The Academic Career

In this room it is possible to retrace the university career of Anton Giulio Barrili, where, as for Room “A”, the furniture in this room is also original.

In 1894 he obtained the chair of Italian Literature in Genoa, thanks mainly to the support of the poet and writer Giosuè Carducci who also esteemed him for his patriotic ideals.

In 1903 Barrili was appointed Rector (Magnifico Rettore) of the University of Genoa. For this reason you can see on the right the concerning certificate, his toga, a notebook of university notes, his business card and a portrait of him. These objects are placed on the desk on which Barrili was used to write.

Between the two windows a copy of a small bronze depicting a Thracian–Phrygian deity of Jupiter Sabazius is exposed; it was discovered in 1891 during an excavation near the parish road of Vado Ligure. During the work two votive hands were also found; the votive hand shown here is a copy of one of the two hands found in the same excavation that was lost. The original of the other relic is kept at the British Museum in London. The dating goes back to the third century B.C.. It is very likely that Barrili came into possession of the plaster cast thanks to his dear friend Vittorio Poggi who, at the time, was the Royal Commissioner for Antiquities of Fine Arts of Liguria and scholar of these relics.

Almost in the centre of the room was placed a very large square table on which are exposed:

• copies of the newspaper Il Movimento preserved by Barrili and subsequently bound;
• the collection of Il Caffaro, a Genoan political daily he directed and founded 1875. On the table is an issue of the newspaper, open on the page dedicated to Barrili’s funeral. He died in Carcare on 14 August 1908 and during the funeral rites, which took place in Genoa, there was a dispute between the Clergy and Masonry. The oral tradition, in fact, reports that in Carcare the clergy accompanied the body from Villa Maura to the village gate, then leaving it to the Masons, who wrapped it in the Italian flag (tricolore) and transported it by train from the St. Giuseppe of Cairo Montenotte railway station to Genoa. The problem, however, recurred again in Genoa when the representatives of Freemasonry were driven away from the function and gathered in a town square to remember Barrili with a counter-ceremony;
• a volume containing the fashion magazine Femina in French, which belonged to the nieces of Barrili;
• several of his novels, a collection of theatrical works and some short stories.

Anton Giulio wrote several historical novels and other works with romantic plots, particularly appreciated by women. It is even said that, an evening at the Carlo Felice theatre, one of his admirers asked him to satisfy the female audience by writing romance novels.

Two paintings by Laura Breschi, Barrili’s niece and established artist, are hanging on the wall. Another feature that attests the artistic abilities of Miss Breschi, is her work “Dio Imperator”, placed on the altar of the Church of the Piarists (Chiesa dei Padri Scolopi), not far from Villa Maura.

Continuing into the room, on the right, an area dedicated to the Barrili family was created. In the middle of the room there is a round shaped sofa in damask fabric, originally placed on the ground floor of the house, in the main entrance, split and leaning against the wall.

On the sides of the door leading to room D, were posted the portraits of Mrs. Maura Pertica and Mr. Luigi Barile, the Barrili’s parents. It will be noticed immediately the change of surname from Barile to Barrili, wanted by Anton Giulio and attested in the document dated 1883 shown here. This room is also furnished with wooden wall bookcases that host books, encyclopaedias and various kinds of volumes that belonged to the writer and. You can also see an old original poster of the Italian Parliament elections and the list of the Thousand Garibaldians present in Marsala, among whom the patriot Giuseppe Cesare Abba does not appear.

Barrili was an exemplary student, the top student at the academy in the Piarist Fathers’ School (Scuola dei Padri Scolopi) in Savona, as Giuseppe Cesare Abba was in the Carcare one. A teachers of him was Prof. Angelo Pesante, a rhetoric teacher, who one day asked him to talk about paradox; Barrili answered by pointing out the paradox that existed between his teacher’s first name and surname: Angelo Pesante (Heavy Angel). This episode was reported by the professor himself.