeness of himself in the face of his David. Does this sound right? This is probably not to be taken literally. We can say translate this to say that the Pope is creating the myth of the new Michelangelo (Bernini). The new Michelangelo has surpassed the old Michelangelo.
• Who is David?
o He was a shepherd, but he was very cultivated one. He was a poet and musician. His musical ability is shown by the lyre at the bottom of the sculpture. He was a king.
• He is partially naked. The young boy would have left his armor in the moment he is going to face the worst danger that he has ever faced in his whole entire life. His lack of armor also symbolizes his complete faith in God. He possesses MANUS FORTUS= A strong hand. Philistine Giant.
• His pose is mid-action. He is going against the trajectory of the stone. The contrasting forces and energy are unlike the psychological elements we encounter in Michelangelo’s David.
• This sculpture requires a cultivated viewer who is open to seeing everything. The viewer would have been the goliath and would be face to face with Bernini. The viewer would have made eye contact with David. The action starts in the marble and ends in the flesh of the viewer.