The Diana Grottoone of the hidden wonders of the Renaissance in Italy, will reopen the public on May 6, after more than half a closed century and a restoration that has returned the splendor to its mosaics and sculptures, hidden for decades in the gardens of Villa d’Esta, in Tivoli, near Rome.
The jobs to recover what is considered a jewel of Italian mannerismwhich lasted two years and cost 2 million euros, they were born from a collaboration between the Villa Adriana and Villa d’E east Institute and the Roman house of Fondi fashion, which has already participated in similar projects such as the restoration of the Fontana de Trevi and the Temple of Venus in Rome.
Located in the famous Complex of Villa d’Est, declared a World Heritage by UNESCO in 2001, the Grotto hides mosaics colorful and polychrome decorations made by a large team of artisans in the 16th century.
Mosaics, cariatides and sea shells
The space, cross -shaped plant, revolves around a vault of cross -sustained by four great affected (Of the six originals), surrounded by niches, bas -reliefs, sources (although currently without water) and an open lodge with panoramic views towards Rome.
The decoration is characterized by rich polychrome mosaics y diverse materials such as shells, lapid fragments, semi -precious stones and tartaros, and even the soil of the cave stands out for its decoration with two types of pavement: one in vidriated terracotta with very colorful ornamental motifs and another in mud cooked with brown tones.
The vaults are decorated with marine scenes and figures, while in the walls and oval of the stay themes and images are mainly extracted from “the metamorphosis” of Ovid.
The grotto, built between 1570 and 1572, It was originally decorated with several structures classic On the sources, including one to the figure of Diana in the central zone, which gave name to the space.
The reopening of this space is “a new addition to the history of art” and an opportunity to “pay attention to a segment of art history that has not been sufficiently analyzed, especially in the area of the province of Lacio”, whose capital is Rome, Andrea Bruciati, director of the Villa Adriana Institute and Villa d’Esta, explained, during a press conference this Wednesday in Tivoli.
The cardinal who could not be dad
Villa d’A this was built at the request of the Cardinal Hipólito II d’E Thisthat disappointed after not having been chosen Pope made the fuels of the Cortes de Ferrara (Italy), Rome and Fointanebleau (France) relieved in Tivoli with a palace decorated by the protagonists of late Roman manierism.
In addition to returning the bright colors and mosaics to the cave, The restoration of the cave is intended to explore and decode the secrets De Villa d’Est, which Bruciati cataloged as a sophisticated “cultural ecosystem” during a press conference this Wednesday in Tivoli (center).
The initial works revealed a very precarious state of conservation, with strongly degraded materials and extremely fragile decorative elements, so, in order to avoid a new deterioration, an glazed enclosure was installed in the Lodge open to Rome, in order to protect the wind of the wind, one of the factors that contributed the most contributed to the erosion of its most delicate materials over the centuries.
With this intervention, Diana’s grotto not only recovers her visual splendor, but once again occupies a place in the Villa d’E east visit circuit, an important artistic heritage of the Italian Renaissance just 25 kilometers from Rome.
