VILLA FARNESE, 
CAPRAROLA. 
ROM the broad plain of the Sabina, out of 
which Soracte rises in sudden isolation, 
the road ascends up the steep — slope, 
ending in a long, straight street leading 
through the little town, getting steeper and 
steeper, till right in front, towering in tremendous 
grandeur, the famous palace of the Farnese sits 
enthroned against the hillside, built upon huge, 
rock-like bastions which give it almost the effect 
of a fortress. 
The country-side here owned the Orsini as 
lords about the year 1200. The Farnese first 
came into notice in the fifteenth century with 
Cardinal Alexander Farnese and his two legitima- 
tised sons, Pier Luigi and Ranuccio, and soon 
gained splendour from the power and influence of 
Giulia Farnese, the mistress of Pope Alexander 
Borgia. Paul III. finally established the fortunes of 
the House when he became Pope, in 1534; his 
grand ideas of nepotism being his most distinguished 
characteristic. He created his nephew, Prince of 
Parma and Piacenza, and adding other Church lands, 
summed up the whole in the dukedom of Castro, 
and until the death of Pier Luigi, in 1547, the ducal 
residence was in Ronciglione. It appeared, how- 
ever, to be more in the interests of the House 
that its representative should live in the centre 
of this part of the estates, and Pier Luigi’s eldest 
son, Cardinal Alexander II., was therefore 
encouraged to build the palace of Caprarola. “It 
is Vignola’s great work,” says Ferguson. “The 
plan is unique, or nearly so, being a pentagon 
enclosing a circular court. The object 
of adopting this form was to give it a fortified or 
castellated appearance, as all citadels of that age 
were pentagons.” The five-sided plan gives the 
singular effect of two angles from every point of 
view, and the balustraded terrace and ascent, with 
what was formerly a drawbridge, give it an 
appearance of impregnable strength and solidity. 
The entrance admits to a circular court set 
round with pillars, and a magnificent round stair- 
case leads to the upper floor, from which open 
all the state rooms, decorated by the brothers 
Zuccaro, Tempesta, Pietro Bernini (the father of 
Lorenzo), and other minor artists. The three 
Zuccaro brothers came from Urbino, in 1543, 
I 
with the hope of emulating their great fellow- 
townsman, Raphael, and their talent satisfied the 
taste of the day for decorative work to an extent 
which procured them all the custom they could 
desire. They constituted a sort of firm which 
became known as the Zuccari. Taddeo was 
thirty-seven years the elder, and his is the best 
work. He lies buried in the Pantheon, with 
the epitaph written by his brother Federigo, 
“Tn death and in art resembling Raphael.” We 
need not quarrel with this definition, but content 
ourselves with admitting the appropriate feeling 
for decoration which has given such a rich, gay, 
and attractive appearance to these great halls, 
where pictures relating to the power and grandeur 
of the Farnese are set in frameworks of stucco 
looking like delicate lace, and airy and graceful 
“ grotesques.” 
These pictures are full of interest here, where 
all is so suggestive of the Farnese. The walls of 
the great Council Chamber have frescoes of all the 
towns that belonged to them, Parma, Piacenza, 
Castro, Vignola, Scarpellino, Capo di Monte, 
Camina, Ronciglione, Fabrica, Isola, and Caprarola. 
The chapel has old stained-glass windows. Another 
hall, “the Hall of the deeds of the Farnese,” 
is given up to the great events of the House. 
The marriage of Orazio Farnese with Diana, 
daughter of Henry II. of France, is represented, 
and that of Ottavio with a daughter of Charles V. 
All the characters in these and the other scenes 
are portraits, and in stiff gowns of gold brocade, or 
brocaded doublets and thick hose and ruffs, we see 
Catherine de Medici, Henry of Navarre, the Great 
Constable, the Dukes of Guise and Nemours, 
Mme. de Montpensier, and Mlle. de Rohan. 
Alessandro and Orazio are seen accompanying 
Charles V. on a campaign against the Lutherans ; 
and in the bearers of the canopy held over the 
Emperor’s head we have portraits of the three 
brothers Zuccari. Paul III., who took such care 
of his family, is shown appointing Pietro Farnese 
Commander of the Papal Forces, and Orazio 
Governor of Rome. Ranuccio receives the Golden 
Rose from his uncle, and the Pope himself is 
portrayed presiding at the Council of ‘Trent, 
making peace between Francis I. and Charles V., 
