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It was Pope Clemente
VII who opened ancient "Via Clementia" in 1525.
Then, during the pontificate of Paul III (1534-1549)
this still unurbanized street surrounded by horti
was called "via Paolina", in the Pope's honor. The
present name, "via del Babuino", was given to via
Paolina in the late 16th century when Patrizio
Grandi, a rich tradesman from Ferrara, having
obtained the water for his home and horti - thanks
to the practice established by Pope Pius IV Medici
(1558-1565) according to which when a Pope granted
water to an individual, that, at his turn, had to
build a public fountain close to his estate at his
own expenses - built a public fountain for the
neighboring population.
The statue of Silenus,
rising above the roman rectangular gray-granite
thermal fountain basin donated by Grandi did not
appealed to the people who identified its traits
with those of a "baboon" (in Italian baboon is
babbuino, resembling to the name of the street):
therefore, since 1581, ancient via Paulina has
changed its name and has become Via del Babuino.
As a matter of fact,
the statue represents Silenus, which, according to
Rome mythology, was the son of Nymph and Mercury or
Pan, and the teacher and faithful companion of the
wine-god Dionysus whom he followed in his
wanderings. Silenus was usually portrayed as a plump
jovial old man with a long beard and stump nose,
bald and with a horse's tail, ears and hooves.
The "Babuino" is one
of Rome's well-known "talking statues", used by
Romans as early as in the 16th century to raise
humoristic objections to arrogant and corrupted
ruling classes. At night, bold citizens posted
satirical messages and claims in the most crowded
areas of the town. They posted poems, humorous
dialogues and compositions in verse ridiculing or
otherwise blaming the behavior of the popes. The
authors did not run the risk of being caught since
people used to read them before the guards removed
them.
Via del Babuino, rich
in 17-18th-century palaces - from Righetti to
Boncompagni-Cerasi, from Emiliani to Neimer, Saulini,
Raffaelli (one Valadier's works) and Sterbini - was
the artists' street.
Salvator Rosa and
Goethe, Poussin and Rubens chose it as a dwelling
place and, in the 17th century, a flourishing colony
of Dutch and Flemish painters came to live here and
in the adjacent Via Margutta. |
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Trilussa was born here
in 1891 and Princess Caroline de Sayn-Wittgensteim,
who had left his husband to follow Franz Listz,
wanted to live in via del Babuino.
In the 20th century, via del Babuino became the
antiquarians' street with names like Eugenio di
Castro, the so-called "Bersagliere" (one of a class
of riflemen or sharpshooters in the Italian army),
and renowned Roman poet. Today, prestigious
antiquarians still have their shops here: Antonacci,
Apolloni, Di Castro's successors, Carlucci,
Lampronti, Di Nepi, Ferrante.
The shift from
antiquarians' street to the street of fashion
occurred during last century. The factors that have
contributed to via del babuino's conversion are the
new arrangement of Piazza del Popolo that, cleared
of cars, has become a wonderful and magnificent
drawing room, the prohibition of car traffic and the
re-opening of prestigious Hotel de Russie, ancient
residence of poets and writers and today's first
choice of VIPs and authorities. The first maisons to
appear in via del Babuino are Emporio Armani, Kenzo,
Etro and then Chanel, Valentino and Prada. Big names
of the jewelers' and silversmith's industry like
Tiffany, Chopard, Ansuini, De Crisogno, Giansanti
and Pomellato appear between one boutique and the
other. |
