David R. Coffin
The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome.
Princeton University Press, 1988. Princeton Monographs in Art and Archaeology, xliii. First paperback printing. 0691002797 xx/385 pages.
Large-format softcover volume, measuring approximately 8.5" x 11", displays light shelfwear. Binding is sound. Pages are clean and bright. Text appears in double columns. Profusely illustrated.
"The tradition of "villeggiatura," or withdrawal to a country residence, was a central feature of Italian life in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries after urban centers had risen to political prominence, fostering the development of a leisured class. Tracing the history of the Roman villa during this time, David Coffin presents - through an extensively illustrated text - the first comprehensive study of this subject in English. Further, his book is the first in any language to analyze the villa in terms of its social function and meaning rather than its architecture and formal properties.
Drawing on a wide variety of printed material and previously unused sources, the author explores twenty of the most important residences built by the dignitaries of Church and State. Early plans and drawings and a wealth of photographs aid him in reconstructing the leisure activity of the leaders of Renaissance society in the settings that were built to enhance it.
As Professor Coffin demonstrates, the villas that were designed as vacation retreats were built on a grand scale to accommodate hunting parties and other forms of lavish entertainment as well as the quiet pleasures of gardening and the contemplative life. While in form the country house had to provide the physical environment for recreation, he shows that it is often the decoration of the villa and the planning of the gardens that survey the significance these buildings had for their owners."