Antichità a Villa Mondragone al tempo dei Borghese. La villa antica e la villa nuova

Since 1613, when the villa – formerly belonged to the Altemps family – became part of the Status Tusculanus of the Borghese family, many ancient artworks (inscribed. bases, statues, portraits, sarcophagi) were housed in the rooms and in the outdoor spaces, according to a decorative programme promoted by Cardinal Scipione and remained unchanged for a long time. However, the spoliation that the residence underwent during the 19th century due to family, political and economic events (transfers to the Casino of Porta Pinciana, looting by Austrian troops, robberies, sales) determined the lost of the antiques, almost completely disappeared when the property was sold to the Jesuits in 1896. By considering archival, graphic, documentary and archaeological sources, the setting-up was retraced with the aim of identifying the antiquities that adorned the villa and its gardens and verifying their possible relations with the ancient Tuscolan territory, as the modern villa occupied the area of a sumptuous Roman villa dating back to the Quintili brothers, Sextus Condianus and Sextus Valerius Maximus, wealthy politicians who lived in the 2nd century AD.