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The villa was still far from finished when Julius Ill's short pontificate came to an end. The Conclave almost unanimously
chose as his successor their saintly brother, Cardinal della Croce.* The world had entered upon a new phase. Northern Europe
had brought the spirit of the Reformation to the gates of Rome, and men were ashamed of Pope Julius III, whose misfortune it had
been to live half a century too late.
The Villa Giulia passed into the ownership of the popes and remained there until it was taken over by the state in the present
government. It was eventually finished by Popes Pius IV and Pius V, but the art treasures were scattered far and wide. During many
pontificates it was used for the stopping place of ambassadors and other great personages who spent the night there before making
their ceremonial entrance into Rome. Perhaps the presence of so much water and luxurious vegetation made the place peculiarly
sensitive to mould and decay. Even as early as 1585 it was not considered healthful. Sixtus V, with the restless caprice of the
poor sleeper, wished to spend a night there, but was forbidden to do so by his physician. As it was papal property, no private
individual ever had the chance to take over the beautiful old building and gardens and keep them in repair; and those popes whose
tastes might have led them to restore it built pleasure-houses or palaces for themselves. Gregory XIII began the Quirinal Palace,
and not infrequently for his ville-giatura visited the magnificent villa of Mondragone at Frascati which Cardinal Altemps had already
begun to build. Sixtus V built his Villa Montalto, the new Lateran Palace, and finished the Quirinal Palace. Clement VIII
contented himself with the Quirinal; but his great cardinal nephew, Peter Aldobrandini, founded the magnificent Villa Aldobrandini at
Frascati. The Medici Leo XI devoted himself to the Villa Medici. Paul V did indeed make a restoration, using much stucco, which
can easily be distinguished from the beautiful work of the original period, but that Pope's interest was really given to the great
villa which his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, was creating out of the old Villa Cenci.
* This cardinal became Pope Marcellus, for whom Palestrina is said to have written the Mass of Pope Marcellus.
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