E07 A: The Torlonia Family, Great Patrons of the Arts or Fascist Supporters or Both with Guia

TE Talks! History, Travel, and All Things Italian

Listen in to an unforgettable conversation between Guia and Rob talking about the history of the Torlonia family, how they rose up in wealth during the 1700 and 1800's and what they had to do to be accepted into the nobility of Rome. A daunting challenge especially since they never had a Pope in their family. This is a lovely two part podcast where we delve into the evolution and history of how this family gained extraordinary wealth. They amassed one of the greatest collections of antiquities in history and even shared it with the people of Rome to compete with the Vatican and Capitoline museums. Then their association with Mussolini and Fascism created problems for them and their collection was sequestered from public view for almost 50 years, until now.