o wander around the hallowed halls of Villa Albani-Torlonia in Rome, being surrounded by its vast collection of art and antiquities numbering to the hundreds—a collection that includes masterpieces even top museums would be grateful to possess—was a privilege that one will remember for as long as time allows. Lauded as the cradle of neoclassicism, this villa has survived 275 years of history under the auspices of Fondazione Torlonia, its sprawling grounds of towering pine woods and oak-lined avenues leading to an exquisite parterre.
Commissioned in 1747 by Cardinal Alessandro Albani, who had an impressive collection of classical art, the villa’s interiors are frescoed in marble. Desiring to stay true to French philosopher René Descartes’ maxim of never leaving any space empty, the cardinal also had it filled to the brim with sculptures, mosaics and stuccoes over floors, walls and ceilings
