A passionate lover of art and architecture, Emperor Hadrian had crisscrossed his whole empire, and with this villa sought to evoke the works and sites he had seen on his travels. It was almost complete when Hadrian, long gravely ill and distraught at the loss of his favourite Antinous, died in 138. The place was forgotten until the 15C when it began to be looted by collectors and antiquaries. Archaeological excavations (commenced in 1870) have revealed an amazing site of melancholy beauty.