Perseus and Pegasus
by PERUZZI, Baldassare, Fresco
On the ceiling of the Loggia di Galatea, Peruzzi produced a pictorial style that is at once artificial, elegant, and beguiling. In the ceiling panels several constellations are emphasized in two large horizontal formats: on the right Ursa Major; on the left Perseus and Pegasus. Perseus is depicted as the mythical hero who beheaded the Medusa, surrounded by the petrified heads of her victims. Pegasus, who sprang from the blood of Medusa, flies above them in the form of Fama (fame). Fama is looking and sounding her horn toward the centre of the ceiling, where originally the coat of arms of Chigi was located.