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The Villa Farnesina |
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written
by karadunn / 09.18.2004 |
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Function |
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"Function of Artwork: Impact on Viewer and Themes in Decoration"
The Villa Farnesina is rumored to have been built upon the site of the ancient villa where Cleopatra stayed when she accompanied her lover, Mark Antony, to Rome, and was built by Chigi for his mistress, the infamous courtesan Imperia (though it became the home of his second mistress, Andreosia, who eventually became his wife, after Imperia's death). Considering this history, it is not surprising that the decoration of the villa should have a common theme running through it - love.
The myth of Cupid and Psyche is an interesting subject matter for the loggia. Cupid fell in love with the daughter of a king, but had to remain unrecognizable to her and so came to her only at night. After Psyche had undergone many difficult trials, Zeus made her immortal and allowed her to marry Cupid. The unusual subject seems to be a reference to the much longed for marriage between Chigi and his mistress, Andreosia, with whom he already had four children. Of particular interest is the scene of Cupid with the Three Graces. It was said that only in the presence of the Three Graces could a young man recognize the charms of his beloved. Cupid is looking at the Graces and pointing with his left hand, not at Psyche, but at the loggia itself, the Chigi’s own domain. This is thought to be a compliment to the charms of Chigi's mistress, the lady of the house. The garlands of fruit are also charged with highly erotic overtones. Many of the fruits are bursting open, at their peak of ripeness, and there are several questionable vegetables, apparently an irregular variety of an elongated squash, scattered throughout the garlands.
The "Triumph of Galatea" also follows this theme of the pursuit of love, and demonstrates Raphael's remarkable skill in creating a fluid, harmonious composition of his figures. In this cheerful picture, every figure seems to correspond to some other figure, and every movement has a counter-movement to answer to. For example, there are small boys with bows and arrows aiming at the heart of the nymph. The ones to the right and left echo each other’s movements, and the boy swimming beside the chariot corresponds to the one flying above Galatea’s head. The sea gods also seem to be wheeling around the central figure, with two on the margins who blow their seashell horns, and two pairs in front and behind. Amazingly, all of these diverse movements around Galatea are also reflected in the figure of the nymph as well. While her chariot is driving from left to right across the sea with her veil blowing backwards, she is gazing back over the water in a counter-action to the forward motion of the chariot. Hearing the strange love song, she turns around and smiles, and all the lines in the picture converge on her beautiful face in the center of the picture, from the small boys arrows to the reins she holds in her hands. Through these artistic means, Raphael has achieved constant movement throughout the composition of the piece, without letting it appear restless or unbalanced.
The exquisite beauty of Raphael’s figures was also admired by his contemporaries and by following generations. When he had finished Galatea, Raphael was purportedly asked by a courtier where he had managed to find a model of such beauty in all the world. The master replied that he had not copied any specific model, but had instead followed “a certain idea” he had imagined in his mind. To some extent, Raphael had strayed from the faithful portrayal of nature which had been the ambition of so many artists at this time, and deliberately used an imagined type of regular beauty.
These themes of love found in the artwork of the Farnesina are also extended into the master bedroom, in a beautiful depiction of Alexander the Great presenting a crown to his beloved, Roxane, as she sits on a bed in a grand sleeping chamber.
These works of art, created by acknowledged masters of the day, would have been meant to impress upon the viewer the cultural attainments of the household. The grand style of the villa imparts a feeling of wealth and sophistication, and guests of Chigi would have undoubtably felt that they were in the presence of an influential and powerful figure upon entering his domain.
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