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The Twilight of Rome's Papal Nobility by Ugo Boncompagni Ludovisi (Hardback)
£58.00
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781978840867
Published:
11 Mar 2025
Format:
Hardback
Number of pages:
334 pages
Dimensions:
203x127mm
Weight:
0.454kgs
Author:
The Twilight of Rome's Nobility provides an intimate look at an illustrious family who grew up surrounded by almost unimaginable wealth and power. A tender elegy to a bygone era, this book offers a first-hand account of late nineteenth-century Italy's social upheavals as the family's vast Villa Ludovisi was lost.
Today anyone can walk along Via Veneto in Rome and experience Italy's famed La Dolce Vita. However, it was once private property, part of Villa Ludovisi, and possessed of an altogether different culture. It was owned by the Boncompagni Ludovisi, an illustrious Roman noble family, descended directly from Pope Gregory XIII. They acquired the villa in the 1600s, and ultimately expanded it to sixty-two acres. However, by the late 1800s, the economic and social upheaval that accompanied the unification of Italy resulted in the villa's subdivision, and the family's loss of all but one of its properties, Villa Aurora, which still houses masterpieces by Caravaggio and Guercino, among others.
The Twilight of Rome's Papal Nobility provides an intimate look at this family's life and times. In its pages, privately published in Italian in 1921 and newly translated into English, Ugo Boncompagni Ludovisi recounts the story of his mother, Agnese. He illuminates how she lived, surrounded by almost unimaginable wealth and power, as her public life became increasingly tumultuous amid the family's struggles to retain its property. In this tender elegy to a bygone era, we follow in the footsteps of the uniquely Roman papal nobility that shaped the history and culture of both the city and nation.
The Twilight of Rome's Papal Nobility provides an intimate look at this family's life and times. In its pages, privately published in Italian in 1921 and newly translated into English, Ugo Boncompagni Ludovisi recounts the story of his mother, Agnese. He illuminates how she lived, surrounded by almost unimaginable wealth and power, as her public life became increasingly tumultuous amid the family's struggles to retain its property. In this tender elegy to a bygone era, we follow in the footsteps of the uniquely Roman papal nobility that shaped the history and culture of both the city and nation.
About the Author: UGO BONCOMPAGNI LUDOVISI (1856-1935), the eldest son of Rodolfo Boncompagni Ludovisi and Agnese Borghese Boncompagni Ludovisi, was the progenitor of the current Boncompagni Ludovisi dynasty. Twice widowed, he ultimately joined the priesthood and held the influential position of Vice Camerlengo at the Vatican. As the founder of the Scacciadiavoli winery, he introduced innovative wine-making techniques to Italy. CAROL COFONE is a translator and assistant director of the Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi. T. COREY BRENNAN is a professor of classics at Rutgers University and director of the Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi. His books include The Fasces: A History of Ancient Rome's Most Dangerous Political Symbol and Sabina Augusta: An Imperial Journey. HSH PRINCESS RITA BONCOMPAGNI LUDOVISI is the cofounder of the Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi and coauthor (with T. Corey Brennan) of the forthcoming Villa Ludovisi: A Biography.
| Number of pages | 334 |
|---|
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