Elizabeth W. Champney escorts readers through the celebrated villas of Renaissance Rome, weaving architectural description with biographical sketches of the cardinals, princes, and artists who built and inhabited them. From the terraced gardens of the Villa d’Este to the painted loggias of the Villa Farnesina, each estate becomes a lens onto Renaissance patronage, papal politics, and the revival of classical antiquity.
Written in the graceful travel-essay style of the late nineteenth century, this book suits anyone captivated by Italian art history or the cultural world of the High Renaissance. Champney’s eye for telling anecdote makes Roman history vivid and immediate.