In the living room, a collection of marble sculptures ranging from the third to the 18th century.
The exterior of Villa Lontana, Paola Santarelli’s home in Rome,
once owned by neo-Classical sculptor Antonio Canova
Santarelli in front of a pair of third-century torsos on the mantel in the library.
In the library, antiquities nearly outnumber books. The pattern of the marble floor is modeled on Tiberius’s Villa Jovis on Capri.
In the dining room, an 18th-century oil painting by Alberto Carlieri and 18th-century Murano glass chandeliers hang over a 15-foot porphyry dining table on marble trapezophoros.
In Santarelli’s office, a collection of polychrome marble samples on shelves over an 18th-century walnut desk.
Ancient marble fragments. Santarelli believes they hold not just the foundation but the soul of classical Western society.
A third-century white marble Bacchus head.
An 18th-century Pseudo-Seneca bust.
Paola Santarelli’s Dazzling Marble Collection
For Santarelli, one of the foremost private collectors in the world, the medium is the soul of Western civilization. - The New York Times