Rome: detailed plan of the Vigna Grimani on the Quirinal Hill, before 1624

Artist/Maker

DatesMade: Made ca 1600

Material / Technique

Dimensionsh x w: 43,4 x 56,4 cm uppklistrad på bakgrundspapper

Inventory numberNMH CC 563

AcqusitionDonated 1941 by Eric Langenskiöld. Formerly in the Cronstedt collection, Fullerö

Other titlesTitle (sv): Plan till tomtreglering för ett ännu omkring 1600 obebyggt område på Quirinalen, Rom Title (en): Rome: detailed plan of the Vigna Grimani on the Quirinal Hill, before 1624 Previous: Land Registry Map for an Area at the Quirinale, Rome, Still Vacant around 1600

DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Bortolozzi, Italian Architectural Drawings from the Cronstedt Collection, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2020 (cat.no. 154) unknown Italian draughtsman, first quarter of the 17th century Pen and brown ink over black chalk, pale brown and light brown wash, straightedge and freehand, 43.4 × 56.4/54.8 cm NM H CC 563 PAPER: two sheets joined in the middle and subsequently laid on to a secondary support of fine late 17th-century French writing paper using a starch paste WATERMARK: Lion 21 WATERMARK OF THE MOUNTING SHEET: Chaplet 10 INSCRIPTIONS: Inscriptions from upper to bottom edge and from left to right, in pen and brown ink: Strada Grimana alias Rasella, pende a ragione di oncie nove per canna; Sabbatina di maestro Antonio Muratore, paga di canone ducati 5, 93; Case di Bitrio Sansonetti paga di canone ducati 20, 87 ½; Sito aperto di Monsignor Grimani (properties facing via Rasella); Strada Felice, pende a ragione di oncie undici per canna; Giovanni Maria Zaccaria ferraro paga di canone ducati 18, 73; Michelengelo de Petris paga di canone ducati 14, 8; Costantino Tombella paga di canone ducati 12, 26; Cesareo Montano paga di canone ducati 15, 71; Camillo Bino paga di canone ducati 10, 87; Casilla Magnana paga di canone ducati 11; Innocenza Isabetti paga di canone ducati 18, 84; Sito aperto e casino di Monsignor Grimani, pigione ducati 85; Domenico de Desiderii, paga di canone ducati 6, 50; Giardino e case di Ortensia Paolazza, paga di canone ducati 21,66; Sito aperto dinanzi al Duca Sforza, paga di canone -- (properties facing the strada Felice); Strada Pia, sale a ragione di oncie una e minuti tre per canna: Giardino e casa degli heredi di Dionisio Ottosada paga di ricognitione tre para di capponi; Giardino e casa del signor conte Cantalmaggio, paga di canone ducati 32; Seconda concessione a Claodio Maone pasticciero, paga di canone ducati 27 e baiocchi 52; Prima concessione a Claodio Maone pasticciero, paga di canone ducati 20 e baiocchi 45 (properties facing Via Pia); Sito aperto per dare a canone di monsignor Grimani; Linea del confino fra li signori Estensi e monsignor Grimani; taglio della strada nuova stabilito tra li signori Estensi e monsignor Grimani; Scala di palmi 500; Giardino de signori Estensi (in the garden site); various measurements MEASUREMENTS: Roman palmi; vertical scale at the lower right edge, with 500 palmi = 28.4 cmPROVENANCE: Carl Johan Cronstedt and descendants; Eric Langenskiöld; gift to the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm 1941 BIBLIOGRAPHY: Langenskiöld, Moselius 1942, 70, Cat. no. 335; Langenskiöld 1943, pl. IX, a EXHIBITED: Langenskiöld, Moselius 1942, 70, Cat. no. 335 The plan drawing shows the Vigna (vineyard, garden) Grimani and its bordering properties on the Quirinal Hill c. 1620: to the west the Vigna of Cardinal Alessandro d’Este (sold to the Camera Apostolica on 13 May 1624); to the south the Strada (road) Grimana or Rasella; to the east the Strada Felice (Via delle Quattro Fontane) and to the north Via Pia. The Venetian patrician Antonio Grimani and his son Cardinal Domenico purchased the Roman family estate next to the Vigna La Bertina, later owned by the Boccacci family, at the beginning of the 1500s. The building work on the villa and its casino was begun before 1505, also resulting in a wealth of antiquities that formed the nucleus of the family collections. In 1539, Cardinal Marino Grimani, heir to the Vigna, extended the property by purchasing a small adjacent estate on the Alta Semita, later Via Pia. After 1561, Giovanni Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia (Venice 1506–1593), and his heirs were often absentee landlords who let their villa. The opening of the Strada Felice in 1586–87 cut off a major part of the north-east corner of the Vigna Grimani and the isolated section was incorporated into the adjacent Vigna Sforza. In the drawing a large part of the estate, and particularly the land bordering on the three public streets, is referred to as let to individuals. Each plot is labelled with the name of the tenant and the monthly rent. On the western edge, at the side of the Este Garden, a street is traced which was to be constructed in agreement with the Este family (see Cat. no. 153). The garden and casino still used by monsignor Antonio Grimani was reached through a monumental gateway on the Strada Felice, in front of an open space let by the Sforza family. Most likely the portal, characterised in plan by two detached columns, is the one designed and built by Giacomo Della Porta in c. 1561 for the Vigna Grimani (see Cat. no. 116). Given by several sources as located on Via Pia, the gate might have been moved to the Strada Felice after 1587. The garden of the Grimani was finally purchased by the Camera Apostolica on 12 June 1625 (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Camerale I, Giustificazioni di Tesoreria, 56, fasc. 22) and was then incorporated into the Papal Gardens. LITERATURE: Schwager 1975, 131 and fig. 10; Coffin 1979, 193–195; Frommel 1999; Zampa 2013 [end]

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