Villa Farnesina's Loggia of Cupid and Psyche becomes interactive

The Loggia of Cupid and Psyche at the Villa Farnesina becomes interactive: in fact, by accessing http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/farnesina/loggia/ it is possible to virtually visit the splendid loggia and admire the frescoed works of art it holds.

It will thus be possible to observe in detail the frescoes depicting the famous tale of Cupid and Psyche created by Raphael and Giulio Romano (with interventions by Giovan Francesco Penni) and the depictions of festoons and animals created by Giovanni da Udine. And through an interactive system, clicking on various details of the frescoes provides short texts describing the selected scene. As for the festoons, there are even in-depth fact sheets with botanical information or related to different types of fruit: 170 species of food, medicinal, and ornamental plants from all the then known continents can be distinguished.

Giovanni da Udine also depicted about twenty animal species, totaling about fifty figures, mostly birds, but a lion, bats, a lizard, and a butterfly are also depicted, as well as two domestic species such as the peacock and the pigeon. There are, however, five zoomorphic figures belonging to classical mythology (Cerberus, Gryphon, Harpy, Phoenix and Seahorse). All these animal species are also described with in-depth fact sheets.

The Loggia of Cupid and Psyche was the main entrance to the villa of the wealthy merchant and banker Agostino Chigi, built in the early 16th century and intended as a place of leisure and pleasure.

Thanks to this system designed by Antonio Sgamellotti, of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and Villa Farnesina Conservator Virginia Lapenta, and developed in collaboration with Eliana Siotto and Gianpaolo Palma of the Isti-Cnr Visual Computing Lab, it is possible to observe all the pictorial details of the Loggia that are difficult to observe from the normal distance of the vault (about eight meters).

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Villa Farnesina's Loggia of Cupid and Psyche becomes interactive

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