Villa Farnesina
230 Via della Lungara, Rome
Completed in 1511, for Agostino Chigi (1466-1520), the Pope's banker, a patron of the arts, and "indisputably the richest man in Rome". Overlooking the Tiber, it features the works of Sebastiano del Piombo, Giovanni da Udine, Giulio Romano, Sodoma, and Raphael who painted the frescoe "Triumph of Galatea" here. The villa takes its name from the Farnese family who lived here from 1577 to 1714 when it passed from them to the Bourbons of Naples and then the Kingdom of the Two Sicilys....
In 1861, it became the official residence of the Spanish Ambassador in Rome and was afterwards acquired by the Italian state. Up until 2007, it housed the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe (Department of Drawings and Prints) of the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Roma. The main rooms of the villa, including the Loggia, are open to visitors, and among others it inspired Dorchester House, "the most splendid house in London."
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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 28/01/2023 and last updated on 29/01/2023.
Image Courtesy of Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0
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