More Pics of Interest to Early Music Folks (and others!)

Across the Tiber, on the site where an ancient Roman villa with exquisite frescoes was discovered, sits the Palazzino Farnese, known as la Farnesina. Built between 1506 and 1510 by Baldassarre Peruzzi for Agostino Chigi (a wealthy Sienese banker who financed several popes), this elegant home and garden was the scene for numerous banquets and festivities of the Renaissance glitterati. Below are some of the lush frescoes from the Loggia of Psyche in the main entrance hall. Raphael drew the overall scheme, but Giulio Romano, Francesco Penni, Raffaellino del Colle, and Giovanni da Udine executed the work.

Psyche and Zeus.

Marriage of Psyche and Cupid (fragment).

Apollo! Note the squash in the upper right, ahem...

Blurry overview. The coat of arms in the center is a combination of Chigi's and Leo X's, a rare example.

Nerone, who is kept in a museum that is separate and far away from the one housing...

Ottavia (note the hair style).