21 July: Chigi Madness!

The presentations today were all about the Chigi family. Michelle presented on the Villa Farnesina, which, despite its name, did not originally belong to the Farnese family as one would like to think, but rather, the Chigi family. Inside are numerous amazing works, including the Room of Perspective and the Loggia of Psyche and Love. The Room of Perspective is incredible, and I personally was fooled and nearly ran into a wall. The villa is gorgeous, and apparently, Augustino Chigi used to throw dinner parties where he would have his guests throw their dishes and silverware out the windows to demonstrate how wealthy he was, but he would actually have servants outside catching everything with nets.

Michelle presenting in front of the Villa Farnesina

After Michelle’s presentation, we all trooped back to the Rome Center for Alison’s presentation, because, unfortunately, the Chigi chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo was closed. Despite the inconvenience, Alison was able to give us a really good idea of what the inside of the chapel was like. It was designed by Raphael, and later altered by Bernini, combining Renaissance and Baroque styles.

Alison presenting in the conference room

We just had the two presentations on our schedule today, but I’m sure everyone was grateful for the afternoon off, during which we all studied for Mona’s test the next day.