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The impressive and princely villa was owned by Silvio Passerini
(1496-1529). A follower of the Medici family, under their influence he
began a brilliant career, which, however, was to result in misfortune
in the final years of his life.
The plans for the villa were undertaken by the painter, architect and
poet Giovan Battista Caporali (1476?-1560?), pupil of Perugino, a
friend of the great artists of the period and teacher of Galeazzo
Alessi.
The interior decorator, perhaps in conjunction with Caporali himself,
was Tommaso Bernabei, otherwise known as `Il Papacello' (+1559), famous
for being Signorelli's best scholar and for having worked in Rome with
Giulio Romano and later, in Perugia, at the Palazzo dei Priori.
The villa is splendidly positioned halfway down the slope,
approximately at an equal distance from Cortona and S. Angelo a
Metelliano. Viewing it from the outside, the visitor will find it hard
to believe that the villa was constructed in the sixteenth century, as
the style of the building, particularly the tower with its double
battlements, evokes the middle ages, and the overall effect is that of
a small fortress rather than of a villa. Its belated style lends the
villa a particular dignity and suggests solidity and unity: dominating
and austere, it is without embellishments.
The building covers an area of 856,280 square metres, measuring 70
metres in length and 27 in breadth. The height of the tower is 48
metres, the drawing room is 15 by 7.20 metres, and the courtyard, with
a portico and an elegant renaissance well, measures 17 by 10 metres.
A spiral staircase leads to the grand stone doorway that bears the coat
of arms of the Passerini family (of which the upper section houses the
insignia of the Medici family) sculpted in its keystone.
The interior of the villa is similarly understated and awesome, yet its
architecture is more developed. The ground floor was largely reserved
for the stables. The main living areas are on the top floor: the
drawing room, the Billiards room, the Cardinal's room and the chapel.
Of these the drawing room is the most prestigious. The upper walls are
decorated with 16 2-metre squared frescoes by Papacello, depicting
episodes from Roman history and legend. On the lower walls are painted
16 stunning trompe-l'oeil, remarkable for their verisimilitude, fugues
of pillars and background landscapes, and for their visual effect and
warm tonalities.
The Cardinal's room is situated at the back, to the east, and is
decorated with a trompe-l'oeil of pillars and rural scenes. The centre
of the ceiling depicts Apollo on his cart and four horses, surrounded
by the signs of the zodiac and the four seasons.
The furnishing of the Palazzone consists of numerous and noteworthy
pieces of furniture and artwork: paintings (originals and copies),
settles, sixteenth century wardrobes and chairs, mirrors, knick-knacks,
clocks, fine beds and sofas, etruscan urns and all kinds of curiosities.
Nor should one forget the beautiful inner courtyard with its
renaissance portico and central well. An Italian style garden with an
open portico can be found behind the building.
The chapel reveals the last work of L. Signorelli, The Baptism of
Jesus, a fresco which the great artist was unable to complete, because
he fell from the scaffolding whilst painting. The work was completed by
his apprentices.
The building was recently donated by count Lorenzo Passerini and today belongs to the Scuola Normale Superiore.
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