View of the vault

In the central panel on the vault a celestial scene opens up: on clouds, the assembly of the Olympian gods convenes. Minerva and Mercury gesticulate in a prominent central position, championing the fate of Odysseus. The composition of the fresco as well as numerous individual motifs are borrowed from Raphael’s frescoes in the Loggia dei Psiche in the Villa Farnesina.

Around the central fresco are grouped, in variously divided and richly ornamented adiculae, episodes from the story of Odysseus’s return home, which was decided in the council of the gods. The scenes are: Odysseus and Nausicaa; Odysseus in the Stone-Throwing Contest at the Phaeacian Court; Odysseus and Minerva; and Odysseus Slays the Suitors in His Palace at Ithaca.

Significantly damaged during the Second World War, the frescoes have been extensively restored.