SPQR Fellowship

Today was rainy. We had planned out at Camp Roma three/four days ago to see the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum today. Lucky us every outdoor thing that we had planned to see occurred on the rainiest day we’ve been in Italy. Two unfortunates here: 1) walking around the ancient sites in the rain – not entirely fun and 2) couldn’t get the sprint on to the Pantheon… I  actually enjoyed the rain for the most part after we bought umbrellas and ponchos – which are not hard to come by two seconds after the first rain drops. We walked from Christina’s Residence because we wanted to make a stop at Santa Maria Maggiore. Bernini is buried there – I still want to visit Borromini’s tomb.

So we walked the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Dave is going to blog more about this when he writes. What we missed two years ago on our Colosseum visit, because we had a tour guide, was the artifact exhibits which I thought were really informative and interesting. I read that a lot of the artifacts were found in the drains because after events in the Colosseum slaves would clean out the stands and deposit the garbage/treasures into the drains. Interesting! What would one find digging around in the drains of today? I had a similar thoughts the other day, actually, that went sort of like this: will anything that we trash last for over 500 years? will it be as awesome to look at as some of the stuff we’ve seen in the archeological museums in Rome? where will our things be found? what will people think of my era when looking back at it through archeology? crazy!!!

Dave and I went to the Mamertine Prison after the Roman Forum – we paid for a tour to see the cistern/prison and a few audio and visual tours and a chapel which holds a relic crucifix. The audio was slightly hard to follow at times, but the message of building up of Rome seemed clear – through the ‘eyes’ of the stones that were the ‘foundation’ of the city. There was also strong religious influence to the message that was being given. St. Peter had baptized people while imprisoned there – the cistern was important to the happenings in the prison during his time. The cistern was important in the history of building the city.

After the Mamertine we went to the Pantheon to sketch. I really messed up the first drawing I was doing – not paying attention to what I was seeing. My second attempt went much better. The Pantheon is another one of those sites that people do not think to respect as a space that people use for worship. So much talking and noise and at intervals of 5 or 10 minutes the loud speaker saying in Italian, English, French, German, and Spanish to ‘please be quiet, thank you’ yet people do not care to listen. I even heard loud comments from fellow English speakers about these messages – obviously ignoring them. I am not perfect, but totally disrespecting the requests of places that are allowing you free entry is something that I cannot understand.

We met up with the others at around 7 and Kj brought us to a gelato shop that had more flavors than I had ever seen in one shop. I bought and ate chocolate/coconut, banana, and champagne. The champagne was quite strong… I loved the chocolate/coconut! yum… I have a plan to buy a large bag tomorrow thanks to Kj bringing me into a store that carries inexpensive huge bags! It will be good as my 2nd personal carry-on on the plane.

Tomorrow Dave and I will be taking a sketch rapid tour of the Pantheon and the rest of the Borromini’s we haven’t gotten to yet. Our afternoon will be a stroll through the Borghese Gardens. Haven’t been there yet so I’m excited. My feet had a lot of very good rest last night and didn’t really get sore today so I’m ready for the gardens tomorrow!

Europe in general lives quite a different life than your average American. Italy is of course no exception.

Siesta – lunch – everything closes besides food places for two or so hours over lunch and we tourists are left to feed our own stomaches as well – probably a good thing I guess.

Honoring the Sabath? – tried to go to the grocery store a little too late – after 6 pm – didn’t work out. Not sure, but this is probably rooted in the tradition of not working on Sundays.

Tourists – we are everywhere – getting disappointed when timing is not working out. I am super happy I research the Sant Ivo hours! While waiting for the rest of our group to meet up with us, I witnessed a lady who did not get the memo about it closing its door at noon and was extremely downtrodden thereafter.

Our Sunday was really much like any day that we’ve had here so far. Get up early see the sites go home and go to bed. If you haven’t already see “Sant Ivo della Sapienza” in the blog roll to get the story from Sunday morning. After meeting the group at noon-ish – they had been at a market – we found an awesome pizza place and then took Kelly’s advice in trying the Rose gelato at  the place by the Pantheon. I am bad with remembering the names. We then went toward St. Peter’s Basilica to try the lines for the second time. They were long, really long, but we opted to wait and actually didn’t have to wait that long. The wait was worth it of course – I got an audio guide this time around so that I could get a little more info on everything I was seeing. So many great works by great artists! Borromini designed the iron gates leading into the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and quite possibly pieces of the Baldachin – alter of the pope.

We climbed to the cupola – not as treacherous as the one in Florence, but exciting all the same. Every surface (slightly exaggerated) in St Peters is mosaic by the way. A wonder really because until you look closely, it is difficult to tell. Getting to go into the dome of the church reveals this. The tesserae are about a 1/4 inch square – maybe 1/2 in in some places. Wouldn’t it have been a sight  to see the mosaic makers working on Michelangelo’s dome! or to have been one! So high above the ground working with the tiniest of pieces creating a masterpiece of scenery. Needless to say the experience blew us all away.

We hit up the Spanish steps and Piazza del Popolo before heading home where I crashed pretty early. Getting some good sleep allowed me to wake up and and get these posted though!

If you’ve been following my ‘Italy – Round Two!‘ blog, you may have already picked up on the fact that Borromini is one of my favorite architects and most definitely my most favorite Baroque architect. You may also have read, on our last visit to Rome, Dave and I were left very disappointed by that fact that Sant Ivo della Sapienza closes for the summer, the time in which we were visiting. S. Ivo is one of Borromini’s few works that we were not able to enjoy two years ago and for that reason, yesterday morning was a very special one for me. We were on the road, walking, by 9 am because the church only opens for three hours on Sunday mornings, no other time during the week. I realized walking that we should have left an hour early so as not to be sketching during the mass. We ended up being there all through mass though which gave me many mixed feelings. Firstly, I thought it was special to be able to be in the work of architecture during the event for which it was built. The congregation that participates at this church, however was meager to to say the least. At first I thought there would be nobody there for the mass, but a couple minutes before it started maybe seven people showed up…

I think the reason why people would choose to go elsewhere has to do with the fact that the church is catering to two sets of people at the same time – something I thought to be exceptionally unfortunate. David and I were being relatively respectful, sitting quietly, participating minimally – we began the mass participating, but as we became engrossed in our sketching, we quickly lost track of what was going on. Because the church only opens one time a week for three hours – part of which mass is going on – tourists are allowed to continue coming in to take their pictures – shuffle around – and yes, sketch. There were actually a lot of sketchers that were doing much the same as Dave and I, but noise making cameras… terribly sad and disturbing to the people that are there for mass. We left the church a little after mass was over – not before giving an offering to the priest, who laughed at us – we’ll never know why. I just wanted to help the church out… I don’t know where that money goes, but if they were able to open it up for one more day a week for tourists like me, I feel that their congregation could grow – everybody wins? (later that day we visited St. Peter’s and I got all confused again as to why the Catholic churches all over the world needed so much help from their communities when their ‘capital’ could give them any number of the thousands of art pieces and relics worth of profit and they would probably be doing fine… ) aaaand maybe I just don’t understand. Anyway, Sant Ivo was everything I hoped it would be from an architectural stand point. I did a poor job of capturing it with my hand on the exterior, which I’ll have to post at some point, but my cherub from the inside looks pretty good.

Thank you Borromini for another fantastic work of genius!

Here is the post I wrote yesterday. We got a little busy seeing Rome so I ended up waiting to post it until today.

Today we made our way across town to the Vatican Museum. We got there by 9:50am (it opens at 10) and the line was already wrapping around several corners. Luckily, we had bought tickets with an agency that got us past the line.  So walk right in we did and began the epic journey that is the miles of museum the Vatican has to offer. Apparently a Saturday at the Vatican Museum means hordes of people because the place was packed – but more on that later.  This was Jenna and my second time visiting the museum and the first time for the rest of our group. I must start my summary of the visit by telling you that I find the museum staggering in both scale and beauty. I feel lucky to have had the chance to visit the museum again and found it simultaneosly inspirational and humbling. As we moved through the museum I continued to notice my fellow visitors in Rome and so I will muse on them at the end of this account. Finally, as we entered the museum I made the decision to not take any photos while in the museum. The more I travel, the less photographs I feel compelled to take. There is something too easy about it. So I stowed the camera and challenged myself to take the time to truly look at the remarkable works of art in front of me.  The following are my memories of what we saw described in snippets and phrases…

12th – 14th century paintings.  Halos. Golden halos displaying the worthiness of each paintings characters. These paintings were entirely symbolic, very zoomed in on individual figures. These paintings live in a flat world but are non-the-less meticulously detailed in every regard.

Raphael.  The colors of Raphael are seared in my mind. Their vibrance is still astounding in their present form. While I enjoyed immensely Raphael’s room of paintings on the life of Constantine and stood for some time wondering on the great faces and knowledge represented in front of the School of Athens, it was his painting, “The Transfiguration” that left me transfixed.  Here, not only the vibrance of colors, but light, shadow, and expression are used to create a painting that literally radiates, and transcends this world. The faces in this painting will haunt me – their wide eyes and extreme expressions cast in great light and shadow. Jesus and his surroundings exude holiness and otherworldliness; part heaven and part man.  One other important note. As i looked at The Transfiguration painting I heard a tour guide telling this group (and you should know that I love latching on to tour guides when possible ;)) that the artists of Raphael’s time could not simply decide to paint Jesus. In fact, they needed to become religious scholars, able to understand and work within the nuances, events, and symbolism of Christianity and then bring forth those ideas into their art. I have been enjoying thinking of the Renaissance master’s in this way.

Leonardo’s painting of St. Jerome.  I could stand at one point and view Raphael’s “Transfiguration” and DaVinci’s “St. Jerome” simultaneously which was really fun and heightened the contrast of the paintings.  The earthly tones of Leonardo’s unfinished work. The face of St. Jerome, in agonizing detail and expression. There are so few DaVinci works to see in the world. This is only my third or fourth. Every time I see one I am struck by how his representation of his figures goes beyond describing the event to inviting me to experience the emotions of his characters.

A statue by an unknown artist of Roman antiquity. Missing both it’s arms and legs but clearly of great power by the way in which it’s muscles and figure was shaped. I heard a tour guide telling a story of how Michelangelo was asked by the Pope to complete the statue by adding arms and legs.  According to the story, Michelangelo refused, stating that what was remaining of the figure was enough to tell all of the story.

The corridor of map paintings.  The ceiling filled with paintings tiled in a pattern that seems to go on forever.  The map paintings fascinate me. I’m drawn to their representative nature and wonderful colors, rich greens and blues with a striking amount of small medieval towns dotting the canvas. I wish I had one of these paintings as a wall in my home.

The Sistine Chapel.  What Michelangelo went through to accomplish it. What endless hours I could stand there looking up. The Sistine chapel was astonishing and it leads me to my final musings for the day.

People. Fellow tourists.  With as many people as there were in the Vatican Museum today, it’s impossible not to notice your fellow travelers as you move through the museum. In many parts of the museum, we were shoulder to shoulder with people. Observing other tourists led me to several questions for which i have no answer. Why is it so common for people to walk around with a camera in front of their face taking pictures of everything the walk in front of? Do they really take the time to explore them afterward? Why do so many tourists blatantly break the rules of the museum? I understand that everyone has their own way of enjoying the art but if I am being honest, I have a gross feeling throughout me as I leave the Sistine Chapel. The requests of the museum are for silence and no photos. I don’t understand why this is so hard for my fellow tourists and humans to accomplish. The experience has definitely made me think, and made viewing the Sistine Chapel less enjoyable than it might have been.

Viewing the Sistine Chapel brings me to one final musing. I am entirely blown away by the talent and dedication of these renaissance and baroque artists. Their work represents a combination of incredible skill, rich understanding, and unyielding stubbornness. Directly preceding the Sistine Chapel is a series of exhibit rooms showcasing art from the last 50 years. After standing in front of paintings by Raphael, Michelangelo, and DaVinci I have a hard time connecting to these works. I find that they do not transport me, they do not require careful hours, weeks, and years of study to perceive their details, they do not tell a story that I can pick up on. Certainly, art and its representation is bound to change with time but this direct contrast leaves me with questions.

Off to let my brain rest,

david j.

Today, our group witnessed another popular (under statement) site of Italy – the Vatican City. We purchased tickets to skip the line for the Vatican Museum. While waiting for our escort we stood near the plaza of St. Peter’s Basilica. Unbeknown to us, the pope was conducting a ceremony this morning for a celebratory mass, so we got to glimpse him on the ‘mega-tron.’ The Vatican Museum is astounding in content, size, popularity… There were so many people… The mass of humanity in the same spaces as me at the same time was slightly unnerving – slightly distracting. I had seen the Vatican Museum during our last visit. I didn’t remember all of the exhibits, but thinking back I suppose we probably did see everything and I just didn’t remember. There is so much to take in, 4 miles I think I read? I could be wrong. A lot of art to be certain.

Dave plans to write about the Vatican Museum more, so I will let him take on the rest of that topic. We had wanted to go into the Basilica, but by the time we left the museum the line went around the entire plaza probably about 4 people deep all the way around. We decided that the doors would close way before we’d ever have a chance to get to them, so instead Dave and I decided to visit Palazzo Spada which contains the forced perspective designed by Borromini. It took us a little time to find it because it isn’t labeled on the map nor are all of the roads to get to it. I am not so sure that they get too many visitors there, but they seemed excited by our excitement to see the Borromini work. A young girl brought us out to the garden – gave us a history of the work in about 5 minutes – forbid us to walk through the space ourself – but allowed us to take pictures of her walking through it. If you don’t understand what I’m describing, see the pictures below. We then sat and did a drawing of it while hearing seagull noises – strange ones. Soon after, it began raining so we headed back to our hostel to send out this blog. The rain has since stopped so I am going to stop writing and we are going to go see some of Rome at night.  Pictures from today and a post on the Vatican Museum visit to follow.

Jenna

We have returned from our night walk. It was slightly rushed due to curfew time to meet up with the others… only one set of keys for the room we’re living in. We saw the Trevi though which was hopping, the Pantheon which was haunting, and the Piazza Navona which was slightly less populated that I had thought it would be. It was a good walk. Oh, one more thing from the day. On the way home the first time, we walked down a street filled with bicycles. It was Critical Mass Roma that we witnessed – quite a sight to see!

As our group enters Rome, I finally enter the blog-o-sphere.  Up until now the rest of our group has been providing an excellent and lively account of our journey through Italy and I have focused on taking photos and preparing them for the blogs. I’ve followed each entry closely and offered my input when needed but I must thank the rest of my group who not only have had a great recall of each day, but the speed and precision to deliver an account of our travels in a timely manner. In other words… I’m slow.  Thankfully, Jenna is here to help cover up my weaknesses. As she has already provided you with a great round-up of today’s events, I will try give you a few of my thoughts as I enter Rome for the second time.

I have been thinking a lot about the power of Rome. As we walked around the city today I was very aware of all the other tourists sharing the city. I could not help but wonder what keeps us all coming to this city, participating in the great event that is Rome. What interest do non architect’s have in all the historical buildings here? Is it the same interest that draws me to the art that I have little or no knowledge of?  Certainly there is a great deal of grandeur and beauty here but as I watched some people quickly pass by buildings and artworks that held others in complete awe I began to understand that within Rome there is a more far reaching draw. It seems that people come to Rome to participate in the idea that is Rome – to participate in something that is bigger than themselves. An idea that created new forms of governance, buildings more articulate and grand in scale than imaginable, and artwork that transcends language. In other places these ideas may have been considered “mad” and quickly dismissed. In Rome, they became a reality that has lasted thousands of years and affected most of western culture. I look forward to our short time here and the chance to let a little of that “madness” into my thinking.

Once we finally made it into our final place to stay for the trip, Christina’s Residence, our group was ready to head out on foot to see Roma! Dave and I have been excited to revisit all the places that we saw on our last visit and especially, to share them with our other three travel companions – Kj, Vince, and Lance. We also took the time to see a few sites today that we had missed on our last visit.

Since it was a busy day, I thought I’d give a run-down of what we did. We began with the Baths of Diocletian which is a site David and I missed two years ago. This site contains finds from archeological digs that have occurred in Rome. We saw ancient pieces of sculpture as well as things from everyday use such as tools, containers, bodily ornament… My favorite pieces were these safety pin looking things or fibulae used for pinning clothing. Check out the first century AD ones on through the ‘fibulae’ link! They were all different shapes and levels of fancy. We also saw the building in which the baths were located. The building was another awe inspiring feat of construction for the time in which it was built. They are doing renovation work on parts of it and it now contains different tombs… all very cool things to see.

We had spent a bit of time looking around the Baths so we were all feeling a little famished. On the way to McDonalds – the group wanted to witness the differences from American McDonalds – we stopped to check out our first Borromini spot S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane and the intersection with the four fountains. We were not able to get into the church due to Fiesta time, however it is definitely on the list for a revisit. So we had our McDonalds, but then needed dessert. David and I frequented ‘White’ a gelateria in the piazza Barberini the last time we were in Rome which we thought we’d introduce to everyone else.

Finally satiated, we began our walking tour once more and headed toward the Trevi Fountain which was spectacular! The people watching was a great for a while as we waited for Dave to take some sweet pictures. It is funny to me, the popularity of some sites in Rome over others… I guess having a background in architecture helps to broaden what I’m interested in seeing, but I think it is just amazing the crowd that packs into places like the Trevi. On this visit the fountain did not receive any of our coins… I didn’t want it to jeopardize my seeing Sant Ivo. I might just save my monetary contribution for that church anyway. 🙂

Following the Trevi, we went to another huge attraction of the city, the Pantheon. I had chills as we approached the building. In a lifetime, everyone should witness the Pantheon. Honestly, I don’t have words… It is astounding to say the least. We will be spending more time there for drawings in the next few days, so I’ll attempt at better thoughts on it then, however I’ll leave you with this picture my thoughts of it in the meantime: I once joked about the most romantic proposal that could ever happen to a girl. It would happen in the rain under the oculus of the Pantheon. My proposal, which did happen in Rome to my surprise, did not happen that way, however we have plans to sprint to the Pantheon if it starts to rain just to experience it. I think everyone enjoyed that visit. We made a quick stop at S. Ivo – because I couldn’t resist – on the way to Piazza Navona. I had read in Borromini that S. Agnese on the west side of the piazza had had design work done on it by Borromini. So, of course we had to check it out.This one will likely be visited again so I’m going to wrap up…

There were three more stops made in our day, all sort of related in a way. The first, I refer to as the cat sanctuary, which it is, however, historically it was the location of four ancient temples. It is now an archeological site filled with cats about a story and half to two under street level. The second was the Crypta Balbi – another museum Dave and I hadn’t been to and another museum on the archeology of Rome. Before I describe what we saw I’m going to tell you the last site of the day which was the Capitoline Hill where we went to get a higher view of Rome both ancient and now. These last three I relate because they all present the ancient side of Rome in all its worn-down wonder. Having seen both the cat sanctuary and the Roman Forum (ancient Rome view) before, it registered to me that there have been massive changes to the city since the beginning of its time. The missing link, I think was the Crypta Balbi which illustrated the layers of time that have physically taken shape over the 2000+ years that have been uncovered, documented, and displayed in the museum. We were actually taken below ground into parts of Rome that were buried for some time and have now been excavated so as to preserve the history of the city. I am glad for that experience.

Tomorrow St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums are first on our list. Hoping to get some Borromini time in there as well.

Ciao

P.S. Some pictures to come with Dave’s post!