"Ehrlich succeeds in establishing both what was accomplished at the Villa Mondragone and how the cultural resources available in early modern Rome were used to make it happen." Renaissance Quarterly
"[A] hefty and handsome volume with wonderfully informative illustrations of the villa culture at Frascati...Even if you have little interest in architecture, the way this scholar keeps buildings linked with sociodynamics will hold your attention and win your admiration." Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance
"Well researched..." Landscape Architecture
"This scholarly but entertaining tome--relatively jargon-free--is brimming with photos, estate maps and bird's-eye views of the Frascati region." Wall Street Journal
"This fine book exemplifies the potential richness of a truly contextual history of an architechtural program. Highly recommended." Choice
"Ehrlich's insightful analysis has covered much new ground...Ehrlich has marshaled a broad range of disciplinary techniques to make such an exploration possibleand has demonstrated the richness and incisiveness that are possible when art historians give serious attention to the needs, desires, and visions of a patron." - CAA Reviews, J. Nicholas Napoli, Rutgers University
Product Description
Throughout the early modern period, the villas of Frascati played a central role in Roman social politics. New families penetrated Roman society and began to climb from the ranks of the ecclesiastical nobility into the secular aristocracy in the mid-sixteenth century. In this study, Tracy Ehrlich analyzes one such villa--the Villa Mondragone--(built by Pope Paul V Borghese) to demonstrate how architecture, landscape and rituals of villegiatura (villa life) were used to forge a new identity as a Roman noble house.
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