The Palazzo della Farnesina is an Italian government building located between

Monte Mario Monte Mario (English: Mount Mario or Mount Marius) is the hill that rises in the north-west area of Rome (Italy), on the right bank of the Tiber, crossed by the Via Trionfale. It occupies part of Balduina, of the territory of Municipio Roma I ...

and the

Tiber River The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...

in the

Foro Italico Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini's Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti. Inspire ...

area in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Designed in 1935, it has housed the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since its completion in 1959. A reference to "La Farnesina" is often to be intended as a

metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name ...

for the hosted institution, namely the Ministry itself.

Structure

The nine story building was designed in 1935 by architects

Enrico Del Debbio Enrico Del Debbio (26 May 1891 – 12 July 1973) was an Italian architect and university professor. Born at Carrara, he studied in the Fine Art Academy there specializing in architecture. He moved to Rome in 1914 where he won several architec ...

, Arnaldo Foschini and Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo. It was originally designated to be the headquarters of Italy's

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

. Construction was halted in 1943 and throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The facade consists of

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

. Though this type of facade is commonly linked to the rationalist style of

Giuseppe Terragni Giuseppe Terragni (; 18 April 1904 – 19 July 1943) was an Italian architect who worked primarily under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and pioneered the Italian modern movement under the rubric of Rationalism. His most famous work is the ...

, it is, in this case, derived from contemporary fascist ideals. The building consists of more than 1,300 rooms, is 169 meters in width, and 51 meters tall, and has a total internal volume of approximately 720,000 cubic meters. It is comparable in size to the

Caserta Palace The Royal Palace of Caserta ( it, Reggia di Caserta ) is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as their main residence as kings of Naples. It is the largest palace erected in Europe ...

and is one of the largest buildings in Italy. The Palazzo della Farnesina was completed in 1959, varying only slightly from its original design. Upon completion, it consolidated the 13 separate offices of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since completion of the building, the word "Farnesina" has been used synonymously to refer to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its name comes from the land on which it rises, the area between Monte Mario and the Tiber, which were called the

Farnese Gardens The Farnese Gardens ( it, Orti Farnesiani sul Palatino), or "Gardens of Farnese upon the Palatine", are a garden in Rome, central Italy, created in 1550 on the northern portion of Palatine Hill, by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. They were the fir ...

(Orti della Farnesina) due to the ownership of

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

who was originally named Alessandro Farnese. The building should not be confused with the 16th-century

Villa Farnesina The Villa Farnesina is a Renaissance suburban villa in the Via della Lungara, in the district of Trastevere in Rome, central Italy. Description The villa was built for Agostino Chigi, a rich Sienese banker and the treasurer of Pope Julius II. B ...

, also often called simply "the Farnesina," in

Via della Lungara Via della Lungara is a street that links Via di Porta Settimiana to Piazza della Rovere in Rome (Italy), in the Rione Trastevere. History and name In the 16th century, Pope Julius II opened the new ''via recta'' ("straight road") that cut throug ...

Art collection

In 1999 the Directorate General for Promotion and Cultural Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched an initiative to allow public access to the collections of the Palazzo della Farnesina. This was done by opening galleries and collections to the public via a series of exhibitions with a focus on 20th century

Italian art Since ancient times, Greeks, Etruscans and Celts have inhabited the south, centre and north of the Italian peninsula respectively. The very numerous rock drawings in Valcamonica are as old as 8,000 BC, and there are rich remains of Etruscan art ...

. The Farnesina Collection trace the history of twentieth-century Italian art through

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects suc ...

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 1 ...

, Arte Povera,

Transavantgarde Transavantgarde or Transavanguardia is the Italian version of Neo-expressionism, an art movement that swept through Italy and the rest of Western Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s. The term ''transavanguardia'' was coined by the Italian art criti ...

, and the

New Roman School New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. In 2008, the collection of Italian art of the Farnesina was augmented by a new collection consisting of the works of the most recent generations of Italian artists. The new Farnesina Experimenta Collection was inaugurated on 5 July 2008 at the time of ''Open Doors at the Farnesina''. On March 13, 2009 at

Villa Madama Villa Madama is a Renaissance-style rural palace (villa) located on Via di Villa Madama #250 in Rome, Italy. Located west of the city center and a few miles north of the Vatican, and just south of the Foro Olimpico Stadium. Even though incomplete, ...

, the

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

, Franco Frattini, Minister for Culture,

Sandro Bondi Sandro Bondi (born 14 May 1959) is an Italian politician. He served as minister of culture from 2008 to 2011, in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. Biography Bondi was born in Fivizzano, province of Massa-Carrara, Italy. He first attended school at Lau ...

, and the Minister of Economic Development,

Claudio Scajola Claudio Scajola (; born 15 January 1948 in Imperia) is an Italian politician, current Mayor of Imperia. Career A long-time Christian Democrat, he was Mayor of Imperia during a short period in the 1980s and from 1990 to 1995, as his father and h ...

announced a third collection entitled the ''Farnesina Design Collection''. Simona Martini
''Le eccellenze del Made in Italy esposte nella Collezione Farnesina Design''
«ifatti.com», 12 March 2009.

Notes and references

Sources

External links

Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Collection of Contemporary Italian Art.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farnesina, Palazzo Della Government buildings completed in 1959 Farnesina Art museums and galleries in Rome Italian fascist architecture Rome Q. XV Della Vittoria

Structure

Art collection

See also

Notes and references

Sources

External links