Agostino Chigi's Villa

Today my Renaissance and Baroque Art class went to see a villa that was built in 1509 near Campo di Fiori. The building was designed by a young Sienese architect and artist. The home was originally built for a wealthy Sienese banker named Agostino Chigi and then later it was sold to the Fernesina family. The groundfloor features a room that combines the artwork of Piombo, Raphael and Peruzzi. Peruzzi painted a horoscope around the ceiling walls because of the fascination that Chigi had with astronomy. Piombo painted Polyphemus, a cyclops who loved Galatea in vain. Next to Polyphemus is Galatea, painted by Raphael. Galatea is shown riding on a shell that is being pulled by two dolphins. Surrounding Galatea is a cloudy sky instead of a clear sky. This is because Raphael chose to paint the sky over a couple days, making the color of the blue different from day to day. Raphael painted over this imperfection with clouds.

The adjacent room on the groundfloor is also painted by Raphael and depicts the story of Psyche and Cupid. The story is a love story that involves the jealous nature of Venus. The room takes us through the main chapters of a book written by Apuleius from the Antonine period. This room was my favorite; the paintings of the people were so realistic and preserved and I loved the story behind the room.

The second level has a room that is called the Hall of Perspective, painted by Peruzzi. The room is one of the highest forms of spatial representation of the time. One of the views that is scene on the wall closest the bedroom is of Trastevere and I have actually walked in the exact area that is shown!

The second room in the second level is Chigi's bedroom. This room features Alexander the Great and his wife Roxanne on their wedding night. The other paintings in the room are of Alexander as a boy on a rearing, "un-tamable" horse and then of a battle. The room was painted by Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, aka Sodoma (nicknamed because of his sexual inclinations).