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The picture shows the interior of the Medici Villa, now known as Villa Madama in Rome. It was commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici. The function of the villa, which is located on the slopes of Montemario outside the entrance to Rome from the north, was to serve as a residence for high-ranking visitors to the papal court. The decorations are by Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Udine, and Baldassare Peruzzi. The inappropriate marble floor was added during Fascist renovations.
The villa was Raphael's most ambitious architectural undertaking. The building remained unfinished, the existing fragment includes the great hall, which with its single-story arches, groin vaults, and central dome, all opening out through arches to the garden, was a new invention that gracefully harmonized the architectural space with nature outside.
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