Tutti Frutti

Since ancient times, young women have plaited and tied greenery into bundles and swags; those same wreaths and festoons of flowers and leaves and ribbons also appeared as an ornamental motif in jewelry and on sarcophagi and altars, often surrounded by a plethora of winged cherubs and cupids. When Raphael was summoned to fresco the palatial home of Agostino Chigi – which is now known as the Villa Farnesina and serves as the seat of the Academy of the Lincei – he hired Giovanni da Udine to embellish the Loggia of Psyche with the garlands and festoons so beloved of the ancients. From boyhood, Giovanni had been gifted at “counterfeiting all the things
of nature” and he was given an opportunity to exercise that skill at the Villa Farnesina in a euphoric celebration of the world of plants in all its great variety – or as we might say these days, in all its botanical biodiversity. As Marina Warner brings his creations to life for us, she also lets us hear “Giovanni’s joyous and ribald laughter,” reaching us from the past.