HIDDEN ITALY
Stefano Aluffi Pentini’s company, A Private View of Italy, leads travelers to historical residences in Italy and more, to discover the hidden treasures behind closed doors of private dwellings.
There is a hidden Italy—one that has made the Italian aristocracy great. It is veiled behind home entryways. Beauty and the charm of art have been preserved over the centuries by prominent families who lived in palaces and villas designed by architects such as Raffaello, Palladio and Bernini. Art historian Stefano Aluffi Pentini, founded A Private View of Italy. Started in 1996, and inspired by the 18th century Grand Tour (a rite of passage for aristocratic young men. The journey typically involved three or four years of travel around Europe and included an extensive sojourn in Italy, as Rome was considered the ultimate destination), A Private View of Italy organizes visits and non advertised trips inside these private palaces crossed by history, designed as places to live in and receive guests. Thanks to the relationships of trust and friendship, its visitors are welcomed as guests, sometimes by the hosts themselves, in extraordinary places. Small receptions, lunches, concerts or events of any kind are held in residences where masterpieces by Caravaggio, Guido Reni and Canova are conserved. All this allows you to experience these houses, otherwise closed to the public, to admire the furniture designed specifically over the centuries and discover unique gardens. All enriched by personalized trip assistance including air, hotel, restaurants and limousine service.
In 1996 you founded “A Private View of Italy” inspired by the 18th-century Grand Tour. What did that experience represent at the time and what can it offer to the contemporary traveler?
In the 18th century the tradition of the Grand Tour caught on. Wealthy and cultured young European aristocracy, often already connoisseurs of classics and the arts, visited Italy and its treasures. In addition to museums and churches, many works of art were still in the palaces of the Italian nobility, from the very rich palaces of Genoa to the Renaissance masterpieces of the Florentine families, from the large collections of Roman princes to the splendor of the Neapolitan palaces. Many of these houses are still intact, and occupied by the same families. It is a powerful experience— an exclusive temporal journey. Today, as in past centuries, a visit can be organized through special viewings of places like the Aurora by Guido Reni of the Pallavicini Rospigliosi house, or the Guercino of the Boncompagni estate.
Through discovering palaces, villas, gardens, libraries and private archives with us, travelers become aware that, in this sense, no other country in Europe is comparable to Italy.
How did you develop the enterprise? How much has your personal life influenced this idea, having always lived in an atmosphere of historical-artistic culture?
I started thinking about creating a cultural tourism company dedicated to Italian historic houses after getting a degree in art history and several years of experience in organizing exhibitions. I thought a lot, together with my Venetian friend Giordano Emo Capodilista, on how to make sure that the historical houses, lived in and not open to the public, could receive travelers from time to time, just like they did in the days of the Grand Tour. At the beginning the project was linked to Lazio and Veneto, our regions, but soon it was extended throughout Italy and then Europe. Giordano, however, from the start, preferred to dedicate himself to the production of his excellent wine and so I remained the sole partner. Undoubtedly, however, his Villa Emo Capodilista in Montecchia - which now, among other things, can be a base for those who want to stay and discover the Veneto region - was the starting point to increase the desire to make the historic residences known and experienced by cultured travelers. For the rest, developing the business was, certainly influenced a lot by my interest in architecture mainly due to having spent a lot of time with my grandfather, the archaeologist and architect Bruno M. Apollonj Ghetti and his brother Fabrizio, a collector of prints and ancient books whose Roman house was full of historical and artistic collections.
Your visitors are welcomed as guests, sometimes by the hosts themselves, in extraordinary settings. What kind of experience do they have the luxury of living? What services are guaranteed?
The idea behind everything is that travelers access the villas not to stay in them (they prefer luxury hotels), but to experience everyday life in a historic residence. They pass their time as guests, not through a guided tour— moments and settings are appreciated calmly, with a chamber music concert, a banquet and welcomed by the hosts themselves. We organize every aspect of the trip: hotels, transport, logistics—always coordinated by a member of my staff who accompanies the guests— the cultural program is guided by an art historian, special access to private residences with possible receptions organized ad hoc for our guests.
What is hidden behind the closed doors of the Italian aristocracy’s private residences, some of them designed by architects like Raffaello, Palladio and Bernini?
Few people know that in Florence a family still lives in the palace designed for them by Raffaello, or that in Rome another family lives in a palace enlarged by Bernini, or that in the region of Veneto, Palladio’s villas are still inhabited. I believe that all of us, and especially the State, should be happy that someone preserves these National treasures still intact in the 21st century thanks to the owners’ sense of responsibility.
Among your clients are the most powerful people on earth. What makes them choose this experience? Any anecdotes?
I believe that the many people who have traveled with my company have been attracted above all by our reliability and discretion, by our ability to access unique places and at the same time by the quality of the art historians who always guide our guests. Revealing anecdotes is a bit difficult, but I can mention that David Rockefeller (almost a centenarian at that time) while in Sicily wanted to go to see the Riace Bronzes in Reggio Calabria, and decided that the most practical way was to go by helicopter. In the end, since the weather was good, he preferred to spend a day on a boat in Taormina. Incredible energies!
How much awareness is there abroad of Italy’s inestimable and vast heritage? And how much enthusiasm does it provoke in high-profile tourists?
The greatest satisfaction that this job offers is to be able to solidify the awareness of just how unique our country is to foreign travelers. Many of our clients have come to Italy many times and are already great admirers. But by discovering palaces, villas, gardens, libraries and private archives with us, they become aware that, in this sense, no other country in Europe is comparable to Italy—a country that has almost had no revolutions, more devoted to the arts than to war, and that despite the disasters of the twentieth century has managed to move forward in preserving its private artistic heritage. Nowhere in Europe are there still as many private palaces, inhabited and admirably preserved as in Rome, Florence, Venice and Genoa, just to name a few of our cities, ancient glorious capitals of art.