In One of Rome’s Most Famed and Neglected Villas, Centuries-Old Risqué Frescoes, Painted Over by Nuns, Have Reappeared

In the shadow of Rome’s Colosseum, restorers are making progress on a monthslong effort to return a long-neglected 16th-century residence, regarded as one of Italy’s finest historical palazzos, to its former glory. The Villa Silvestri Rivaldi, built atop ancient Roman structures between 1534 and 1547 by a chamberlain of Pope Paul III, has a storied past. Immediately following its construction, it was home to such high-profile figures as Cardinals Lanfranco Margotti and Carlo Emanuele Pio, and members of the Colonna and Medici dynasties—Alessandro de’ Medici, who would go on to become Pope Leo XI, among them.

In the 17th century, the building was transformed into a convent, then a textile factory. It eventually became a welfare institution and finally a school. Its scale made it an attractive place to be.

The complex comprises nearly 50,000 square feet of interior space and some 27,000 square feet of outdoor gardens and courtyards. But its beauty began to fade when it was abandoned in the 20th century—its green space was bulldozed by Benito Mussolini, Artnet’s Alina Cohen reports—and its rich history has since been overshadowed by many popular adjacent attractions, including the Temple of Peace, the Imperial Forums and the Colosseum. Late last year, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced a roughly $40 million project to restore the residence.

This included its sale from the state to the Lazio region for $30 million and the preparation of an open-air revival. The restoration’s first phase, evidenced today by ample construction scaffolding, is meant to stabilize weak floorboards, rebuild crumbling ceilings, and clean the massive, once-colorful frescoes inside that have fallen into disrepair, the Times’ James Imam reported in December. Stretching wall to wall and across ceilings, centuries-old scenes of battles, soldiers, Christ and angels—some made by painters from the school of Raphael—are being refreshed with advanced techniques, such as laser cleaning.

In places, conservators are uncovering images of nude gods and goddesses that were painted over by nuns and church leaders who deemed them too risqué. But at the time the building was owned by a religious order, and they didn’t have the funds to restore it.” The villa’s restoration isn’t only about ancient history. In the late 20th century, the abandoned complex became a de facto venue for squatting musicians and their guests, including visiting jazz drummer Marvin “Bugalu” Smith, and was at one point the scene of a kidnapping: A communist group with ties to the Red Brigades held a local butcher there until he agreed to offer inexpensive meat to Rome’s poor residents.

His work, which often centers on freshwater issues, climate change and subsistence, has appeared in Circle of Blue, Sierra magazine, Discover magazine and Alaska Sporting Journal.