The Gardens of Sallust: A Changing Landscape

Part II. The Architecture of the Gardens

p a r t i i The Architecture of the Gardens Because of the massive building operations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there is little remaining of ancient structures or monuments that once were part of the gardens of Sallust. The scarcity of such remains, of course, makes those still visible, or securely recorded, all the more valuable as topographical reference points, and it is to these that we will now turn our attention. There are a variety of sources from which we can draw some sense of the topography of this area as well as the type of buildings and other architectural modifications that were in these gardens. For example, old topographical plans of the city show clearly the deep valley separating the Quirinal and Pincio hills (Fig. 2.1) and, in particular, the massive retaining wall at the south with its series of arched niches (Fig. 2.2). Furthermore, seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth -century vedute (views of the city) by, for example , Overbeke (Fig. 2.3), Piranesi (Figs. 2.4–2.5), and Rossini (Fig. 2.6), and late nineteenth-century photographs from the collection of J. H. Parker (Figs. 2.7, 2.12, 2.27, 2.36), all of which will be discussed later, reveal the topographical configuration and the ancient remains as they existed in the more recent past. Particularly intriguing is a sixteenth-century drawing/plan (probably by Aristotile da Sangallo) formerly owned in the nineteenth century by Hippolyte Destailleur, from whom its modern name derives—the Destailleur plan (Fig. 2.8). It is labeled “Horti Salustij,” and Lanciani interpreted it convincingly as depicting the ruins of the gardens from the slopes of the Quirinal at the south (top) to the Pincio at the north (bottom).1 Labels identify some recognizable topographical features such as an overlook on the Quirinal, at the top of the page (“a cavalliero a tutti” = level “A”), and the valley beyond (“valle” = level “C”), shown as a stadium surrounded by high walls and a portico. The blind-arched retaining wall along the Quirinal as seen on topographical city plans (Fig. 2.2) and by the Piranesi engraving (Fig. 2.4), among others, is shown on the Destailleur plan as supporting on level “A” a row of double rooms that is otherwise unattested and, according to Lanciani, seems to be completely arbitrary.2 Level “B” is interpreted as the location of the vestibule that is here represented by its second-story plan rather than its round ground plan (cf. Figs. 2.19, 2.25). A series of stairs flank this building (cf. Figs. 2.16, 2.23) and rise to an apparently upper terrace behind, indicated as level “B cavalliero alla B.” According to Lanciani, the most important parts of the plan are those at the bottom of the page, referring to the area between the street (via di San Basilio = the later via Boncompagni; see Fig. 1.3) and the Aurelian wall (which is not shown on this plan): the area, until 1887, that was the villa Ludovisia. The depiction of a large staircase (near the bottom right corner) and the the destailleur plan and pertinent ancient remains Hartswick.indb 31 Hartswick.indb 31 5/3/05 4:56:19 PM 5/3/05 4:56:19 PM Fig. 2.1: Plan of Rome, by B. Marliano, 1544: detail. Fig. 2.2: Plan of Rome, by M. Cartaro, 1576: detail. Fig. 2.3: Valley of the Sallustian gardens showing slopes of the Pincio (“Le Marché de Salluste,” engraving by B. van Overbeke, 1709). Hartswick.indb 32 Hartswick.indb 32 5/3/05 4:56:19 PM 5/3/05 4:56:19 PM
33 the destailleur plan Fig. 2.4: Valley of the Sallustian gardens, engraving by J. B. Piranesi, 1762. Fig. 2.5: Valley of the Sallustian gardens, engraving by J. B. Piranesi, 1756. Hartswick.indb 33 Hartswick.indb 33 5/3/05 4:56:20 PM 5/3/05 4:56:20 PM
the architecture of the gardens 34 Fig. 2.6: Valley of the Sallustian gardens, engraving by L. Rossini, 1828. Fig. 2.7: Primitive fortifications, Quirinal, Parker nr. 153. Hartswick.indb 34 Hartswick.indb 34 5/3/05 4:56:21 PM 5/3/05 4:56:21 PM
35 the destailleur plan indication by dotted lines of a modern path (“oggi strada” = level B; perhaps following an ancient road leading to the...