LOGGIA OF CUPID AND PSYCHE

The Loggia of Psyche, which is open to the garden, was the main entrance of the Villa Farnesina, Raphael came here to the inspiration of designing in continuity with the outside and to penetrate the foliage of the garden and orchard in the loggia, drew the festoons that Giovanni da Udine painted splendidly.

The lodge is one of the finest examples of profane Renaissance art.

The myth of Cupid and Psyche is narrated by Apuleius in the Metamorphoses.
Psyche mortal woman, beautiful as Venus joins Cupid without knowing who he is, because he appeares in the darkness of night.
The envious sisters of Psiche reveal the divine identity of the lover, provoking the anger of Venus.
Then Psyche, in order to rejoin the divine Cupid, will have to pass a series of trials, at the end of which she also become immortal.

With the help of clickable photo below we can follow the tale of Psyche, whose episodes are depicted in the spandrels, while in the sails are painted putti, the tale ends with the marriage of Cupid and Psyche and the Council of gods, frescoed in the ceiling.

You can see all the different themes using the sensitive image below:

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