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Hadrian's Villa
All museum of note in the world have something from Hadrian's Villa. The Emperor did not live long enough to enjoy the place created by his genius and originality, in the last months of his life, he went to die at Baiae, (138 A.D.) on the sunny Bay of Naples, where he composed his address to his Soul, the famous five lines later to be written on his grave: Animula, vagula, blandula, Hospes comesque corporis, Quae nunc abibis in loca, Pallidula, rigida, nudula, Nec ut soles dabis jocos? By Charles Merivale we have a very accurate translation:
Soul of mine, pretty one, flitting one, Guest and partner of my clay, Whither wilt thou hie away, Pallid one, rigid one, naked one Never to play again, never to play?
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The model of the Villa Adriana, recently made, and which we'll see first, will help us to visualise its
original appearance. There we see the reproduction' of the 25 buildings which formed the residence and in which, according to tradition, the Emperor wished to reproduce outstanding monuments from the various parts of the Empire. Although there is no evidence of these buildings being replicas of others, some resemblance can be found in some of them. The huge wall, standing nearby, sustained the roof of the long covered walk of the perystile with a central pool, named Poecile, from the famous portico of Athens which was decorated with paintings by the most prominent Greek artists. As soon as we find ourselves beyond the long honeycombed tufa wall, we realise the enchantment of Villa Adriana, we are in a real classical landscape with ruins, one of the places which inspired the English landscaped parks, and which also gave inspiration to the painters of half Europe. This is perhaps the reason why Hadrian's Villa holds an immediate, magic appeal for the visitor. Throughout the ruins the predominant characteristic will be its interpenetration of vegetation and ruins similar to the original very close asso
ciation of house and garden, as we saw in the model. For a serious study of Roman architecture there are places, such as Pompei and Ancient Ostia, where buildings are in a much better state of preservation, but much pleasure, I believe, can be gained simply by wandering through the ruins of Villa Adriana, without any knowledge of them. The pathetic remains of these buildings, the broken columns, the fragments of antique reliefs and mosaics, or marble floors, lying half concealed by the colored carpet of field flowers, will console the layman for the difficulty of identifying the component parts of Hadrian's varying architectural lines. We'll continue as far as the Canopo inspired by a place of that name near Alexandria in Egypt (a valley with a canal lined with porticoes and shops), and decorated with Greek cariatides.
The only part of Hadrian's Villa to retain any evidence of its past splendour is the Teatro Marittirno (the Maritime Theater), built in the form of a circular portico, enriched by the Ionic columns and showing most perfect proportions. It lies between the Libraries and the Hall of the Greek Philosophers. Emperor Hadrian had filled this place with innumerable works of art, and already in the late period of the Empire, the plundering started and continued for centuries; a real gold mine for archaeologists.
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