Grotesque Fantasy with BeastsPerino del Vaga; Domenico Rietti

This fresco (1545–46) shows a rainbow-like arch filled with hybrid beasts, winged creatures, feline predators, and playful putti (cherubic child figures) arranged over a pale ground. The painters adapt the Roman taste for grottesche (fantastic ornamental motifs) rediscovered in ancient ruins. Their dense fantasy best reveals how Renaissance courts used such imagery to turn walls into imaginative spectacle.