Villa Farnesina

Lonely Planet review

Anyone with the remotest interest in Renaissance art should find a couple of hours to visit this extraordinary 16th-century villa. Commissioned by wealthy banker Agostino Chigi and built by the Sienese architect Baldassare Peruzzi between 1508 and 1511, it boasts some awe-inspiring decoration, with frescoes by Sebastiano del Piombo, Raphael and Peruzzi. In 1577 the Farnese family bought the villa from the bankrupt Chigi and modestly renamed it in honour of themselves.

The most famous frescoes are in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche on the ground floor. Although they are generally attributed to Raphael, the great man did little more than design the frescoes for his assistants to paint. Apparently, he was so besotted with his mistress, who worked in a nearby bakery, that he couldn't concentrate on his work. He did, however, find time to paint the famous Trionfo di Galatea (Triumph of Galatea) in the room of the same name.

On the 1st floor Peruzzi's dazzling frescoes in the Salone delle Prospettive stand out. They are a superb illusionary perspective of a colonnade and panorama of 16th-century Rome.

The building also houses the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe (National Print Collection), part of the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica (National Institute of Graphics), which can be consulted by scholars with permission.