Villa Farnesina

This early sixteenth-century suburban villa in Trastevere was built for the wealthy banker Agostino Chigi and is celebrated for its frescoes by Raphael and his workshop. The ground-floor Loggia of Cupid and Psyche and the Loggia of Galatea are painted with mythological scenes of exceptional grace, while upstairs a room by Peruzzi creates an illusionistic view of the city through painted columns. The gardens once ran down to the Tiber and hosted lavish banquets.