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About This Work
A formal Renaissance-style garden is depicted with low, manicured hedges arranged in symmetrical patterns around a circular stone fountain. In the background, tall Italian stone pines rise against a clear sky, situated next to the ochre-toned buildings of the villa complex.
The Villa Farnesina is a primary site of High Renaissance Neoplatonism, commissioned by Agostino Chigi to house Raphael's frescoes of Galatea and Baldassare Peruzzi's astrological ceiling. The garden represents the early modern revival of the 'villa suburbana,' a space intended for the harmonious integration of nature, art, and classical philosophy.
Connected Texts
Raphael
The artist who painted the famous Neoplatonic frescoes within the villa adjacent to this garden.
Agostino Chigi
The Sienese banker and patron who commissioned the villa's esoteric and astrological decorative program.