Villa Farnesina

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Map

Villa Farnesina

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TheVilla Farnesina was built between 1506 and 1510 for Agostino Chigi (1466-1520), to a design by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536). Agostino Chigi was a fabulously wealthy banker from Siena. Baldassare Peruzzi, painter and architect, also hailed from the same Tuscan city. 

Villa Farnesina was decorated between 1510 and 1519 with frescoes by a range of artists. The Loggia of Galatea has a ceiling frescoed by Peruzzi, while the lunettes are by Sebastiano del Piombo (1485-1547). The loggia takes its name from the fresco by Raphael (1483-1520), his first painting of a mythological subject.

The Triumph of Galatea by Raphael

Raphael probably provided the cartoons for the frescoes in the Loggia of Cupid and Pysche, but the actual frescoes were executed by his pupils, Giulio Romano (1499-1546), Gianfrancesco Penni (c. 1490-1528), Giovanni da Udine (1487-1564) and Raffaellino dal Colle (1490-1556). 

The Council of the Gods

The loggia once opened directly onto the garden. 

Hall of Perspectives (Sala delle Prospettive)

On the first floor we find the Sala delle Prospettive (Hall of Pespectives) with its celebrated trompe l'oeil frescoes, the work of Peruzzi and his team. 

The Family of Darius before Alexander the Great

In what was once a bedroom are frescoes by Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (1477-1549), better known as il Sodoma, such as the Marriage of Roxana and Alexander and the Family of Darius before Alexander.  

The Wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxana

Chigi entertained his guests, including Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21), in lavish style. His villa was later sold to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, assuming the name of its new owner.

Agostino Chigi is interred in the Cappella Chigi in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. ​​

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