199.

Casino, e Villa Corsini fuori di Porta S. Pancrazio

This view is taken from Porta S. Pancrazio, Plate 13, looking out toward a Y-intersection of roads leaving the city, the osteria (1) on the left suggesting its strategic location as way station for travelers journeying along these roads. On the left Via di S. Pancrazio (2) leads to the church of that name. On the right Via Aurelia Antica (4) leads to what is now a side entrance of Villa Pamphilj, Plate 200. Between the two is the main entrance gate (3) to the now vanished casino of Villa Corsini, known as the casino dei Quattro Venti (of the four winds) because of its exposed position. The Corsini residence within the walls, on the Via della Lungara, Plate 72, was not more than 300 meters (or 1000 feet) from this spot, allowing easy access to this, their suburban villa. The villa was designed by Simone Salvi for Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini before he attained the papacy as Clement XII (1730-1740). The head-on view enables Vasi to highlight the passage passing through the base of the casino similar to the one in the Villa Altieri, Plate 195. After the casino was demolished by cannon fire in Garibaldi's defense of the city against the French (1849), Villa Corsini was bought by the Pamphilj and added to their adjacent villa, so that the gate in the print is now the main entrance to that villa. Since 1970 the whole complex has been transformed into a public park. The same conflict of 1849 caused the nearly complete destruction of the mid 17th century casino del Vascello (5) on the right.