Friday July 10 to Sunday 20 September 2009, Villa Medici reveals.... Villa Medici. After the daily opening of the gardens, the French Academy in Rome opens the doors of the XVI-century Villa Medici with the exhibition VILLA MEDICI, OPEN VILLA, edited by Neville Rowley, to discover the history and tradition of a place for many yet to be discovered, and at the same time show for the first time areas of the villa usually closed to the public. Among these, the rooms on the first floor painted in the XVI century by Jacopo Zucchi, the private apartments of the Director of the Academy of Francia once renovated by Balthus ath the end of his lengthy stay, in which some drawings and paintingsare exhibited. The exhibition spaces of the Villa tell the story of the building through the archive material stored for a long time by the Academy: from architectural studies to the series of famous portraits of the fellows in the XIX century paintings, from the sculptures by Carpeaux to the engravings of Piranesi. Epistolary correspondence, photographs, ancient and contemporary paintings, drawings, sketches, cartoons, etc. illustrate life in a place long perceived as a fortress, but today you can visit every corner and discover its mysteries through the various testimonies of the time. Some special loans will enrich the already substantial historical material of the French Academy, such as for example, the views by Van Wittel, the works of Henner, Hébert and Caillebotte, and photographs by Alinari that allow you to retrace the architectural change in the Villa Medici over the centuries. The present and the past find a line of dialogue with the exhibition of some works of artists in residence from the most recent years: a large portrait of Yan Pei-Ming - one of the best figures in international contemporary art to whom the Louvre has recently devoted a show - that emulate those of the tradition of the last century, the work of Laurent Grasso - last year's winner of the Marcel Duchamp Prize as best young artist representing France in the world - video that shows his vision of the sunset from the Pincio.Following Frederic Mitterand’s definitive goodbye to Rome (he has been just nominated Minister of Culture and Communication in France, his home country), the Academy of France in Rome has decided to open the doors of the beautiful Villa Medici to the public. The villa will host a series of events and art exhibitions which are sure to delight tourists and Romans alike. The first exhibition to be called Villa Aperta or the Open Villa will focus on the history and life of this amazing 16th century palace; for the first time visitors will have the unique opportunity to see and enjoy areas which have never been revealed to the public before, including the gardens and the private art collections. In addition movies featuring French and Italian music will be screened in the open; a small film festival featuring iconic movies such as The Godfather trilogy (Oscar winner Nino Rota composed the soundtrack to the movie)