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The Villa Giulia is a magnificent villa built by Pope Julius III on the edge of the city of Rome , 1550–1555. Today it is publicly owned, and houses an impressive collection of Etruscan art and artifacts. Properly known as the ''Villa di Papa Giulio'', the villa stands in an area of Rome known as the 'Vigna Vecchia' (which was once against the City Walls ) lying on the slopes where 'Monte Parioli' descends to the Tiber . The current villa is only a small part of a former property, comprising three vineyards. Here a party villa or 'Villa Suburbana' was built for Pope Julius III , who was an affable, deeply literate connoisseur of the arts, but no Theologian . Julius assigned the design of the villa structure to Giacomo Barozzi Da Vignola in 1551 - 1553 . However, he assigned the Nymphaeum and other garden structures to Bartolomeo Ammanati , all under the watchful supervision of Giorgio Vasari . Michelangelo worked there too. The knowledgable pope offered direct guidance himself; Julius spent vast amounts of money enhancing the beauty of the villa, which became one of the most delicate examples of Mannerist architecture. THE VILLA Like all suburban villas, the Villa Giulia had an urban entrance (on the Roman Via Flaminia ) and a formal but rural garden behind. The Villa itself was a threshold between two worlds, an essentially Roman conception that was adopted in every urbane culture of Western Europe . A medal struck in 1553 shows the villa substantially as completed, but with a pair of cupolas that were never executed. Vignola's urban front of the building is a sombre two storey facade, each storey given equal value. It has at its centre the triple rhythm of a richly detailed s. The fountain's source, the Acqua Vergine , also supplies the Trevi Fountain in Rome. The ''Casino della Vigna'' ("little house in the Vineyard "), as it was sometimes known, and its gardens were set in the midst of well-tended vineyards, which could be viewed from shaded arcades on the outsides of the garden walls. At this time, before the English style of naturalistic landscaping gained in popularity, the most pleasant imaginable vista from a garden was that of orderly husbandry, where the hand of man had tamed the wanton disorder and danger that Nature represented. Papal parties would embark on a boats at the gates of The Vatican and be transported up the Tiber to the villa's long-gone private landing stage, to enjoy the delights and magnificence of the Villa, stroll in the gardens and eat leisurely meals in the nympheum. Following Pope Julius's death, his successor Pope Paul IV confiscated all the properties he had assembled; the villa was divided, the main building and part of the gardens became the property of the Camera Apostolica . The Villa was reserved for the use of the new pope's Borromeo nephews. THE ETRUSCAN MUSEUM The Villa Giulia was restored in 1769 on the initiative of Pope Clement XIV . In the wake of the Risorgimento and the demise of the Papal States , the villa became in 1870 the property of the Kingdom Of Italy . Since the beginning of the 20th Century it has housed the national museum for Etruscan Art, the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia. The Museo Nazionale Etrusco was founded in 1889 with the aim of collecting together all the pre-Roman antiquities of Latium , southern Etruria and Umbria belonging to the Etruscan and Faliscan civilizations. Its most famous single treasure is the Terracotta funerary monument, the almost life-size Bride and Groom (''"Sarcofago degli Sposi"'') reclining happily as if they were at a dinner party (''illustration, upper right''). Other remains held are:
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