Thursday 23 March 2017

The mythological love story

Loggia di Psiche

This delighful fresco depicts a scene from the Apuleio's "Metamorfosi", a latin text where many myths are described. It decorates the central panel of the "Loggia di Psiche", located in the portico of Villa della Farnesina, a fantastic example of Renaissance villa. This place is really cool and incredible, because we can really understand how was a rich home owned by a nobleman who lived in Rome during the XVI century. Imagine a huge garden surrounding the building, with its rooms completly painted with coloured frescos, used like a simple decoration and to display how powerful and important is the owner. Particularly this fresco, like the entire Loggia (a portico), was decorated by the Raphael's workshop. The master opened a real school for young artists, who helped him or substitute him (he was a real busy man). The fresco cycle in this room represents the love story between Amore and Psiche. The last one was a beautiful girl, with a beauty so wonderful that each man fell in love with her. 

This is the reason why Venus got envious, starting to threaten the king of that land, who was also the Psiche's father. Venus would bring wars and pestilences if the king wouldn't sacrifice her daughter, bringing her in a place where stood a monster. The Psiche's father accepted, while Venus commanded to her son, Amore, to kill her. But Amore too fell in love with her. For this reason Psiche didn't found a monster but a great and precious palace, with many rooms. She started to live there. Each night a divine figure came to her, and with great passion they fell in love each other. Psiche couldn't see his new lover, but she felt a lot of passion for him. It was Amore who preferred to go against his mother.

But the trick was discovered and Venus threathened them. But thanks to Zeus Psiche and Amore managed to get married in the high sky, in the Mount Olympus. Like we could observe in this picture! The entire portico is painted with natural elements, fruits and vegetables which couldn’t appear all together in Nature, because they develop in different moments, but used to sent a message of abudance. You can see light blue corners, because the entire portico must suggest the idea of open air space. Imagine the special guests of the owner, coming here, talking and eating. They could do that looking at the garden, standing in a place which suggest them Nature and break, with a myth describing the success of Love against everythin. A real paradise!

No comments:

Post a Comment