Palazzo Venezia

               
                     The Palazzo Venezia (in the past Palace of St. Mark) is a palazzo (royal residence) in focal Rome, Italy, only north of the Capitoline Hill. The first structure of this incredible building complex comprised of an unassuming medieval house planned as the living arrangement of the cardinals designated to the congregation of San Marco. In 1469 it turned into a private ecclesiastical castle, having experienced an enormous expansion, and in 1564, Pope Pius IV, to win the sensitivities of the Republic of Venice, gave the house to the ministers of La Serenissima on condition that a part of the building ought to be kept as a living arrangement for the cardinals—the Apartment Cibo—and that the Venetian Republic ought to accommodate the building's upkeep and future reclamation. The palazzo confronts Piazza Venezia and Via del Plebiscito. It right now houses the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia.

Plan of the Palazzo Venezia

                         The venture was proceeded after his passing by his nephew Marco Barbo, patriarch of Aquileia. The green yard had just been encased by a corridor surmounted by a loggia for not exactly a fourth of its full ranges before work was intruded on; the completely Renaissance configuration was by Giuliano da Maiano. The building turned into an ecclesiastical home, and in 1564 Pope Pius IV gave utilization of a great part of the working to the Republic of Venice for its government office and for the main cardinal of S. Marco, by custom dependably a Venetian. From the Treaty of Campoformio (1797) all through the nineteenth century, as Austria succeeded the outdated Republic, the building was the seat for the Austrian minister to the Vatican. In 1916, Italy, at war with Austria-Hungary, grabbed the building. It was in this manner reestablished. Benito Mussolini had his office in the Palazzo Venezia in the Sala del Mappamondo, and utilized its overhang sitting above the Piazza Venezia to convey a large portion of his most outstanding addresses, for example, the affirmation of the Italian Empire, 9 May 1936, to jams accumulated in the Piazza Venezia beneath.

                   
                         From that point forward it has been called Palazzo "of" Venezia which is its present name. The building was property of Venice up until the Republic existed. After the Treaty of Campoformio, in 1797, Palazzo Venezia turned into the Austrian strategic seat. From 1910 to 1913 the old garden of Paul II, called Palazzetto, was obliterated to make Piazza Venezia and modified on the opposite side of the castle, close by means of delle Botteghe Oscure. In 1916 the Italian Reign recouped the building and the craftsmanship student of history Federico Hermanin was assigned to make a National Museum, which opened in 1921, and to guide the rebuilding with a specific end goal to reproduce a Renaissance picture, lost throughout the hundreds of years. From 1929 to 1943 the Palace turned into the Fascist head-quarters and after the Second World War the gallery opened again to general society. Since 1981 the Barbo flat and the great lobbies are utilized for brief displays, while the Cybo loft and the Palazzetto house the exhibition hall accumulations. Artistic creations, wooden models, furniture, porcelains, earthenware production, bronzes, marbles, earthenware pieces and arsenal make the Museum of Palazzo Venezia the most varied in Rome.


Works Cited:
[1] "Palazzo Venezia." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. https://www.britannica.com/place/Palazzo-Venezia.
[2] Paoletti, John T. Art in Renaissance Italy.

Villa Farnesia, Rome, Italy, 1511

To see an  excellent example of Renaissance architecture in Italy, one should visit the Villa Farnesina. It can be found in the green Trastevere area of Rome on the Via della Lungara along the Tiber River. The rectangular structure represents the concept of the Renaissance perfectly which is why it is so important to architecture even today. 

Exterior view of the villa

The villa was built for a wealthy Sienese banker, Agostino Chigi, and went by the name Villa Chigi. Construction for the building began in 1509 by Baldassarre Peruzzi, an architect and painter, who was responsible for the design and construction. While the exterior was finished in 1511, the interior decorating lasted until 1519. This was because Chigi was an active patron and lover of the arts and wanted the villa to reflect that as much as possible. The location of the villa also worked to Chigi’s advantage as it was not too far from the city center and as a result, he was able to entertain high prelates, noblemen and cardinals. In fact, even the pope himself visited the villa. 5

Plan of Villa Farnesina

One of the things that Chigi made sure to include in the villa is a large garden. The large garden helps the theme of “clean architecture” one sees when looking at the Villa Farnesina. The design of the building is fairly similar and symmetrical as it just a rectangle. The cross section of the building is a square and the main section shows the large rectangle that is essentially two squares. This two square proportion is repeated in the dimensions of the doors and windows throughout the villa except in the mezzanine. 3

Decorating the exterior of the building can be found monochrome frescos that were done by Raphael who was a good friend of Peruzzi. In fact, Raphael was commissioned to decorate the loggia and other things in the villa in 1517. He also had his pupils Giulio Romano, Francesco Renni, Raffaellino del Colle and Giovanni de Udine help him in decorating the villa. The frescos help support the nature theme throughout the exterior of the building. The painting sale can be seen to imitate Roman marble reliefs to give the feel of an ancient monument which is an interesting touch. 1

Triumph of Galatea

One of the main features of Villa Farnesina is the Loggia of Galatea that was done by Raphael. The loggia can be found on the ground floor of the villa through an entrance hall. It depicts the classical and secular myths of Cupid and Psyche and the Triumph of Galatea. The nymph Galatea is on a shell being pulled by dolphins and inspiration for this scene came from a poem by Angelo Poliziano. 1

Hall of Galatea

The Loggia of Psyche is also filled with great artwork. The frescoed images of the groups of collective gods and individual gods have been done by Raphael’s pupils. Mythology was important to these individuals and as a result, the fresco reflects that. 

After Chigi’s death in 1520, the villa was bought by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, from whom the villa takes it’s present name. In 1714, it became property of the bourbon family and then was bought by the Spanish Ambassador Bermudez de Castro not long after that. In 1928, it was bought back from the Duke’s heirs by the Italian state and then became open to the public for viewing. 2

While a plan or section of Villa Farnesina might not look like much because of the simple geometry, there is a great amount of art work that is decorating the exterior as well as the interior. It also serves as a collection of great paintings seeing that so many different painters and artists contributed, each adding their own style. 

Works Cited

1 D’Ancona, Paolo. The Farnesina Frescoes at Rome. Italy: Edizioni Del Milione, 1956.

2 Hibbert, Christopher. "Rome: Biography of a City." London: Penguin Books, 1985.
3 Hunt, Patrick. "Villa Farnesina, Jewel of Renaissance Rome." Electrum Magazine RSS. N.p., 14 June 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.
4 Millard, George. "Rome." New York: Oxford University Press, 1961.
5 Johnston, David E. "Roman Villas." London: Shire Publications, 1988.