"Renaissance Pleasure Palaces: The Art of Delectation"

One of the ancient Roman traditions that was revived in Renaissance Italy was the building of sub-urban villas. Like their Roman ancestors, Renaissance Italians used these structures as havens from the pressures and anxiety of urban life. But, also like their ancestors, Renaissance villas became hubs for debauchery and hedonism – veritable Renaissance Playboy mansions. This lecture will explore the history, practices, traditions, and art of perhaps the three most beautiful and well-preserved of Italian Renaissance villas - the Villa Farnesina and Villa Borghese in Rome and the Palazzo Te in Mantua – and how they reflected their society and times. The extraordinary art which has adorned these structures for the past five centuries serves as testimony to the often lascivious revelry that ensued within them. From Raphael’s celebrated fresco of Galatea, to Giulio Romano’s erotic Loggia of Psyche in the Farnesina and spectacular Sala Dei Giganti in Palazzo Te, to Bernini’s breathtaking mythological statues of "Apollo and Daphne" and "Pluto and Persephone", in the Villa Borghese, the nature of the art clearly reflects the intentions of its patrons. -- #ItalianHistory, #ArtHistory, #Documentary, #ArtDocumentary, #ArtHistoryLecture, #ItalianArt, #RenaissanceArtists, #RockyRuggiero, #ItalianArchitecture