Villa Medici in Rome, Italy has offered guided tours of the gardens for some time but, this summer, the apartments of Cardinal Ferdinando I de’ Medici were opened to the public for the first time this summer. The most striking feature of the Cardinal’s apartments were the coffered ceilings, decorated with beautiful paintings and designed so as to look like they were framed.
The first room is the Elements Room, the second is the Muses Room (which was the Cardinal’s bedroom), and the third is the Room of Jupiter’s Loves . The Elements Room features depictions of the four basic elements and the Muses Room displays paintings of various Muses. While Cosme III was staying at Villa Medici in 1700, he considered the paintings in the Room of Jupiter’s Loves too licentious and had them burned.
Elements Room Ceiling
SOURCE: Elements Room Ceiling (Rome, Lazio, Italy); photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 11 August 2011.
Elements Room Central Figure
SOURCE: Elements Room Central Figure (Rome, Lazio, Italy); photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 11 August 2011.
Elements Room Corner Figure
SOURCE: Elements Room Corner Figure (Rome, Lazio, Italy); photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 11 August 2011.
Muses Room Ceiling
SOURCE: Muses Room Ceiling (Rome, Lazio, Italy); photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 11 August 2011.
Muses Room Central Figure
SOURCE: Muses Room Central Figure (Rome, Lazio, Italy); photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 11 August 2011.
Copyright © 2011 by Stephen J. Danko
