Annibale Carracci’s frescoed ceiling in Rome’s Palazzo Farnese – home of the French Embassy – is to be restored, it has been announced. Considered by some to be one of the most influential Renaissance commissions in the country, the project is expected to cost €1m (£0.87m).
It is being funded by the World Monuments Fund, the French Embassy in Italy and the Fondation de l’Orangerie pour la Philanthropie Individuelle, and work is set to begin later this year.
In 1597 Carracci was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the palace using the theme, the love of the Gods. Cardinal Edoardo Farnese chose the subject of love to mark the wedding of the Duke of Parma to the grand-niece of Pope Clement VIII, Margherita Aldobrandini.
The work, which includes a series of mythological scenes and the Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, took 11 years to complete.
via BBC News
