Villa Medici: Montmartre at Trident

We ascend slowly with a narrow elevator lined in wood, arrived on the landing in darkness Neville put the key in the lock of a door now ageless, a short creaking on old hinges, and we find ourselves in the apartments of Cardinal Ferdinando de 'Medici. Across the room to sleep in, complete with bed "wrapped" by a thick canopy with curtains at our feet the austere terracotta floor contrasts with the richly decorated ceiling by Jacopo Zucchi in 1584. In the next room we sit on two chairs vintage is cool and there is silence "antique" aged between those walls by the hand of Balthus and among the furniture that he tried in France and Italy to decorate the villa during the his tenure as director. In front of me, Neville Rowley, trent'enne French art historian, curator of the exhibition "Villa Open, which runs until 20 September to visit the key areas of the Villa Medici always closed to the public.

"Until three years ago," explains Neville, "The fellows also called" pensionnaires "who frequented the 'Academy of France (which is based in Villa Medici, ed), had a maximum age of 35 years, but today is was raised to 45. This, which has led to a change in the thickness of the relationship between scientists and artists, together with the magnitude of these disciplines, ranging from not only the classical ones but also to come to the culinary arts and photography, are the wealth this place because this is a very stimulating exchange that allows us to work with contemporary artists on the aspects of the evolution of art. "

"She is an expert in the art of the '400, what is the reason for his presence here at Villa Medici?"
"I came here to study Piero della Francesca and Fra Angelico in the Roman period of the '400, being completely destroyed, has been forgotten," he notes my interlocutor. "Fra Angelico had completed many works, lost forever, who had been instrumental in the growth of artists like Raphael and Michelangelo. The aim was then to recreate this heritage that is gone. In a small symposium in March that I realized that there is the Ancient, I studied more than Another perspective of Brunelleschi, and I wondered why he reinvents the prospect saying that in spite of his age is old there have never been witness to be saying that the paint was old two-dimensional? It 'a bit like a reinvention of the look. "

"Speaking of art that disappears" I asked with a hint of irony, "is not part of what is happening here at Villa Medici with the fellows?"
Neville smiles and shrugs his shoulders in a resigned expression. "The fellows are here today for one or two years, as opposed to four in the past, and not leave anything, and a reform of '71 ruled that not face any examination, and they shall not be issued any certificate. "

"Maybe so they can work more relaxed," chance.
"Certainly, and this works in 99\% of cases. They may work better about themselves without having the other judges, who are often not able to fully judge them, because while it may be easy to judge the academic ancient art, it is difficult to express opinions the modern. "

"Perhaps the figure of a tutor might help, at least for the younger."
"Something like a tutor would be useful because you lose a little bit alone and most people think" ok, now we are and what do I do? "Because the Academy has its life, its exhibitions, its events. I Fellows of the rest have never been very busy, but actually under the direction of Mitterrand things have definitely changed. Up to the 90 scholarship holders at year-end were involved in a group show, and although few people went to see, for me it was very useful as the young artists learned to expose. "

"I think that Balthus onwards has changed the philosophy of the management of the Villa Medici, rests in fact the desire to escape somehow from his gilded isolation to open, offering the public."
"Your point is very topical because it somehow sums up the ambiguous situation of the villa, is open yet closed to allow the fellows to work. This ambiguity was already evident at the time of Balthus as the villa , normally closed, was opened once a year for a great cocktail that everyone involved wanted to see also organized exhibitions in these spaces, exhibition, conceived by Balthus.
Subsequent periods that have followed the directors who wanted to open the closure and who, for economic reasons because there were not always the resources to do so. Mitterrand when he wanted to open a permanent museum in September, but realized it would be a problem not only for the people who lived here, but also because people prefer to go to exhibitions of contemporary and maybe have long lines. Another issue not to be overlooked is that here we are, as at Versailles, inappropriate to receive a large influx of visitors. Our gardens, cared for by five indoor gardeners, not belonging to an outside firm, to be kept at present in need of constant care and can not accommodate a rush of visitors without risk experiencing adverse effects. "

"In your opinion what has influenced the development of activities of the Villa Medici the fact of being within an area so rich in history and culture, what is the area of the Trident?"
"Villa Medici has always been closely tied to this part of Rome with the Spanish Steps and the Spanish Steps, Spain is a bit 'the French Quarter. All artists living in this area and the 800 fellows, who during the day they met to drink a glass of wine and perhaps several, in cafes met the great personages of art and culture, was a little 'how to live again in Rome, the atmosphere of Montmartre. Ingres, for example, who could not living here at the Academy with his wife, moved to Via Gregoriana, where today there is a plaque. Medici Villa therefore not be considered part of Villa Borghese, but rather seen as part of the Roman walls, and then tied to the area Trident. Artists like Klimt, Piranesi, Van Wittel have chosen this quarter and Villa Medici to make their views because, as we said in the middle of 700, the villa's park was the only garden of Rome open to all. "

As we leave the apartments of the Cardinal is going down the sunset peek "en passant" through a small window overlooking the park below. The spectacle is breathtaking, and while Neville closes the old door, I hope the new director will succeed Mitterrand in the management of the Villa Medici, continuing the work of opening to the public, so strongly desired by his predecessor.