Torlonia Vase
Encyclopedia
The Torlonia Vase or Cesi-Albani-Torlonia Vase is a colossal and celebrated neo-Attic
Roman white marble vase, 1.8 m tall, made in the 1st century BCE, which has passed through several prominent collections of antiquities
before coming into the possession of the Princes Torlonia
in Rome
.
The vase is of calyx krater
shape, with a high frieze carved with a Bacchic symposium
and an everted rim, standing on a gadrooned base imitative of metalwork. It has three handles, joined to the body with bearded satyr
s' masks. It stands on three lion's legs, and a triangular base, all provided for it in the 16th century. For centuries, until the discovery of the Tazza Albani, it was the largest in diameter of known antique vases.
The whereabouts of the vase can be traced through the interest it incited in artists, starting in the 16th century, when the vase was drilled to serve as a garden fountain. The earliest visual documentation is a drawing by Giuliano da Sangallo
in the Barberini Codex, Vatican Library
, made after 1488, which bears an inscription of its location, at Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
, Rome. Amico Aspertini
also made a drawing of the vase, but giving a location a santo francesco in tristeuaro. At any rate, by the time it was drawn by Maarten van Heemskerck in the 1530s the vase had been erected in the garden of Cardinal Paolo Emilio Cesi, on the northern slope of the Janiculum
near St Peter's Basilica. A statue of Silenus
emptying water from a wineskin into the vase, which had been drilled for use as a fountain, was associated with it. Ulisse Aldrovandi
described it in a new, central position in the Cesi garden in 1550, with the Silenus standing inside the bowl of the vase; this revision was probably carried out for Cardinal Francesco Cesi. Towards the end of the 16th century the contents of the Cesi garden began to be dispersed, and no further artistic record of the vase was made until the 18th century, when both the vase and the Silenus were purchased by Alessandro Albani. Luca Leoncini suggests the possibility that the vase had been in the Palazzo del Drago 'alle Quattro Fontane
, which Albani purchased from the heirs of Cardinal Camillo Massimi, with all its contents.
In 1760 Albani moved it to his newly built Villa Albani, where the vase at first was a feature in the hall of the caffè, then in the villa's Porticus Romae. There, in Cardinal Albani's much-visited collection, it provided a model for the Piranesi Vase
, a pastiche
composed of various antique fragments and modern elements created by Giovanni Battista Piranesi
.
When the Albani collection was eventually inherited by the Castelbarco family, the vase was resited in the villa's casina. In 1869 Prince Alessandro Torlonia, having inherited the collection, moved the vase to his private museum, leaving the Silenus at the Villa Albani.
A comparable neo-Attic marble vase was unearthed in fragmented condition near the Ospedale Santo Spirito, on the Lungotevere in Sassia, Rome, in 1929. It is conserved in the Museo Nazionale Romano.
Neo-Attic
Neo-Attic or Atticizing is a sculptural style, beginning in Hellenistic sculpture and vase-painting of the 2nd century BCE and climaxing in Roman art of the 2nd century CE, copying, adapting or closely following the style shown in reliefs and statues of the Classical and Archaic periods...
Roman white marble vase, 1.8 m tall, made in the 1st century BCE, which has passed through several prominent collections of antiquities
Antiquities
Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures...
before coming into the possession of the Princes Torlonia
Torlonia
200px|thumb|Coat of arms of the House of Torlonia.The princes Torlonia are an Italian noble family from Rome, who acquired a huge fortune in the 18th and 19th centuries through administering the finances of the Vatican.-History:...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
The vase is of calyx krater
Krater
A krater was a large vase used to mix wine and water in Ancient Greece.-Form and function:...
shape, with a high frieze carved with a Bacchic symposium
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
and an everted rim, standing on a gadrooned base imitative of metalwork. It has three handles, joined to the body with bearded satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
s' masks. It stands on three lion's legs, and a triangular base, all provided for it in the 16th century. For centuries, until the discovery of the Tazza Albani, it was the largest in diameter of known antique vases.
The whereabouts of the vase can be traced through the interest it incited in artists, starting in the 16th century, when the vase was drilled to serve as a garden fountain. The earliest visual documentation is a drawing by Giuliano da Sangallo
Giuliano da Sangallo
Giuliano da Sangallo was an Italian sculptor, architect and military engineer active during the Italian Renaissance.He was born in Florence. His father Francesco Giamberti was a woodworker and architect, much employed by Cosimo de Medici, and his brother Antonio da Sangallo the Elder and nephew...
in the Barberini Codex, Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
, made after 1488, which bears an inscription of its location, at Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th century church in Rome, Italy, devoted to Saint Cecilia, in the Trastevere rione.-History:The first church on this site was founded probably in the 3rd century, by Pope Urban I; it was devoted to the Roman martyr Cecilia, martyred it is said under Marcus...
, Rome. Amico Aspertini
Amico Aspertini
Amico Aspertini is an Italian Renaissance painter whose complex, eccentric, and eclectic style anticipates Mannerism. He is considered among the first of the Bolognese School of painting.-Biography:...
also made a drawing of the vase, but giving a location a santo francesco in tristeuaro. At any rate, by the time it was drawn by Maarten van Heemskerck in the 1530s the vase had been erected in the garden of Cardinal Paolo Emilio Cesi, on the northern slope of the Janiculum
Janiculum
The Janiculum is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although the second-tallest hill in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the proverbial Seven Hills of Rome, being west of the Tiber and outside the boundaries of the ancient city.-Sights:The Janiculum is one of the...
near St Peter's Basilica. A statue of Silenus
Silenus
In Greek mythology, Silenus was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus.-Evolution of the character:The original Silenus resembled a folklore man of the forest with the ears of a horse and sometimes also the tail and legs of a horse...
emptying water from a wineskin into the vase, which had been drilled for use as a fountain, was associated with it. Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carolus Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history studies...
described it in a new, central position in the Cesi garden in 1550, with the Silenus standing inside the bowl of the vase; this revision was probably carried out for Cardinal Francesco Cesi. Towards the end of the 16th century the contents of the Cesi garden began to be dispersed, and no further artistic record of the vase was made until the 18th century, when both the vase and the Silenus were purchased by Alessandro Albani. Luca Leoncini suggests the possibility that the vase had been in the Palazzo del Drago 'alle Quattro Fontane
Quattro Fontane
The Quattro Fontane is a group of four Late Renaissance fountains located at the intersection of Via delle Quattro Fontane and Via del Quirinale in Rome. They were commissioned by Pope Sixtus V and built at the direction of Muzio Mattei; installed between 1588 and 1593...
, which Albani purchased from the heirs of Cardinal Camillo Massimi, with all its contents.
In 1760 Albani moved it to his newly built Villa Albani, where the vase at first was a feature in the hall of the caffè, then in the villa's Porticus Romae. There, in Cardinal Albani's much-visited collection, it provided a model for the Piranesi Vase
Piranesi Vase
The Piranesi Vase or Boyd Vase is a reconstructed colossal ancient Roman marble calyx krater on three legs and a triangular base, with a relief around the sides of the vase. It is 107 inches tall and 28 inches in diameter...
, a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
composed of various antique fragments and modern elements created by Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" .-His Life:...
.
When the Albani collection was eventually inherited by the Castelbarco family, the vase was resited in the villa's casina. In 1869 Prince Alessandro Torlonia, having inherited the collection, moved the vase to his private museum, leaving the Silenus at the Villa Albani.
A comparable neo-Attic marble vase was unearthed in fragmented condition near the Ospedale Santo Spirito, on the Lungotevere in Sassia, Rome, in 1929. It is conserved in the Museo Nazionale Romano.