ROME.- The Museum of Rome at Palazzo Braschi will open one of its most ambitious cultural projects in recent years: a sweeping exhibition devoted entirely to the city’s historic gardens, some of the most enchanting and least understood elements of Rome’s artistic heritage. Villas and Gardens of Rome: A Crown of Delights will run from November 21, 2025 to April 12, 2026, offering visitors a rare look at how these green sanctuaries evolved in art from the Renaissance to the mid-twentieth century.
Promoted by Roma Capitale and the Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage, the exhibition is part of a broader initiative to rethink and revive the legacy of Rome’s historic gardens—many of which have been damaged, transformed, or lost as the city expanded. Curators Alberta Campitelli, Alessandro Cremona, Federica Pirani, and Sandro Santolini have assembled nearly 190 works—drawings, paintings, prints, manuscripts, and rare documents—many of them little known or previously unpublished. Together, they offer an unprecedented visual chronicle of the city’s green spaces as seen through the eyes of artists across five centuries.
A Journey Through Five Centuries of Roman Gardens
The exhibition unfolds across six sections, each tracing a key moment in the history of Rome’s villas and gardens. Visitors will be welcomed by a large interactive map designed to orient them in the city’s lush past—a digital introduction to dozens of villas, many of which survive only in artworks.
The story begins in the sixteenth century, when Rome emerged from medieval stagnation with renewed ambition under the papacy. Inspired by the rediscovery of antiquity, cardinals, popes, and aristocrats transformed vineyards and orchards into elaborate pleasure gardens. Master architects such as Bramante, Raphael, and Vignola helped define what would become the archetypal Roman garden—formal, symmetrical, and deeply symbolic. Works by artists like Hendrick van Cleve, Caspar van Wittel, and Paolo Anesi document celebrated sites including Villa Madama, Villa Giulia, the Vatican Belvedere, and the Farnesina.
The seventeenth century brought even greater grandeur. With the restoration of ancient aqueducts and the theatrical tastes of Baroque Rome, gardens became stages for spectacle and displays of power. Painters recorded the magnificence of places like Villa Borghese and the now-vanished Villa Ludovisi and Villa del Pigneto Sacchetti, designed by Pietro da Cortona. Their vast parterres, fountains, and sculptural programs reveal a city determined to impress both locals and visiting dignitaries.
By the eighteenth century, Rome’s villas adapted to new trends. While Baroque opulence persisted, French garden fashions introduced elaborate embroidery-like parterres and carefully sculpted groves. Villas such as Villa Patrizi and Palazzo Colonna reflected this shift. Cardinal Alessandro Albani’s villa, built with input from Giovanni Battista Piranesi and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, became a model admired across Europe. Artists celebrated its unique combination of classical formality and emerging English-garden influences.
Modernization, Loss, and Reinvention
Rome’s transformation into the capital of unified Italy in 1870 brought dramatic change—and significant loss. Urban expansion, population growth, and new infrastructure led to the destruction of priceless villas, including Ludovisi and Montalto. The construction of river embankments cut the city off from the Tiber, erasing picturesque river views captured in earlier artworks. Yet the nineteenth century also birthed modern ideas of public green spaces, intended not for nobles but for a growing urban population.
The twentieth century continued this evolution. Villa Borghese opened to the public in 1903, marking a major step toward democratizing Rome’s green areas. Under the Fascist regime, urban planning decisions were often harsh—such as the destruction of the garden of Villa Rivaldi to create Via dell’Impero—yet the period also saw the creation of many public parks designed by Raffaele de Vico. His work, from Villa Glori to Parco degli Scipioni, shaped much of the greenery Romans still enjoy today.
Life in the Gardens
Beyond architecture and landscape, the exhibition also explores how Romans actually lived in these spaces. From Renaissance intellectual gatherings and hunting parties to eighteenth-century salons fueled by coffee and chocolate, villa gardens were stages for social life. By the early twentieth century, places like Villa Borghese and the Pincio became favorite destinations for Sunday strolls, concerts, and public events, scenes captured in paintings by Georges Paul Leroux and Armando Spadini.
An Accessible Exhibition for All Audiences
The Capitoline Superintendency has emphasized accessibility: the exhibition will offer audio commentary, tactile reproductions for blind and visually impaired visitors, and guided tours in Italian Sign Language.
A Global Collaboration
Many of the works come from prestigious international lenders, including the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Statens Museum for Kunst in Denmark, the Musée d’Orsay, the Vatican Museums, and numerous private collections. A significant group of works from the vast Roma Capitale art collection will also return to public view after long absences.
With Villas and Gardens of Rome: A Crown of Delights, Palazzo Braschi aims to restore attention to one of the city’s most poetic and fragile heritages—reminding visitors that Rome’s history was shaped not only by its monuments, but also by its gardens.
