PICS FROM VILLA FARNESINA
I promised pictures from the Villa Farnesina in an earlier post ( http://operafantomet.livejournal.com/240085.html ). Alas I didn't got to take too many, as I had taken some very few and then found out pictures weren't allowed. But here goes...
LOGGIA DE GALATEA
The most famous fresco in the building; "The Triumph of Galatea" by Raphael. It was painted ca. 1512, contemporary with his "Schools of Athens". It shows how the sea nymph Galatea flees from the unwanted love of her consort Polyphemus, as Galatea loves the shepherd Acis. Some believe this depicts the previously mentioned courtesan Imperia, though no contemporary references mentions it. The small putti flying above Galatea shoots at her with arrows - arrows of love, no doubt. But arrows were also an early coat-of-arms detail of Agostino Chigi, and can be found several places in the building.
This fresco was one of my first meetings with art history, it was awesome to see it for real. The room once opened into the garden, and must have been a paradise on earth.
LOGGIA DE PSYCHE
In the neighbor room is a ceiling with the story of Amor/Cupid and Psyche, painted by the assistants of Raphael ca. 1517. Amor is head over heels in love with Psyche, but Venus is jealous of the girl's beauty and won't allow her son to marry. Lots of trouble and tests are to be resolved (which the sides of the ceiling depicts) before the couple can marry and Psyche take her place among the gods of the Olympus (middle section). The two middle sections are depicted as big carpets attached to the green girlands of the roof.
The girlands have tons and tons of fruit and vegetables inserted - so many and so faithfully depicted that there is a whole book written about the subject. Not without a sense of humour, of course. There is a fig up there, which is Italian slang for genitalia, as well as a big green... erm... cucumber, possibly, looking like a giant penis (picture 2). The ceiling is not just about love, it also has an erotic undertone, far from the platonic love so much in vogue in the Renaissance. It's elements like this, as well as the many references to beauty, Venus and to Cupid's arrows which has given this building nicknames like "House of love".
THE BED CHAMBER
The bed chamber in the rooms above the Galatea and Psyche loggias, showing the bride Roxane ready to receive her husband Alexander the Great. Small putti are working hard to get the sandals off her feet, a cute detail. The room was frescoed by Sodoma (sic!) ca. 1508.
Alas I did not get to take pictures in the Sala delle Prospettive by Peruzzi. It was an awesome room, which is worth checking out on the internet. For example http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/p/peruzzi/farnesi3.html . Peruzzi was also the architect of the building, and he was from Siena like Agostino Chigi himself.
Do visit the Villa Farnesina if you're in Rome. It's one of the prettiest Renaissance villas I've ever been to, and the frescoes are so well preserved. The entrance fee was €8 (€3 for students, seniors etc), which is cheap for such an injection of beauty!