The Casina delle Civette was designed in 1840 by the architect Giuseppe Jappelli and later transformed by V. Fasolo in 1917–20. Since 1997 it has been an interesting museum dedicated to artistic stained glass.

Prince bath
This is the first room on the upper floor. In ancient times it was adorned with majolica representatives of the water lilies made by Villeroy & Bosch. Before the little house was transformed into a museum, the water lily decorations were stolen, however they were recomposed in the only panel visible today. Two sideboards in rigid pine with glazed glass made by Duilio Cambellotti adorn the room.

This small room, prior to the transformation of the House into a museum, still had the original bath fittings from beginning of the century. However the beautiful majolica work, produced by Villeroy and Boch, which once covered the walls with depictions of nymphs, had almost completely disappeared.

It is not known who removed it. The few pieces which remain have been made into one panel and left in place to document the bathroom’s original decoration.

Today two peach-pine sideboards with enamelled glass panels are on display in the room. They are the work of Duilio Cambellotti and were acquired from his heirs.

These two sideboards were made in 1912 by Duilio Cambellotti with fire-colored opaque enamels placed on roller glass and opalescent glasses held together by a lead frame. Some glasses represent naked figures.

The Prince’s Bedroom
The Prince’s bedroom has retained almost none of the original furnishings that once made it one of the places most intimately expressive of Giovanni Torlonia’s dark and misanthropic character. It was originally full of the symbolism of owls and night birds in general, including the large tondo in the centre of the ceiling, which depicts bats flying with their dark wings outstretched and has, fortunately, survived.

Little remains of the original furnishings but from the descriptions you can imagine obsessively full of furniture. The wallpaper was decorated with owls and the bed knobs were inlaid owls, other owl decorations were in the chandeliers, in the jug and in the window “Owls in the night” by Duilio Cambellotti. On the ceiling there are decorations depicting the flight of bats. Along the bay window there were wooden chests of drawers with a central desk to form a small study. In the central area of the room there is a panel with fruit depictions created on a project by Umberto Bottazzi. In addition there are four cartoons always by the aforementioned artist depicting “The migrators”, two wing windows made by Giuseppe Bottazzi for Casa Zingone in 1914, the stained glass window “L’idolo” by Vittorio Grassi, and “I cigni” stained glass window in blue colors, purple and red.

However other furnishings have been lost: once, the room contained a bed with bed-knobs in the form of owls, table lamps in the form of owls, a water jug also in the form of an owl, and the owl-pattern wallpaper, of which only a few scraps remain.

The bow window, opening onto the park, had wooden drawers all around it, with a small desk in the centre to create an intimate corner reserved for study.
A stained glass piece by Cambellotti called “The Owls at Night” once stood in an alcove in one of the walls (the alcove can still be identified, although it is now closed over). It has since been lost, but is known thanks to a sketch and a trial piece, both of which are on display in the Room of the Owls.

On the walls are hung four cartoons by Cambellotti from a series of “Migratory Birds”, which were the basis for the stained glass made by Cesare Pichhiarini for the skylight of the nearby staircase of the Four Seasons.
In the centre of the room stands a panel of four pieces of geometric glass decorated with fruit. These follow a design by Umberto Bottazzi and come from the antiquarian market.

The room also contains a number of pieces of furniture, those that have survived of the many that used to crowd the house. There is a dressing table delicately carved with ivy leaves, that surmounted by two goat’s heads, since lost, a desk with a leather writing surface and precious inlays and the headboard for a bed, of which the original disposition is unknown.

Also exhibited here is “The Idol” by Vittorio Grassi, a splendid and original piece of glass work made in 1918 and acquired by the Municipality of Rome in 2002.

The stained glass window was made by Vittorio Grassi in 1918 with glass and cabochons joined by lead. The figure of the idol is in the Egyptian style of which the breasts are enhanced with round figures. The glasses contrast the various shades of the glass, from the brown, blue and purple of the idol and from the aqua and emerald green of the rest of the figure that recalls the sea. At the bottom right there is the author’s signature and the date of realization. The figure consists of Egyptian-style headdress, the subject is placed within a cascade of gems.

Balcony of roses
The narrow passage next to the Prince’s bedroom is articulated by a sequence of stained glass pieces designed by Paolo Paschetto and created by Cesare Picchiarini from the sketches displayed in the smoking room, with a composition of Roses, ribbons and butterflies.

The balcony is adorned with windows with decorations representing roses, butterflies and ribbons designed by Paolo Paschetto and built by Picchiarini in 1920 when Vincenzo Fasolo designed an extension of the Casina. The balcony overlooks a small loggia terrace with columns with capitals with scrolls recalling the eyes of the owls. On the floor there are tiles in Venetian cement grit in which comets are drawn, as well as the roses of the windows, recalling the comets and the roses of the Torlonia coats of arms.

The lively, sunny images created a distinct contrast to the bedroom’s gloomy atmosphere. The stained glass, created in 1920, repeats, in various different compositions, the motif of roses and butterflies, interwoven with ribbons; the warm, bright colours of the roses, in yellow, red and orange, give a lively contrast to the colder colours of the butterflies in green, purple and blue.

The decorative motif of the roses and ribbons is used in a loose graphic style, a freedom of composition and great softness in the drawing of the flowers and leaves.
The irregular spacing of the cold depths, over which the thick trains of the roses are laid in a continuous flow, animates the entire composition.

As they were creating the glass, the artist and the glass worker added some butterflies to the ensemble, which add to the fluid movement of the work.

The long balcony opens onto a small terrace. This is covered by a diminutive loggia held up by miniature columns made from coloured marble. The volutes of the elaborate capitals resemble stylised owl’s eyes.

The floor is made from agglomerate marble in the Venetian style and is decorated with comets, which, in conjunction with the rose motif that crowds the windows, is a reference to the heraldic arms of the Torlonia family.

The windows, by Paolo Paschetto, were made in 1920, in mouth-blown old German glass in which the colors are placed directly in the pasta, opalescent glasses and colored old glass placed in a lead frame of various thickness, tinned and stuccoed at the edges. The clear glasses grafted around the designs of the rose branches have an irregular cut in order to liven up the composition. The movement is strengthened by the insertion of glass to draw butterflies with multi-colored wings.

The Room of the Satyrs
This tiny and extremely richly decorated room is formed from the dome of the octagonal cupola. The name of the room derives from the decorations placed on the skylight. This room is located on top of an octagonal dome. the decorations of the satyrs are placed in the edge of the skylight. Three other openings closed by stained glass by Duilio Cambellotti show drawings of ivy leaves and bunches of grapes. Only one of them is original. Along the walls there are other stuccos depicting snails and ivy leaves. In the floor there is a mosaic depicting ivy leaves.

Its name comes from the series of miniature stucco satyrs which sit around the edge of the eye opening up into the lantern above.

There are also three circular windows opening out from the sides of the cupola, which are decorated with stained glass. They are the work of Duilio Cambellotti, although only one is original. The designs show ivy leaves and bunches of grapes.

There is more delicate stucco work along the walls, showing ivy tendrils and snails, while the same motif of ivy leaves is repeated in the mosaics on the floor.

The doors open onto a charming balcony made of carved wood, surmounted by a cupola covered with fine wood work, with a design recalling the stucco work inside. The cupola is supported by columns with capitals in the form of snails.

An elaborate wooden bench used to run along the walls, but only a part of it now survives.On one side there is a 1920 bench in walnut.

Ceiling with satyrs, ivy leaves and snails, the work was made in stucco between 1916 and 1919 by Giuseppe Vernesi.

Stained glass window with ivy figures and ribbons, the window is made of various colored glasses and not joined by tinned lead. It was built by Duilio Cambellotti in 1918.

In this environment there is a stained glass window representing “The flight of the swallows” perhaps produced by the Picchiarini laboratory on a project by anonymous. On the wall there is a large cardboard by Duilio Cambellotti representing the “Swallows in flight”. On another wall there are sketches depicting “The four seasons” by an unknown author.

The Staircase of the Four Seasons
The staircase, which runs against the building and leads outside, has stained glass depicting lively subjects in its walls and skylights.

Return to the ground floor outside. Stained glass windows reproduce the seasons of which only the ” Autumn ” and ” Summer ” are original, the ” Spring ” was created by the Giuliani Art Glass in 1997 and the ” Winter ” was irreparably lost due to the lack of sketches to reconstruct it. Above the doors there are stained glass windows representing “I migratori” by Duilio Cambellotti, of which only one is original, the other three have been recreated on the basis of sketches by the same artist. The stained glass window depicting “Summer” reproduces ears of corn, while the stained glass window for “Autumn” depicts grape branches and that for “Spring” of roses between a scroll, bow and arrow. The transom lights titled the migrants represent: “The swallows”, “The larks”, “The thrushes” and “The migrators” (the latter being the only original stained glass window).

The sequence on the walls follows the theme of the four seasons: Spring, Summer and Autumn follow one after the other. Winter, however, is missing, as the work was unfortunately lost, and the image of Spring is not the original, but a copy made by the Giuliani Glass Works in 1997, based on the sketches which have survived and are on display in the corridor opposite the staircase.

The panes of glass show “Summer” with ears of wheat, poppies and hay with scrolls; “Autumn” with grape vines and a cup; “Spring” with roses joined by a scroll and a bow and arrow.

The rhomboid panels of glass in the ceiling were designed by Duilio Cambellotti and have the theme of migratory birds: “Swallows”, “Skylarks”, “Thrushes” and “Migrating Birds”.

Only “Migrating Birds” is an original piece; it survived, although in a terrible condition, and was put back in place after restoration. The other three were made in 1997 by the Giuliani Glass Works, based on the sketches on display in the Prince’s bedroom.

Guest Room
There are no unusual features in this room, which was used, very rarely as far as we know, for guests.

In this room there are sketches by Cesare Picchiarini including various sketches for stained glass windows with floral theme also with stylized plant motifs. In addition there are two stained glass windows with geometric decorations and glass rounds cut freehand by Picchiarini in old age to demonstrate the firmness of his hand with advancing age.

Two large works of stained glass are displayed here, designed and created by Cesare Picchiarini, with a geometric design because, by his own admission, the master did not know how to draw and so was not able to plan elaborate figurative compositions.

On the walls are displayed a series of sketches, all of which also come from the Piccharini workshop, which alternate figurative and geometric subjects.

Alongside the many sketches is a curious item from the Piccharini studio, carefully conserved by Cesare’s sister Mariannina and given by her to Signora Tatiana Grauding, who, in turn, donated it to the museum. It is a display case containing a number of circles of glass, each with Picchiarini’s signature and a date.

The great glass worker was accustomed every year to inscribe a circle of glass in free hand using the point of a diamond, to demonstrate the firmness of his stroke and confirm his expert skill.

Room of swallows
Across a narrow passage with a curious gallery closed by spiralled glass, lies the last room in the house. It was added to the building by Vincenze Fasolo in 1918-19 during the last phase of the enlargement.

In ancient times the ceiling was painted to look like the sky with swallow flights. In the corners there are stuccos depicting swallows in love that hatch in their nests. Other windows represent swallows in flight.

The room originally had a ceiling painted with swallows in flight, but no trace of it now remains. However the theme of swallows is still present in the fine glass and the stucco work.

In the four corners of the ceiling were four stucco reliefs depicting stages in the life cycle of the swallow: courtship, brooding, hatching and feeding. These reliefs were partially destroyed in the fire that wrecked the house in 1991.
It was only possible to reconstruct three of the nests from the surviving fragments: these three have been restored and put back in place.

The three pieces of stained glass which decorate the gallery continue the swallow motif. They show swallows in flights, perched on branches and against the bright background of a blue sky.

Although the motif of swallows was much loved and very frequently used by Duilio Cambellotti, these pieces cannot be assigned to him with certainty on a stylistic basis. However they can be considered as products of the Picchiarini workshop.

French windows, with stylised glass, in light tones of blue, lead out onto a terrace from which there is a fine view of the park.

Several preparatory cartoons for stained glass by Duilio Cambellotti and Paolo Paschetto are also on display in the room.

Guests’ Bathroom
Continuing along the corridor there is access to a second bathroom reserved for guests. Originally there were decorations of bunches of grapes and below the Deco paintings below of which only pieces remain. Three windows are located in the loggia by an unidentified author, however it can be said that they are shop artists. The central window depicts a lake landscape with a swan, while the sides of the irises and cattails.

The second bathroom in the house is smaller than the Prince’s, but no less decorative. Indeed, the small room was entirely covered with fine majolica work, depicting cascades of bunched of yellow grapes at the high up the walls and an elegant Art Deco design in the bottom strip of the walls.

The main attraction of the bathroom is the set of three pieces of stained glass in the loggia.

The central piece shows the scene of a lake with a white swan at its centre, while the two at the side continue the theme with floral decoration of irises and water lilies.

Their attribution is problematic: it is not easy to assign them to Picchiarini since he strongly criticised the Liberty style, with its misuse of the iris motif, which is exactly what we have here.

However, even if they cannot securely be attributed to any of the creators of the other pieces of stained glass in the house, they are part of the original decorative scheme and are an important original source for understanding the extent to which stained glass achieved success and diffusion in the first decade of the century.

Room of cyclamens
The room takes its name from the fine floor of marble agglomerate tiles decorated with cyclamen, which was designed by Umberto Botazzi and made by the Vianini firm.

The room takes its name from the grit floor made by Vianini on a project by Umberto Bottazzi. A stained glass window depicts peacocks always made by Bottazzi. On the walls there are sketches by the Picchiarini studio including geometric designs, Liberty floral designs and various decorations. In ancient times the room was used for guests. The stained glass window “I pavoni” stands out in the room.

The room was for the use of guests so it was not given any unusual decorative features.

Displayed in this room are a number of sketches for stained glass from the Picchiarini Archive, which give an idea of the huge repertoire available to the clients. There are geometric patterns, stylised elaborations of floral motifs of the ‘Liberty’ type and various other decorative subjects.

The most outstanding object in the room is the huge stained glass work known as “The Peacocks”, which was made by Umberto Bottazzi.

The work is by Umberto Bottazzi. The window, in the shape of a lunette, was in 1912 with various glasses, multicolored gems and tinned lead. The work was bought by an antique dealer, was dispersed and found a few years ago. The glasses, the gems and the multicolored cabochons create a suggestive effect.

Corridor
This small space has a skylight, in which is set a fine piece of stained glass showing The flight of the Swallows, similar to the version in the Room of the Swallows, and probably produced by the Picchiarini workshop to the design of an unknown artist.

On one of the walls is a large cartoon by Duilio Cambellotti, again showing the Swallows in Flight, but with a completely different composition. Cambellotti’s swallows are lined up, almost like vectors, in a rigourous geometric design.

On the other wall are four sketches, by an unknown artist, for the Four Seasons, which were made to fit the staircase.

Raised Walkway and Out Houses
This covered walkway, roofed in wood, connects the House of the Owls to the out houses.

The out houses were originally a long, low masonry building, used as stabling for draught animals and as storage for tools. But when the Swiss Cabin was transformed into a nobleman’s residence (when Prince Giovanni moved there), the small, single-storey building was transformed to accommodate the service rooms and the servants’ quarters.

The first project for enlargement, planned by the engineer Venuto Venuti, was abandoned because it was judged not to be “in harmony with the aesthetic significance of the existing house”. Perhaps its lines were too squared and rational, compared to the Swiss Cabin’s animated design. A new plan was therefore drawn up, which doubled the amount of space inside, as well as using decorative motifs of the same type as those on the main building, including fretted brick work in medieval style.

Work began in 1914: plasterers, painters, carpenters and tile layers worked alongside the building team responsible for the main structural. One of the artists involved was Cesare Picchiarini, who fitted stained glass along all the raised walkway that joins the buildings, using the classic “circles of blown glass” technique.

The Turret Rooms
These two rooms, set next to the medieval style brick tower, do not have any remarkable decoration, except for some simple stucco work of styled ribbons.

In the first of the two rooms are displayed two pieces of geometric stained glass, produced by the Giuliani Workshop. They are very similar to those of the Picchiarini Workshop and bear witness to continuity in the glass working tradition.

In the second room is displayed ” A Fairy “, a precious piece of stained glass made by Duilio Cambellotti in 1917, and acquired from his heirs. The sketches and the cartoon from which it was taken are also on display in the room.

Casina delle Civette
The Casina delle Civette Museum is a former residence of the Torlonia family transformed into a museum. It is located inside the park of Villa Torlonia in Rome. The name derives from the recurring theme of the owls inside and outside the cottage. In the nineteenth century it was known as the Swiss hut for its rustic appearance similar to that of an alpine refuge or a Swiss chalet.

The original windows were made between 1910 and 1925 by the great Roman craftsman Cesare Picchiarini from designs by Duilio Cambellotti, Umberto Bottazzi and Paolo Paschetto. A vast selection is available that illustrates the evolution of the art of stained glass in Rome during that period. The original collection belonging to the Casina has been enhanced with others by the same artists and, above all, with drawings, sketches and cartoons, many of which were made for windows commissioned by the prince.

No other residence has such a wide-ranging and large collection, one that documents the history and growing popularity of this artistic technique in the early decades of the twentieth century. Visitors to the Casina will be surprised at the variety of furnishings and decorations in the rooms. Your visit will be filled with discoveries as you tour the property and enjoy its decorative features and artworks.

This area was completely transformed with winding avenues, small lakes, exotic plants and decorated with buildings and outdoor furniture of unusual taste: the Swiss Hut (later transformed into the Casina delle Civette), the Conservatory, the Tower and Moorish Grotto, and the Tournament Field.