Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, also known as The Finnish Institute in Rome, is an academic institution that supports research in the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

, particularly in relation to

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The institute was inaugurated on 29 April 1954, and is based at

Villa Lante Villa Lante is a Mannerism, Mannerist garden of surprise in Bagnaia, Viterbo, Bagnaia, Viterbo, central Italy, attributed to Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola. Villa Lante did not become well known until it passed to Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rov ...

, a Renaissance-era villa in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

History

The foundation that runs the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae was established in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

on 4 November 1938 by

Amos Anderson Amos Valentin Anderson (3 September 1878, Kimito, Finland – 2 April 1961, Dragsfjärd, Finland) was the owner of Finland's largest Swedish-language newspaper, Hufvudstadsbladet, and a patron of the arts. Amos Anderson grew up in the Southwest ...

, patron of the arts and culture and owner of the largest Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Villa Lante was purchased for use by the foundation on 23 April 1950, funded by Anderson. The villa is situated on the

Janiculum The Janiculum (; ), occasionally known as the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the pro ...

Hill (Gianicolo) in Rome. It was designed by

Giulio Romano Giulio Pippi ( – 1 November 1546), known as Giulio Romano and Jules Romain ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the ...

, a student of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

, in 1520–1521 for Baldassare Turini. The villa provides spectacular views of the surrounding loggia. During the seventeenth century, ownership of the villa came into the hands of

Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rovere Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rovere (15 June 1618 – 29 June 1688) was an Italian nobleman and Duke of Bomarzo. Biography Lante was the son of Marcantonio Lante (1566–1643) and his wife Lucrezia della Rovere. He was nephew to his f ...

, Duke of Bomarzo. The Lante family was forced to sell the villa in the early nineteenth century because of financial penury. In the late nineteenth century, the villa was ownder by the German archaeologist

Wolfgang Helbig Wolfgang Helbig (2 February 1839 – 6 October 1915) was a German classical archaeologist born in Dresden. He is known for his studies involving the wall paintings of Campania (Pompeii). Biography From 1856 to 1861 he studied philology and archae ...

. The architectural and cultural influence of Villa Lante is discernible in

Castle Goring Castle Goring is a English country house, country house in Worthing, in West Sussex, England about northwest of the town centre. One of Worthing's two Grade I listed buildings (deemed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ...

, a mansion in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, which partially modelled on the villa.

Activities

As well as academic research, the institute provides a supportive environment for experts in the visual arts, with an artist’s studio on the ground floor of Villa Lante.

Directors

* , 1953–1955 * , 1956–1959 * , 1959–1962 *

Jaakko Suolahti Jaakko Suolahti (18 January 1918 – 28 January 1987) was a Finnish classical scholar and historian Suolahti was one of the leading classicists during his time and reached international recognition within the areas of political- and social cultu ...

, 1962–1965 * , 1965–1968 * , 1970–1972 * , 1972–1976 * , 1976–1979 * Eva Margareta Steinby, 1979–1982 * , 1982–1985 * , 1986–1989 * , 1989–1992 * Eva Margareta Steinby, 1992–1994 *

Päivi Setälä Päivi Setälä (20 January 1943 – 7 March 2014) was a Finnish historian and professor who influenced different areas of Finnish cultural life. She was one of the best advocates of Finnish women's research. In 1991, she became the first female p ...

, 1994–1997 * , 1997–2000 * , 2000–2003 * , 2003–2006 * , 2006–2009 * , 2009–2013 * , 2013–2017 * , 2017–2021 *

Ria Berg Ria Berg is Director of the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae (Rome), also known as The Finnish Institute in Rome. The Finnish Institute is an academic institution that supports research in the Humanities, particularly in relation to Ancient History ...

, 2021–present

Bibliography

* ''Ianiculum. Gianicolo. Storia, topografia, monumenti, leggende dall'antichità fino al rinascimento'', ed. by Eva Margareta Steinby (1996) * ''La Villa Lante al Gianicolo'', ed. by Tancredi Carunchio and Simo Örma (2004)

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://irfrome.org/ Finland–Italy relations Ancient Roman studies Organisations based in Rome Villas in Rome Archaeological research institutes Research institutes established in 1954 Research institutes in Italy Science and technology in Finland