During the Renaissance, splendor and glamour defined every aspect of Italian aristocratic life. The clothes, the palaces, the frescoes that wrapped facades. At Palazzo Mattei, for example, finished in 1618, the Roman mannerist Taddeo Zuccaro spent months overseeing the painting on its exterior. Though many of these buildings have been preserved, few of their murals have withstood the test of time. With works from its collection, the Getty explores this little known Renaissance practice. —Elena Clavarino