Villa Medici

On July 4th, 2011, INDEPENDENCE DAY…

cutting of the American Academy 4th of July cake & 'Le Cercle Rouge' at Villa Medici

…American Academy-style involved an Americanissimo coleslaw, homemade potato chips, grilled hamburger with fixins, potato salad, and watermelon lunch (making for a strange greeting for newly arrived guests who heard so much about the amazing seasonal local Roman RSFP cuisine) followed by the dramatic arrival of an elaborate patriotic blueberry and strawberry decorated American flag cake – but for the evening we defected to the French Academy – Villa Medici - overlooking the city for a firework-free evening for the first night of their outdoor summer film series – kicking off with the stylish but seemingly endless (2’20″ – including a half hour heist scene that would be hard to imagine coming out of any a.d.d. Hollywood editing room today) 1970 crime thriller ‘Le Cercle Rouge‘ directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonté and Yves Montand.

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On June 30th, 2011, TEATRO DELLE ESPOSIZIONI 2 AT VILLA MEDICI…

the mysterious couple from the show, and Villa Medici with St. Peter's in the background

…which I arrived to from an earlier opening at Unosunove this magical warm summer evening by bicycle – locked up below at Piazza di Spagna to hoof it up the 132 Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti steps for shows presented by the French Academy fellows incluing films, a wandering bassoonist, an installation in the magnificent Islamic room on top of one of the towers, carefully arranged and spotlit plaster statues and period furniture in studio windows, (ugh, we missed the naked hula hooping performance from the Monday show) the highlight being an elaborate performance by Rémy Yadan in the formal salone overlooking the city where a cast of around ten formally dressed performers arrived – the rest remaining impossible to describe, but involving standing around for a long time making subtle tsking noises, moving a piano around, walking hurriedly across the room, operatic singing, energetic dancing, monologs directed face to face at particular audience members in French, opening of windows and then closing of windows, mooing, crying with backs to us, and towards the end, the doors to the terrace overlooking the city opened and in walked a mysterious couple who proceeded to walk out of the room onto the the back loggia where they stood still for the rest of the evening – so people looked at them and took pictures – some were mystified, especially those who hadn’t even seen the show.

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On May 19th, 2011, HIDDEN VILLA MEDICI GARDEN…

hidden statuary garden

…of statuary is something I happened upon for the first time this afternoon as the sun was low while visiting a French friend in residence at the famous villa and gardens – that I still remember studying in architecture school – later acquired by Napoleon in 1803 as the new home for the French Academy.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 19, 2011 | gardens
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On September 17th, 2010, THE VIEW OF VILLA MEDICI…

Villa Medici perched on the South face of the Pincio as seen out my window

…from my studio desk is remarkable – being the dominant structure on the landscape out my Northeast facing windows.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 17, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On September 16th, 2010, THE FRENCH ACADEMY’S VILLA MEDICI…

early evening view from Villa Medici gardens towards Saint Peter's

…is one of my favorite places in the Rome – where I’m lucky to have some French friends of friends in residence who I can go visit – and today I was treated to a tour of the gardens by one of the French fellows, a landscape historian who took us to the 20m high artificial mound known as Mt. Parnassus, and them deep underground into the chambers beneath it – an academic interpretation of which was provided in great detail – in French – so I left with only a general sense of his insights, which was fine & a bit more mysterious. (links: Academie Francais, photo archive, and Wiki page)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 16, 2010 | gardens
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