villa. Although used to designate any country residence, especially in Italy and S France, the term villa particularly refers to a type of pleasure residence with extensive grounds favored by the Romans and richly developed in Italy in the Renaissance. The Roman villa of the empire is described in several contemporary literary accounts and particularly by Pliny. Favored locations were at Tivoli near Rome and along the shores of the Bay of Naples. The dwelling quarters, consisting of several low buildings, included recreation facilities and lodgings for the servants. The farmhouse type (villa rustica) had barns, orchards, and vineyards, and the type used as a pleasure retreat (villa urbana) had formal gardens adorned with fountains and sculptures. The luxurious villa of Emperor Hadrian near Tivoli, of which extensive ruins remain, is said to have covered more than 7 sq mi (18 sq km); many works of art were exhumed there during the Renaissance. In the late 15th cent. the classic villas, rediscovered along with the rest of the Roman past, furnished the Renaissance nobles with patterns for pleasure estates of their own, e.g., the Villa Madama, Rome, designed by Raphael and the many villas built by Palladio in N Italy. Many of these villas had hillside locations, which called forth the fullest ingenuity of the garden designers. Their pictorial compositions blended with the variable elements of nature the formal qualities of the house, the incidental garden architecture, and the fountains. Baroque villas displayed the most fanciful variety of garden frivolities—grotesque sculptures, grottoes lined with rock and shell decorations, fantastic water displays, and ingenious transitions between different levels. Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore is a striking example. Among the finest villas are the Farnesina; the Villa d'Este at Tivoli; the Villa Farnese at Caprarola by Vignola; the Borghese Villa; and the Villa Doria Pamphili.

Villa-Lobos, Heitor, 1887-1959, Brazilian composer, educated in Brazil but self-taught in composition. He developed an interest in Brazilian folk music, which became the strongest influence on his works. A series of compositions which he called Chôros, ranging from an instrumental solo to an orchestral work, employ a synthesis of the different modes of Brazilian folk and popular music. Outstanding are Chorôs No. 7 (1924), for strings and woodwinds, No. 10 (1926), for orchestra and chorus, and No. 11 (1928; premiere, 1942), for piano and orchestra. He visited Paris (c.1923-26), conducted various orchestras in Europe, and became well known there; but it was not until his music was played at the New York World's Fair (1939-40) that he became known in the United States. In 1932 he was appointed director of musical education in Brazil. He came to the United States (1944-45) to conduct various orchestras in performances of his works. His compositions, including five symphonies, several operas, concertos, chamber music, and songs, number about 2,000. Although these are of uneven quality, his best works, such as Bachiana's brasileira's No. 1 (1930), written in homage to Bach, display great originality and vitality.

Villa, Francisco, c.1877-1923, Mexican revolutionary, nicknamed Pancho Villa. His real name was Doroteo Arango.

When Villa came of age, he declared his freedom from the peonage of his parents and became notorious as a bandit in Chihuahua and Durango. His vigorous fighting in the revolution of 1910-11 was largely responsible for the triumph of Francisco I. Madero over Porfirio Díaz. When Victoriano Huerta overthrew Madero (Feb., 1913), Villa joined Venustiano Carranza and the Constitutionalists in the fight against Huerta. The Constitutionalists met with continual success. Villa, at the head of his brilliant cavalry, Los Dorados, gained control of N Mexico by the audacity of his attacks; Huerta resigned in July, 1914.

Antipathy and suspicion had always existed between Villa and Carranza; now, with their common enemy eliminated, an open break occurred after the Convention of Aguascalientes. A bloody contest ensued, with Álvaro Obregón taking the side of Carranza. In the midst of chaos, Villa, with Emiliano Zapata, occupied Mexico City (Dec., 1914) but later evacuated the capital (Jan., 1915). Obregón pursued Villa, and their armies engaged at Celaya (Apr., 1915). Decisively defeated, Villa was driven north and out of military significance. In the winter of 1915 he campaigned disastrously against Plutarco E. Calles in Sonora.

Villa's waning power was further diminished by President Wilson's recognition of Carranza (Oct., 1915), which angered Villa. In Jan., 1916, a group of Americans were shot by bandits in Chihuahua, and on Mar. 9, 1916, some of Villa's men raided the U.S. town of Columbus, N.Mex., killing some American citizens. It is not certain that Villa participated in these assaults, but he was universally held responsible. Wilson ordered a punitive expedition under General Pershing to capture Villa dead or alive. The expedition pursued Villa through Chihuahua for 11 months (Mar., 1916-Feb., 1917) but failed in its objective. Carranza violently resented this invasion and it embittered relations between Mexico and the United States.

Villa continued his activities in northern Mexico throughout Carranza's regime, but in 1920 he came to an amicable agreement with the government of Adolfo de la Huerta. Three years later Villa was assassinated at Parral. In a sense Pancho Villa was a rebel against social abuses; at times he worked a rough justice but he was a violent and undirected destructive force. His daring, his impetuosity, and his horsemanship made him the idol of the masses, especially in N Mexico, where he was regarded as a sort of Robin Hood. The Villa myth is perpetuated in numerous ballads and tales.

Villa d'Este, name of two famous villas in Italy. One lies near Tivoli, c.20 mi (30 km) E of Rome. Built in 1550 by Pirro Ligorio for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, it is decorated with paintings and statues and is surrounded by one of the most beautiful Renaissance gardens in Italy. The garden is adorned with many picturesque fountains. The other Villa d'Este, built (16th cent.) on the west shore of Lake Como, 3 mi (4.8 km) N of Como, with an elaborate park, is now one of the celebrated hotels of Europe.

Villa Umberto I: see Borghese Villa.

Villa Park, village (1990 pop. 22,253), Du Page co., NE Ill.; inc. 1914. It is a residential suburb W of Chicago.

Villa Doria Pamphili, Roman villa, built in the 17th cent. for Camillo Pamphili, nephew of Pope Innocent X, from plans designed by Alessandro Algardi. It was situated against the western walls of Rome near the San Pancrazio gate. The Romans called it Belrespiro.

Borghese Villa or Villa Umberto I, summer palace built by Scipione Cardinal Borghese outside the Porta del Popolo, Rome. Begun in 1605, the villa was transformed in the 18th cent. into a more elaborate edifice. In 1806 it yielded much of its priceless art to Paris. It is now government owned and has become the repository for many of the paintings from the Borghese Palace.

Country estate, complete with house, grounds, and subsidiary buildings. The term particularly applies to the suburban summer residences of the ancient Romans and their later Italian imitators. Roman villas frequently were asymmetrical in plan and built with elaborate terracing on hillsides; they had long colonnades, towers, gardens with reflecting pools and fountains, and extensive reservoirs. In Britain the term has come to mean a small detached or semidetached suburban home. Seealso Hadrian's Villa, Andrea Palladio.

Learn more about villa with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 5, 1887, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—died Nov. 17, 1959, Rio de Janeiro) Brazilian composer. He was exposed to folk music as a child, and his later extensive ethnomusicological studies (1905–12) had great influence on his own works. Self-taught as a composer, he met Darius Milhaud in 1917, and Artur Rubinstein later promoted his music and helped support him. A “week of modern art” in São Paulo (1922) brought his music to national attention, and he was given a grant to go to Paris (1923–30), where his music was received enthusiastically. On his return he became a leader in musical education—founding the Ministry of Education conservatory (1942) and the Brazilian Academy of Music (1945)—and Brazil's semiofficial ambassador to the world. His many works include his 9 Bachianas brasileiras for various ensembles and his 14 Chôros, based on a popular form of street music.

Learn more about Villa-Lobos, Heitor with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Doroteo Arango

(born June 5, 1878, Hacienda de Río Grande, San Juan del Río, Mex.—died June 20, 1923, Parral) Mexican guerrilla leader. He was orphaned at a young age and spent his adolescence as a fugitive, having murdered a landowner in revenge for an assault on his sister. An advocate of radical land reform, he joined Francisco Madero's uprising against Porfirio Díaz. His División del Norte joined forces with Venustiano Carranza to overthrow Victoriano Huerta (1854–1916), but he soon broke with the moderate Carranza and in 1914 was forced to flee with Emiliano Zapata. In 1916, to demonstrate that Carranza did not control the north, he raided a town in New Mexico. A U.S. force led by Gen. John Pershing was sent against him, but his popularity and knowledge of his home territory made him impossible to capture. He was granted a pardon after Carranza's overthrow (1920) but was assassinated three years later. Seealso Mexican Revolution; Alvaro Obregon.

Learn more about Villa, Pancho with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Doroteo Arango

(born June 5, 1878, Hacienda de Río Grande, San Juan del Río, Mex.—died June 20, 1923, Parral) Mexican guerrilla leader. He was orphaned at a young age and spent his adolescence as a fugitive, having murdered a landowner in revenge for an assault on his sister. An advocate of radical land reform, he joined Francisco Madero's uprising against Porfirio Díaz. His División del Norte joined forces with Venustiano Carranza to overthrow Victoriano Huerta (1854–1916), but he soon broke with the moderate Carranza and in 1914 was forced to flee with Emiliano Zapata. In 1916, to demonstrate that Carranza did not control the north, he raided a town in New Mexico. A U.S. force led by Gen. John Pershing was sent against him, but his popularity and knowledge of his home territory made him impossible to capture. He was granted a pardon after Carranza's overthrow (1920) but was assassinated three years later. Seealso Mexican Revolution; Alvaro Obregon.

Learn more about Villa, Pancho with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 5, 1887, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—died Nov. 17, 1959, Rio de Janeiro) Brazilian composer. He was exposed to folk music as a child, and his later extensive ethnomusicological studies (1905–12) had great influence on his own works. Self-taught as a composer, he met Darius Milhaud in 1917, and Artur Rubinstein later promoted his music and helped support him. A “week of modern art” in São Paulo (1922) brought his music to national attention, and he was given a grant to go to Paris (1923–30), where his music was received enthusiastically. On his return he became a leader in musical education—founding the Ministry of Education conservatory (1942) and the Brazilian Academy of Music (1945)—and Brazil's semiofficial ambassador to the world. His many works include his 9 Bachianas brasileiras for various ensembles and his 14 Chôros, based on a popular form of street music.

Learn more about Villa-Lobos, Heitor with a free trial on Britannica.com.