where the painters found their models

Anticoli Corrado

Anticoli Corrado is a town of less than a thousand inhabitants, located on the top of a hill overlooking the lower valley of the Aniene (Anio in Latin), a river called in the past Teverone, because it joined the Tibur (Tevere) near Ponte Milvio. Anticoli derives from the Latin ante colles which means opposite the hills because it faces the Appennines, the range of mountains which divide the Italian peninsula. Corrado is a reference to the Count Corrado d'Antiochia, son of Frederick, illegitimate son of the German Emperor Frederick II, of the Hohenstaufen family also called Frederick of Swabia, after the German region near the border of Switzerland, where the Hohenstaufens had their initial possessions. In 1268 Corrado d'Antiochia fought with his cousin Conradin of Swabia against Charles of Anjou. They were defeated at Tagliacozzo, not far from Anticoli; Conradin fled towards Rome and eventually he tried to reach Pisa by sea, but he was betrayed at Astura and handed over to Charles of Anjou. Corrado d'Antiochia continued the fight of the Swabians against Charles of Anjou leading a revolt in Sicily and threatening from Anticoli the nearby Anjou possessions. Antiochia is a city of the Ancient World near the border between Turkey and Syria. It was conquered by the crusaders during the First Crusade and it became the capital of a little independent state until 1268. The Hohenstaufens had some legal rights to it.

The lower Aniene valley

Anticoli became known in the XIXth century because its young inhabitants used to pose as models for the community of artists living near Piazza di Spagna. Some artists eventually went to see the birthplace of their models and found Anticoli a very picturesque site to the point of living there for some time. The town attracted artists until World War II. Anticoli and some of the neighbouring towns (shown in this page) were portrayed in many paintings. Anticoli can be reached from Tivoli following Via Tiburtina Valeria.

View of the valley from Anticoli and an old Roman bridge crossing the Aniene

The development of the valley owes a lot to the Emperor Nero, who built a large villa in the upper valley of the Aniene, at a location known as Sublaqueum (today the town of Subiaco) named after the three artificial lakes embellishing the villa of the Emperor. The development was also due to the Anio Novus an aqueduct built by the Emperor Claudius, but extended by Trajan to reach the lakes of Subiaco. The road which departs from Via Tiburtina Valeria to reach Anticoli Corrado crosses the Aniene on an ancient Roman bridge.

The main square and the old church of S. Pietro
The main square of today's Anticoli was in the past an open space between the town and its cemetery. The fountain at the center of the square is by Arturo Martini who donated it to Anticoli. S. Pietro is the oldest church in town and it dates back to the XIth century.

The house of a noble family and a house built on the rocks
Anticoli is built on the slope of the hill and rather than streets it has steps (which sometimes are cut in the stone of which the hill is made). Several buildings show a certain level of wealth, which is confirmed by many coats of arms.

Details
Most of the streets of Anticoli are dedicated to the painters who came to live here and who in some cases fell in love with their model and married her settling in Anticoli (see a page on a family of painters). The museum of Anticoli exhibits works of the painters who lived in Anticoli, including Maurice Sterne, an American born in Latvia, who travelled extensively in Europe and Asia. (see a work by Sterne on the web site of the museum).

Names of streets

Arsoli

Castle and coats of arms of the Prince Massimo on the main church
Arsoli was the last town belonging to the State of the Church before the border with the Kingdom of Naples. It was acquired in 1574 by the Massimo family: the imposing XIth century castle was largely rebuilt by the Massimo in the XVIth century. The main church bears the coats of arms of the family rather than those of a bishop or a cardinal (see Palazzo Massimo in Rome).

Vicovaro

S. Giacomo and coats of arms of the Orsini family
Vicovaro was for more than five centuries a fiefdom of the Orsini family. Its little church of S. Giacomo built in the XVth century is an interesting example of the transition from Gothic (lower part of the portal by Domenico di Capodistria) to Renaissance (upper part of the portal by Giovanni Dalmata with a fine coat of arms of the Orsini).

Castel Madama

Coat of arms at the entrance of Castello Orsini and detail of the fresco in S. Sebastiano
Castel Madama is named after Margaret, daughter of the Austrian Emperor Charles V, who married first Alessandro de' Medici and then Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma. In addition to Palazzo Madama and Villa Madama she acquired the castle built by the Orsini on the top of a hill. This explains why the coat of arms at the entrance of the castle shows the double headed eagle of the Habsburg. During her stay in the castle, the little church of S. Quirico was embellished with paintings by Federico Zuccari (Martyrdom of St Sebastian, the detail shows a XVIth century crossbowman). The view of Castel Madama from the valley was very picturesque and it attracted the attention of many painters. Today too many modern buildings hide the castle, but by following this link to a Victorian web site you can see a view of Castel Madama from a drawing by James Duffield Harding included in The Landscape Annual for 1833: The Tourist in Italy.



some other walks:
Walks with Ferdinand Gregorovius in the Roman countryside
In and about Viterbo
In Maremma
A Pilgrims' Way
Around Monte Cimino
On the Edge of the Marsh
From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana
From Bracciano to Viterbo
A walk to Porta Furba
A walk to Ponte di Nona
Branching off Via Cassia: S. Maria di Galeria, Isola Farnese and Formello
A Walk to Malborghetto
Via Appia Antica from Cecilia Metella to Torre in Selci
Via Appia Antica from Torre in Selci to Frattocchie


See my Home Page on Baroque Rome or my Home Page on Rome in the footsteps of an XVIIIth century traveller