Villa Farnesina

Overview

Tucked quietly away in Trastevere along the curve of the Tiber, Villa Farnesina is arguably the most perfect, harmonious, and jaw-droppingly beautiful High Renaissance villa in Rome. It is a jewel box of art.

Highlights

• The Raphael Frescoes: The loggia is, covered in the vibrant, sensual masterpiece fresco The Triumph of Galatea, painted by Raphael himself.
• The Loggia of Cupid and Psyche: An lush, illusionistic ceiling fresco depicting a massive overarching pergola draped in detailed, botanically accurate fruits and flowers, framing the mythological story.
• The Architecture: Designed by Baldassare Peruzzi, the building itself is a masterpiece of elegant, symmetrical, proportioned Renaissance restraint.

History

Commissioned in 1506 by Agostino Chigi, an enormously wealthy Sienese banker and powerful papal treasurer. He deliberately built it as a opulent, private suburban party villa intended to show off his limitless wealth (he famously hosted massive banquets where guests were instructed to throw solid gold plates into the river when finished). The Farnese family later bought it, giving it its current name.

Visitor Tips

• The Illusion: Look up at the ceiling in the Sala delle Prospettive. Peruzzi painted brilliant, mathematically perfect trompe l'oeil (optical illusion) columns that make the flat room look like a massive open-air loggia overlooking Rome.
• Pacing: It is beautifully small and intimate, making it more manageable and less exhausting than the Vatican palazzi.