A few years before working for the Count, Giani spent some time in Rome where he met Count Giacomo Laderchi and together, they visited the Domus Aurea, the ancient villa of the Emperor Nero. The richness and elegance of the decorations leave a longing memory in the artist. He then visits Naples and discovers the wonders that have surfaced out of the excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Here too he comes into contact with models that he decides to bring into the decorations that he creates in Faenza.

Entering the anteroom, we have the sensation of finding ourselves in a Pompeian atmosphere: the blue-black background of the wall and the brilliance of the colors recall the effect obtained with the encaustic technique. This is a very ancient pictorial technique used by the Greeks and then by the Romans and involves several steps: the artist prepares the colored mixture by combining the ground pigments with the melted wax. At the time of drafting this compound it was necessary to use special metal tools.

The rediscovery of the ancient as a model to refer to is the basis of Giani’s pictorial language.

In this room the artist celebrates the theme of water by representing dancing figures, water bearers, festoons and in the oval in the center of the vault the wedding of Neptune, the god of the sea, and Amphitrite, the most beautiful of the Nereids.

The centerpiece of this room is the sunken floor bathtub. There are very few nobles who have one, and for that time it was an absolute novelty. Before the French Revolution, the nobles had other habits and preferred to perfume rather than wash themselves!

This environment evokes the ancient nymphaeums and is equipped with pipes for hot and cold water. For this innovative solution, the Count must thank the spirit of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s engineers!