Rome, Villa Farnesina's Saletta Pompeiana reopens to the public

The Villa Farnesina ’s Saletta Pompeiana reopened to the public on November 8, 2018 after restoration work. This Saletta corresponds to the part below the first ramp of the staircase. The decorations are directly inspired by ancient examples (that is why it is called “Saletta Pompeiana”) and date back to the 1861-1863 renovations of the Duke of Ripalta, Salvador Bermúdez de Castro. From here, after recent restorations, there is access to the southwest area of the ground floor of the Villa that was part of the private area of the banker Agostino Chigi.

In the sixteenth century, the Saletta pompeiana constituted the landing for the ramp connecting with the kitchens on the basement level, while in the nineteenth century Salvador Bermúdez de Castro had the staircase removed to erect the current east wall, making the room a hallway.

In this area in the 1930s, the studies of the President and the General Secretariat of the Royal Academy of Italy were located, while the “Pompeian Saletta” housed the toilets reserved for President Guglielmo Marconi.
Today the Saletta is the representative seat of theAccademia Nazionale dei Lincei, whose president, Giorgio Parisi, says: "The Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei is proud to have restored some of the rooms of the Villa Farnesina, the representative seat of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.It is of great satisfaction for the Members of the Academy to have returned to the city of Rome and to the international public some of the rooms, which were previously inaccessible, as part of a larger project to enhance and enjoy the Villa Farnesina, a jewel of the Italian Renaissance."

Art historian Alessandro Zuccari, a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and Coordinator of the Villa Farnesina Commission, explains, “The conservation work on the Saletta pompeiana and the adjoining rooms, conducted in collaboration with the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro, is part of the program of restoration and research on the Villa Farnesina aimed at the full recovery of the building and its decorations from the 16th and 19th centuries.”

Pictured: a fresco from the Saletta Pompeiana

Rome, Villa Farnesina's Saletta Pompeiana reopens to the public

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