Another day for Larry at the conference, lots of sessions, two he was speaking at or running.

I headed back on Tram 8, stopping this time at Piazza Belli, and headed up along the river and entered on Via della Lungara, one street over from the river, to get to Villa Farnesina.

Villa Farnesina was commissioned by Agostina Chigi and architected by Baldassarre Peruzzi in the early sixteenth century. The interior is decorated with frescoes by Raphael, and other masters. At the end of the sixteenth century, the villa was purchased by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. There were 6 rooms, though I will list three of them.

The Loggia of Galatea features a the Triumph of Galatea by Raphael. The Loggia Of Cupid and Psyche features a multiple frescoes on the ceiling (vault) by Raphael and his workshop, representing episodes from the fable of Cupid and Psyche. The Hall of Perspective Views is by Peruzzi, and features frescoes of urban and rural perspective views.

After lunch, I headed up, and I mean up, to Piazzale Garibaldi for a magnificent view looking mostly northeast and east, taking in the Pantheon, the Victor Emmanuel building, and even the Forum and Colosseum. (These pictures were all zoomed-in shots.)

I took Bus 115 down to Viale di Trastevere and back on Tram 8 in time for the gelato break at Larry’s conference.

The next major highlight was a conference-sponsored tour of the Villa Borghese Gallery, which features magnificent Bernini sculptures and many Renaissance/Baroque paintings. (We didn’t even have to check anything, though a museum guard did walk along with us.) We were broken into groups of about 20 with headsets and had a very entertaining guide, and spent the next 90 minutes walking through the galleries, learning about the sculptures and paintings. Then we had a really nice cocktail (enough for dinner) reception in the basement. (This was all sponsored by Telecom Italia Sparkle.)