Discover Villa Medici

Villa Medici is a Renaissance villa on the Pincian Hill above the Spanish Steps, bought by Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici in 1576 and home since 1803 to the Académie de France à Rome, which runs it and opens it to visitors.

Building began under Nanni Lippi, who died before it was finished; his son Annibale Lippi continued, and Bartolomeo Ammannati completed it for Ferdinando. Michelangelo's involvement is traditional lore and undocumented. Under Ferdinando, Ammannati set Roman bas-reliefs and statues into the design as they emerged from excavation, and three celebrated works arrived in the same years: the Niobe Group and the Wrestlers, both found in 1583 and bought at once, and the Arrotino.

Visits are by guided tour of 90 minutes, covering the gardens and historic rooms, Ferdinando's studiolo, the gypsotheque and the Belvedere. Open daily 09.30-19.00, closed Tuesdays; the ticket office and exhibition areas close at 18.30. EUR 18, reduced EUR 15, free under 18.

Two faces, and they are not the same building. Towards the city Villa Medici is plain to the point of severity. Towards its own gardens it is covered — a facade worked with Roman bas-reliefs and statues that Ammannati set into the design as excavation produced them, so the elevation is simultaneously architecture and display case.

That split is the villa's whole architectural idea, and it is also a period habit made literal: a sixteenth-century Roman cardinal collected antiquities, and here the collection is in the wall rather than in a room. Two belvedere towers rise at the ends of the garden front, and the ground falls away below into the formal parterre with its obelisk.

The attribution is layered rather than single. Nanni Lippi began it and died; Annibale Lippi, his son, carried it on; Ammannati finished it. Michelangelo is attached to the villa by tradition and by nothing documented, which is worth stating in a city where his name is attached to a great deal.

It was finished by its third architect, for its second owner, out of material dug up on site. That is an unusual construction history and it explains the building.

The sequence of hands — Nanni Lippi, then Annibale Lippi, then Bartolomeo Ammannati — meant the garden front was designed last and by the architect working for the collector. Ammannati's contribution was not only to complete the structure but to decide that the ancient sculpture coming out of the ground would go into the wall.

The antiquities were arriving fast enough to make that a practical decision rather than a conceit: the Niobe Group and the Wrestlers were both found in 1583 and bought at once. The originals are long gone to Florence; what the visit shows in the gypsotheque is the collection of casts.

The last structural change was institutional rather than architectural. In 1803 the villa became the Académie de France à Rome, and it has been a working academy — studios, residents, exhibitions — ever since, which is why a visitor is accompanied.

Can I just walk in? No. Access is by a guided visit of 90 minutes.

Which day is it closed? Tuesday — not Monday.

How much? EUR 18, reduced EUR 15, and free for under-18s. The ticket also covers the temporary exhibitions.

What does the visit actually include? The historic gardens and rooms, the facade overlooking the gardens, the entrance hall, the staircase to the gardens, Ferdinando de' Medici's studiolo, the gypsotheque of casts, and the Belvedere.

Did Michelangelo design it? His involvement is traditional lore and undocumented. The villa was begun by Nanni Lippi, continued by Annibale Lippi and finished by Bartolomeo Ammannati.

Are the famous sculptures still here? No. The Niobe Group, the Wrestlers and the Arrotino were Ferdinando's; what the visit shows is the gypsotheque, the collection of casts.

Is the view worth the ticket on its own? Not really — the Pincio terrace next door is free and looks over the same city.

When does the ticket office close? 18.30, with the villa open to 19.00.