Villa Farnesina

Description:

• The Renaissance Villa Farnesina is not very large but is filled with works of art, the most famous being by Raphael. The villa was designed in the early 16th century by Baldassare Peruzzi for Agostino Chigi, a banker and patron of the arts. One of the rooms in the villa not to be missed is the Galleria or Loggia of Psyche. The style is Raphael's but it was mainly his pupils who worked on it. The Galatea Room is another pearl with a marvellous fresco, by Raphael himself, of the Triumph of Galatea. The Perspective Room (Sala delle Prospettive) by Peruzzi is painted to resemble a loggia from which one gazes out at views of the countryside. On Chigi's death, Raphael's paintings had to be sold as his heirs were unable to keep up the property. All that remains of the master are his frescoes. The property was bought by the Farnese family from whom it takes its present name. The villa is now the home of the Academy of the Lincei and the National Collection of Drawings and Prints.
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Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2009
•  Highly Recommended 2010