ROSSI, Mariano
(b. 1731, Sciacca, d. 1807, Roma)

Ceiling decoration

1775
Fresco
Casino of Villa Borghese, Rome

The picture shows the fresco on the ceiling of the entry hall of the Villa Borghese, depicting the Legend of Furius Camillus.

The great hall of the Casino in the Villa Borghese, whose exquisite interiors were remodeled in a refined Neoclassical style by Antonio Asprucci, was adorned with a ceiling fresco that constitute a brilliant finale to the Baroque idiom, by that time altogether passé in Rome. The pictorial program takes up the theme of the classical forebears that great Roman families had so successfully invoked to create historical legitimacy for themselves. The Sicilian painter Mariano Rossi blended the legend of the victorious hero Furius Camillus with an allegory on Rome, its founders, its virtues, and its glory.