Villa farnesina 02

A photograph of the Villa Farnesina, showing its Renaissance facade and U-shaped architectural plan. The building is decorated with classical pilasters and a detailed frieze, with modern construction fencing visible in the foreground. It was designed by Baldassare Peruzzi and served as a suburban retreat for the wealthy banker Agostino Chigi.

The villa is a key site for the study of Renaissance esotericism, containing a complete astrological ceiling by Baldassare Peruzzi that maps the patron's birth chart. It also houses Raphael’s fresco cycle of Cupid and Psyche, based on Apuleius’s 'The Golden Ass', a text central to Neoplatonic allegorical traditions.