While the first phase of the project saw fashion brand Fendi revamp Villa Medici’s salons. Mahdavi was asked to freshen up rooms on the building’s piano nobile or “noble level”, where the main reception and the bedrooms are housed.

She worked on a total of six spaces including the Chamber of the Elements, Chamber of the Muses, and Chamber of the Lovers of Jupiter. It once served as an apartment to Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici.

The three other rooms – titled Debussy, Galileo, and Lili Boulanger – were formerly guest quarters.

In the Chamber of the Muses, which is topped with a dramatic coffered ceiling, Mahdavi inserted sea-green editions of her Bishop stool alongside an enormous hand-tufted rug by French workshop Manufacture d’Aubusson Robert Four.

Its geometric design features green, purple, red, and rosy pink shapes. Recalling the flowerbeds that appear across the villa’s sprawling gardens.

Only subtle alterations were made to the Chamber of the Elements and the Chamber of the Lovers of Jupiter. Where Mahdavi has an existing bed to sit against an expansive wall tapestry.

Moreover, A cluster of bright yellow sofas and armchairs sourced from the French conservation agency Mobilier National was incorporated into the Lili Boulanger room, named after the first female composer to take up residence at the villa.

The furnishings sit on top of a blush-pink rug by French manufacturer La Manufacture Coglin and are accompanied by octagonal tables designed by Mahdavi.

Furthermore, A Renaissance-style four-poster bed was the room named after astronomer Galilei, who visited Villa Medici twice in his lifetime.

However, The bed’s tiered wooden base and headboard were inlaid with graphic, berry-toned marquetry by cabinetmaker Craman Lagarde. The pattern, which appears on the curtains that enclose the bed, takes cues from the design of the villa’s flooring.