Wednesday, January 10
A great many of the world’s countries have academies here in Rome. To attend, one must go through an ultra competitive process that includes application, interview and sometimes demonstration. If you are one of the lucky few who are chosen it entitles you to room and board and a stipend in a magnificent setting. These Fellowships can be for art, literature, musical composition, architecture or other creative, non-performance related arts and humanities. Generally fellowships are open to individuals from any country. On Wednesday we went to see the French Academy.
Tours are given in French, Italian and English. They cost €12.00 per person. English Language tours are given at 11:00 am and 3:30 pm so we left our apartment at 10:00 am with the aim of making the earlier tour. Naturally, along the way, we found some new and interesting churches to visit which took a bit of time. We had planned to simply go up the Spanish Steps and walk along the cliff to the villa but since we’d never been there before we decided to follow Google’s walking directions to insure we got there as quickly as possible.
Google instructed us to walk up the Spanish Steps, down the hill near Piazza Barberini, up another hill to Borghese Park and through the park to the villa. It seemed a little out of the way but we have come to trust Google so off we went. When we got to the park it instructed us to walk down a road that didn’t exist. We walked back and forth for almost half an hour determined to find the proper road. We couldn’t just walk in the general direction we wanted because there is major roadway that cannot be crossed on foot. Finally we realized that we had missed the tour and, a little dispirited, walked over to some benches inTerrazza del Pincio to decide what to do next.
We sat for a while and indulged in some self pity. The conversation included some choice words regarding Google. But, since it was a bright and sunny day, we decided to walk about the park, take some pictures, have some lunch, do some window shopping (Rome’s semi-annual sale is now going on) and return for the afternoon tour. It was a great decision. For once we just walked around at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the ambiance. It was a great day.
At 2:30 we decided to head back towards the Villa Medici. This time we went the way we thought was most appropriate. We got there in less than ten minutes 😝.
The Villa Medici is perched high on a hill between the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. It commands a panoramic view of the surrounding city. Cardinal Ferdinando de’Medici, who built the villa and extensive gardens we see today, purchased the property in 1576. The Cardinal was from Florence and descended from the well known family of that region. France gained control over the property when it was purchased by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803 with the intention of starting an academy of arts.
(Villa Medici)
The main house is used mostly for administrative offices although it contains rooms that are available for rent to the general public for €350.00 per night. The fellows are housed in smaller buildings that surround the gardens. Each fellow also has access to a studio for their work. Their rooms have private baths and small kitchenettes. They also receive a stipend. The fellows must submit proposals detailing the work they intend to pursue during their time at the academy and they retain full ownership of anything they create.
(Entrance to the gardens from the back of the Villa. A bronze of Mercury adorns the fountain.)
Friday, January 12
Having learned that there were many national academies in Rome we decided to visit the American Academy, which is located high up on the Janiculum Hill in Trastevere. It occurred to us that we had already, unwittingly, seen the Spanish Academy when we visited the Tempietto di Bramante – also in Trastevere. The Spanish Academy doesn’t provide tours but they have an art gallery that is open to the public for free.
Unlike all of the other academies the American Academy in Rome is not funded by the government. It is sponsored by fundraising events and endowments. The original endowments came mostly from wealthy families of the Gilded Age including such notables as Morgan, Carnegie and Rockefeller. The campus includes a number of adjacent properties that have also been donated. Tours are open to the public for free but require advance reservations.
The main building, in the shape of a typical Italian villa, contains a courtyard, function rooms, a dining hall (fellows and their families eat free), a cafe, meeting rooms, administrative offices and a few residences. Most of the fellows are housed in adjacent buildings. We were told that the rooms were comfortable but rather spartan. Each has its own bathroom.
(Courtyard in the main Villa)
While walking the gardens we spotted several other villas that also belonged to the academy. One them is rented by the U.S Ambassador to the Holy See. Another is the Villa Rustica. Galileo lived in this villa during his time in Rome shortly after the invention of his telescope. There he introduced the device to the intelligentsia with great success. In fact, the device was given the name ‘telescope’ during this time.
(Villa Rustica)
The academy boasts many famous visitors and alumni. Aaron Copland and Lukas Foss were fellows there. Ralph Ellison wrote ‘The Invisible Man’ during his time there. Claude Debussy performed concerts while visiting; his piano is on display in the public rooms. The main building also contains a lecture hall where events that are free and open to the public are held, usually once a week.