The Atrium and the Farnesina Hall

The current entrance hall and adjacent room (formerly the museum ticket office) are the result of restoration works carried out between 1861 and 1863, following surveys conducted by architect Antonio Sarti for the Duke of Ripalda.

The hall, as it appears today, is the result of a series of structural changes that began in the 19th century with the creation of the current entrance hall and the smaller hall (former ticket office) from the large entrance hall in the 16th-century building. A further subdivision of the space was then carried out for the installation of a lift in the 1930s.

The frescoes in the villa’s ancient living room, recently rediscovered above the 19th-century vault that concealed them, date back to the Farnese era and depict a sky with cherubs flying around the Farnese coat of arms in the centre of the vault, two cherubs on a blue background in the corbels and an autumnal landscape adorning the only visible lunette.

The reconstruction of the ancient atrium can be viewed with the aid of digital technology, while the newly discovered frescoes are also presented in a first photographic campaign by Luigi Spina.