Hotel Tops Off Art Collection with Tiepolo Cycle
ROME, Italy, November 22, 2006. The Rome Cavalieri Hilton, a five-star oasis famous for its historic art collection, has acquired three of Giovani Battista Tiepolo's most important rococo paintings. This marks the greatest amount ever spent on paintings at auction in Italian history.
As of Nov. 20, Tiepolo's "Ulysses Discovers Achilles Among the Daughters of Lycomedes," "Apollo skins Mars," and "Hercules and Anteus" grace the lobby gallery of the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, a hotel that houses one of the country's most important private art collections, especially respected for its grand array of 18th-century pieces.
The Tiepolo pieces were sold by Sotheby's in Milan in May as "the most important works by Tiepolo to have appeared at auction in the last half century." Although the cycle was valued at more than $28 million outside of Italy, the Rome Cavalieri Hilton purchased the pieces for a total of $8 million, due to auction restrictions requiring that the pieces remain within the country. The cycle was originally commissioned for Count Tommaso Sandi's Venetian family palace in the 1720's. The largest of the paintings measures eight by 17 feet.
The record-breaking Tiepolo acquisition was unveiled in a gala event on Nov. 20, attended by the Italian Minister of Culture and Tourism. This acquisition marks the most recent addition to a 1,100-piece collection that brims with historic paintings, sculptures, furniture and tapestries spanning the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Public spaces and private rooms alike are decorated with pieces from the collection. The lobby alone displays four landscapes by Giuseppe Zais, a 1745 commode made for the King of Poland, and two paintings by rococo master Giuseppe Bazzani. Highlights adorning the 370 guest rooms include the crib originally built for Napoleon's son, a series of Warhols and a collection of oversize sofas designed (and previously owned) by Karl Lagerfeld.
"We are known as one of Italy's most gorgeous hotels," General Manager Milan Arandelovic said proudly, "and a great deal of that reputation is built on our singular art collection. To add the magic of these Tiepolo pieces to our lobby is a tremendous gift. We're delighted to share the beauty of these pieces with our guests."
The Rome Cavalieri Hilton, a five-star luxury hotel on a hill just outside of downtown, offers "gasp-worthy" views of the entire Eternal City; Rome's only three-star Michelin restaurant, La Pergola; an array of in-room soap, pillow, and doggy room service menus; and a collection of Super Suites, studded with in-room wine cellars and cigar humidors, Swarovski crystal bath fixtures, tropical-mist showers with chromo-aromatherapy, and private rooftop gardens, connected to the suites, with outdoor mini-pools directly overlooking St.Peter's.
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