On the noble floor of the beautiful Villa Farnesina in Rome, between magnificent colors and almost mythological subjects, between daring perspectives (click here to better understand what I'm talking about) we also have the so-called room of Alexander the Great, a small alcove full of pictorial wonders that it perfectly combines the skills of Renaissance artists with the search for a connection with the ancient world. Villa Farnesina is striking for this very reason, for its extraordinary frescoes that often trace the life of the landlord in some way.

In the photo, in fact, we see the wall paintings of what is considered as the bedroom of the rich landlord of Villa Farnesina, Agostino Chigi, who accumulated great chezze by lending money at interest balances, being a merchant, and owning high-value mines. He was a cultured man, a fine connoisseur of art and culture, and he wanted to embellish his room with a series of frescoes featuring the famous leader and general, the same symbol, in antiquity, of power and conquest: Alexander the Great. Nothing strange, because the ancient Romans also used the historical figure of the Macedonian as a synonym of greatness in alternating events, although the peculiarity of this room lies in the fact that some of these frescoes have a lot to do with the private life, and much chat, of our Agostino Chigi. In fact, the main painting of the room, commissioned to the Sodoma, is the one you see in the photo: the wedding of Alessandro and Rossane who are also preparing to spend their wedding night. The famous Macedonian general wanted to seal one of his many victories by marrying a foreigner, a beautiful and seductive non-Macedonian princess. This news caused a stir and scandal, above all for the mixed origin of this marriage, even if Alexander the Great went straight, ignoring the rumors and criticisms.

Well, it is curious to know how Agostino Chigi, during one of his business trips to the Republic of Venice (we are at the beginning of the 16th century), fell in love with a Venetian courtesan, this Francesca Ordeaschi. This report also made a lot of noise, considering the origin of the woman and also her "profession", as it was known that women of this kind, in addition to their great intelligence, knowledge of languages and arts, sometimes also used the their sensuality for their own interests. Well, even in this case Agostino Chigi pulled straight ahead, and indeed brought Francesca to Rome, acknowledging her publicly! Who knows how many times the two did exactly what we see in the painting, with Rossane surrounded by cupids in tender and seductive expectation, on that fantastic canopy, of her love...