Hidden Above a Trap Door, 17th-Century Frescoes Come to Light

New York Times

21-04-2025

Imagine mounting a scaffold in the atrium of a historic Roman estate. You spy a small trap door in the vaulted ceiling; on inspection the hatch opens into a cavity between the new ceiling and an older one. In the older ceiling is a second trap door. When you shine a light into the darkness, broad frescoes appear, of cherubs floating amid rolling hills and thistledown clouds in a summery blue sky.
This is what Davide Renzoni, an electrician in Rome, experienced last year when he climbed up into a rabbit hole while inspecting cables in the Pompeian Hall of the Villa Farnesina, a sumptuous suburban mansion in the district of Trastevere. The villa, which dates to the 16th century, is perhaps best known for its erotically-charged frescoes depicting Cupid and Psyche designed by Raphael, the High Renaissance painter supreme.
Researchers have since determined that the frescoes Mr. Renzoni happened upon were most likely created by Carlo Maratta, one of the last masters of Baroque classicism, along with two of his students, Girolamo Troppa and Francois Simonot. Apparently executed during a late 17th century restoration of Cupid and Psyche, the forgotten works were in pristine condition and had been hidden for nearly two centuries.
'My first feeling was astonishment, immense astonishment,' Mr. Renzoni said. Image The frescoes were discovered by Davide Renzoni, an electrician checking some cables in an area of the Villa Farnesina known as the Pompeian Hall. Credit... Filippo Monteforte/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The villa was built from 1506 to 1510 for Agostino Chigi, a banker for popes and princes and moneylender to both Borgias and Medicis. Credit... Filippo Monteforte/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
His feeling was shared by Virginia Lapenta, the curator of the Villa Farnesina. Dr. Lapenta said that she was 'overcome with emotion' when Mr. Renzoni brought her up onto the scaffold and showed her the bas-relief coat of arms of the Farnese family, the noble clan that once lived at the estate. In 1579, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese the Younger purchased the property, which was renamed Villa Farnesina to distinguish it from the Palazzo Farnese across the Tiber.
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