View of the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche (photo)

Rome, Villa Farnesina: view of the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche. The Loggia takes its name from the decoration frescoed on the vault by Raphael and his workshop in 1517-18. The frescos represent episodes from the fable of Psyche, narrated in Apuleiu’s Golden Ass, which had already been used in the fifteenth century for nuptial imagery. To give the space a festive and theatrical feel to it, Raphael also transformed the vault of the Loggia into a pergola, adorned with magnificent hanging festoons, as though the greenery of the gardens had invaded the Villa itself. In the centre he designed two fictive tapestries which depict the concluding scenes: the splendid Council of the Gods, where the unjustly persecuted girl is final