| This dissertation explores the character of Roman villeggiatura in the early seventeenth century, taking as its focus the hill-town of Frascati. In particular, this study examines high-style villa culture within the circle of the papal court, which, for almost two decades, was centered upon the Villa Mondragone. Cardinal Scipione Borghese established a rural seat for himself and his uncle, Pope Paul V, a Vatican in the countryside where leisure and diplomacy intersected. With the Mondragone, the Borghese developed a new kind of villa, at once a rural retreat, a palace, and a "castello." The estate accommodated villeggiatura, the official life of the court, as well as social ambition. Of Sienese origin, the Borghese sought to establish the family as Roman. This thesis argues that the form and function of the Mondragone was closely tied to the changing character of Roman society in this period, as a new papal nobility increasingly replaced the old baronial aristocracy.;This study concerns the expression of Borghese aspirations, giving particular attention to the role of the cardinal-nephew as patron, diplomat, and head of family in seicento Rome. It considers the ways in which dynastic imagery was embedded in the Mondragone. Seeking to underscore their romanitas, the Borghese chose Frascati for its proximity to Tusculum, a locus of villeggiatura in antiquity that attracted Cicero and Lucullus, among other notables. The ancient past assumed concrete form in the foundations of the Mondragone, which rested upon the remains of the Villa of the Quintili. Moreover, Scipione employed classical architectural forms, amassed a collection of antiquities, and engaged in activities modeled on Roman rituals. At the same time, in his shaping of the grounds and in his acquisition of nearby farms and fiefs, Scipione absorbed medieval tradition. The Mondragone was a productive estate and land was essential to the family's long-term financial strategy, but the overriding purpose of the villa was the presentation of the Borghese as landowners akin to the Roman barons, who had dominated the Campagna since medieval times. |
