This small two-story palace on the banks of the Tiber was built for the Sienese papal banker Agostino Chigi as a residence for his mistress. Later it was purchased by the Farnese family (thus the name) and connected by a bridge across the Tiber to the huge Palazzo Farnese on the opposite bank.
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The plan is "U"-shaped. The garden facade has two outer projecting wings and a large arched loggia in the recessed center--the Loggia di Psiche (see below). The exterior walls are brick although they were originally stuccoed and decorated with delicate fresco designs. The slender pilasters are brick as well.
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Details of the
Loggia di Psiche: Psyche Received on Olympus (eastern half of ceiling)
The garden
loggia (1518-19) has frescoes painted by Raphael and his assistants. Painted
bands of foliage line each of the groins in the vaulting. Two frescoes
on the ceiling depict incidents in the story of Cupid and Psyche which
took place in heaven.
The frescoes throughout this villa evoke the pagan and classical world. This villa and its decoration illustrate Chigi's desire to be associated with the patricians of ancient Rome.
