Hadrian's Villa is about half an hour outside Rome, the country residence of Emperor Hadrian. He was the philhellene "par excellence" and he recreated in his magnificent villa d'otium his dream of a Greek world of beauty and perfection. He offered it as a tribute to the memory of his lover, Antinous who appears among the statues of the Greek Gods, the most handsome of all.
The various pavilions, theatres, pools and colonnades reminded him (in his rare moments of relaxation) of his vast empire in which he loved to travel so much. The villa and its surrounding parks and gardens were sumptuously decorated with statues, relics and mosaics. From the middle ages it became a rich quarry for works of art and building materials and many of the world's major collections (including the British Museum) can trace part of their collections back to this incredible, palatial villa. |
