Roman Salon Culture between 1870 and 1914: Ersilia Caetani Lovatelli and Giuseppe Primoli

In the heart of post-Unification Rome, between the dawn of the Kingdom of Italy and the eve of the First World War, the cultural and social circles hosted by Ersilia Caetani Lovatelli and Giuseppe Primoli served as important hubs of social, cultural, and political life. The conference, held in Rome from December 2 to 4, 2025, sought to retrace the history of these vibrant years spent in such evocative settings, capturing the complexity of an era in which art, politics, the sciences, archaeology, and high society intertwined in new and unexpected ways.

Organized across three of Rome’s most prominent cultural institutions—the Fondazione Camillo Caetani, the Fondazione Primoli, and the École Française—the event featured thematic sessions involving Italian and international scholars specializing in history, archaeology, literature, art history, musicology, and gender studies. Beyond the political and intellectual dimensions, particular attention was given to aspects of salon life that are perhaps less explored but equally significant: chamber music, dancing, etiquette, and fashion. These elements contributed to the development of shared behavioral codes and a refined aesthetic, mirroring the practices of the time.

The salon gatherings of Ersilia Caetani and Giuseppe Primoli were presented not merely as venues for discussion but also as stages for social and cultural performance, where sounds, customs, and music played a central communicative role within a now vanished “salon culture.”

With the participation of journalist Francesca Lovatelli Caetani, both as an expert and as the direct descendant of Ersilia Caetani Lovatelli, her great-great-grandmother.