Senators and sinners

Fantastically elaborate, brimming with sculpture and symbology, the villas of Lazio embody the high art and low political intrigues of Renaissance Italy. Built for Pope and princes, these villas hark back to a much older tradition when Roman Emperors would retreat to their palaces in the Sabine hills. Oliver Gilkes, an archaeologist who as excavated extensively in Italy, explores the ‘villa’ in all its many and various forms. From the rustic farms of antiquity, beloved of Roman poets, to the vast complexes of later eras, villas reflected their owners’ wealth and status whether modest farms or palaces. Iconic sites set in the rolling hills of central Italy: the setting for hothouse politics and veritable treasures of architecture and art.