[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The work which has given notoriety worldwide\u00a0to Ettore Roesler Franz is undoubtedly the “Vanished Rome”, or rather, quoting his own words, “Rome picturesque \/ Memories of an era that goes.” They are\u00a0120 watercolors (each of about 53 \u00d7 75 cm., vertical or horizontal), all made between 1878 and 1896, divided into three series of 40 each. Thanks to this work,\u00a0nowadays\u00a0it is\u00a0possible to have a historical record of urban and suburban views that were disappearing, to be handed down to posterity.<\/p>\n
In 1883, Leopoldo Torlonia, <\/strong>Mayor of Rome,\u00a0<\/strong>bought by the artist the first set<\/strong> of 40 watercolors of “Vanished Rome” collection. They were initially kept in the Palazzo Senatorio at the Capitoline Hill in Rome. On 4 May 1908, a year after the death of the painter, the\u00a0Mayor Ernesto Nathan<\/strong> bought the remaining 80 watercolors, which made up the second and third sets<\/strong>\u00a0of “Vanished Rome”,\u00a0by his brother and heir Adolfo (founder of the famous private bank based in\u00a0via Condotti, which operated from 1869 until 1936).<\/p>\n La prima proposta del Comune per acquistare gli acquerelli della seconda e terza serie risale al 1902 (proposta\u00a0n. 133 approvata dal Consiglio Comunale di Roma nelle sedute del 2 e 23 maggio). In cambio Ettore avrebbe ricevuto 10 mila lire in contanti da pagarsi in 3 anni in 3 rate uguali senza interessi e\u00a0un’area di circa 1.500 mq di propriet\u00e0 del Comune di Roma del valore di 40 mila lire, designata su Viale Castro Pretorio presso l’apertura delle Mura della citt\u00e0, per un totale di 50mila lire.<\/p>\n Successivamente, al posto di questa, venne presentata nel marzo 1903 la proposta n.33 che fu poi anch’essa approvata dal Consiglio Comunale di Roma. Era prevista la sostituzione dell’area di viale Castro Pretorio, che il Comune riteneva, invece, opportuno conservare per riservarla ad usi e servizi municipali, con un’area fabbricabile prevista dal Nuovo Piano Regolatore di 1.200 mq. sul Lungotevere de’ Cenci nei pressi della Sinagoga e con un frontale di 68 mq. lineari sul Lungotevere. Poich\u00e9 tale area fu valutata di pi\u00f9, cio\u00e8 48 mila lire, Ettore avrebbe cos\u00ec avuto a conguaglio in contanti solo 2 mila lire all’atto della stipula. In totale sempre 50 mila lire.<\/p>\n Successivamente, per\u00f2, l’Organismo di controllo comunale bocci\u00f2 questa delibera e l’accordo salt\u00f2 anche per la morte di Ettore, avvenuta il 26 marzo 1907. Solo un anno dopo, nel 1908, suo fratello ed erede universale Adolfo riusc\u00ec a vendere gli 80 quadri per 35 mila lire in contanti in 3 annualit\u00e0 a partire dal 1909 al Comune di Roma.<\/p>\n Qui l’originale delle proposte n.133\/1902 e n.33\/1903.<\/a><\/p>\n Currently the City of Rome owns 119<\/strong>\u00a0watercolors\u00a0because one of them (depicting “Mattei Palace in\u00a0Lungaretta”, #24 of the second set), has been lost in Cologne (Germany) in 1966, during a touring exhibition and has\u00a0not been recovered anymore. Here an italian article<\/a>\u00a0that tells the story.<\/p>\n The works\u00a0are at the<\/strong> Museo di Roma in Trastevere<\/strong><\/a> (formerly “Folklore Museum”) in Piazza Sant’Egidio and are shown periodically.<\/p>\n The original titles are all\u00a0given by Ettore Roesler Franz\u00a0in this document<\/a>\u00a0(it refers\u00a0only to the First and Second Series). The\u00a0collection\u00a0has also been studied for some graduation thesis, like the one of\u00a0Eleonora Drikes, mentioned\u00a0in Bibliography<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In an essay in English (a sort of “spiritual will”) of 29 March, 1894 Ettore Roesler Franz hoped that “the collection should be placed in a special room with a large topographical map of Rome where I would give indications of where the pictures were taken, and this would facilitate the scholars of next\u00a0generations to understand how\u00a0Rome was before these changes”.\u00a0<\/em>Here you can read the\u00a0original in English.<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Here you can\u00a0see\u00a0the\u00a0three sets that make up the collection:[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”primaserie”][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”1458,1459,1460,1461,1462,1463,1464,1465,1466,1467,1468,1469,1470,1471,1472,1473,1474,1475,1476,1477,1478,1479,1480,1481,1482,1483,1484,1485,1486,1487,1488,1489,1490,1491,1492,1493,1500,1501,1502,1499″ img_size=”180×180″ title=”First set”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”secondaserie”][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”1504,1505,1506,1507,1508,1509,1510,1511,1512,1513,1514,1515,1516,1517,1518,1519,1520,1521,1522,1523,1524,1525,1526,1527,1528,1529,1530,1531,1532,1533,1534,1535,1536,1537,1538,1539,1540,1541,1542,1543″ img_size=”180×180″ title=”Second set”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”terzaserie”][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”1544,1545,1546,1547,1548,1549,1550,1551,1552,1553,1554,1555,1556,1557,1558,1559,1560,1561,1562,1563,1564,1565,1566,1567,1568,1569,1570,1571,1572,1573,1574,1575,1576,1577,1578,1579,1580,1581,1582,1583″ img_size=”180×180″ title=”Third set”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n