Oops, just a little diversion  from a regular work day.  (I took the photo above inside the Villa Farnese, also known as Villa Caprarola Italy when I was an architecture student in Rome.)

 

Above:  Painting of the same stairway by Hubert Robert (22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808), a French painter, noted for his landscape paintings and picturesque depictions of ruins.

 

Above:  In the Stair well (Scala Regia) looking up

 

Above:  The main facade of the Villa.  The architect, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola dealt with the changes in grade up the hillside creating a very complex building solution.

 

Above:  A partial section cut through the complex structure.

Above:   A glimpse of the gardens

Above:  The Villa on the hill above the town.