Rome, Day Two

The next morning we ate breakfast in the hotel’s basement breakfast room. I took quite a number of extra items and stuffed them into my purse, knowing by now that the likelihood of our stopping for needed refreshments was slim to none. By 8:30 we were walking to a church that upon our arrival we discovered was not yet open due to changed hours. So we switched our itinerary and went to the Baroque church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza first. It is the chapel of the former University of Rome and was designed by Borromini with a very unique star-hexagonal plan with convex and concave sides and the most bizarre dome I have ever seen. The inside is practically pure white. It was such a strange environment and yet I found myself realizing that my ceramics work was probably going to be impacted by it. I kept thinking of ways to use what I was seeing. I guess I am just going to have to pick up some porcelain when I get home!
And next was the Pantheon! Since our schedule had been changed around I didn’t know where we were going next until it was suddenly in front of me! It is amazing to think about how old it is since it’s in such good condition. Built in 27-25 BC and redone in 120 AD, it was a temple dedicated to all the Roman gods and survives in near-perfect condition due mainly to the fact that it was converted into a church and therefore survived the fate of becoming a quarry for other buildings. It was greatly revered during the Renaissance. In fact, Raphael is buried there, the very first artist to have been given such an honor. In addition, the original plan for the dome of New St. Peter’s Basilica was based off of the Pantheon’s dome. One of the reasons for this is because its large interior describes a perfect sphere, part of the geometry of the Vitruvian Man so beloved at that time.
We then doubled back and made our way to the church that had been first on our list, San Luigi dei Francesi, the French national church of Rome where we viewed some famous paintings by Caravaggio of St. Matthew. It was very interesting to see them hung in the space for which they were originally intended. We also saw a man dressed head-to-toe in red (windbreaker, sports pants, sneakers) and sporting a long, scraggly white beard. He would have looked like Santa Claus if he hadn’t also worn such a surely expression and a pin reading: Americani? Non Grazie. He gave me a rather disdainful look.
We then headed back to Piazza della Rotunda (I’m sure you can guess that this is the piazza that houses the Pantheon) and cut across it to gain Santa Maria sopra Minerva which means “St. Mary over Minerva.” It is named this because it is built on top of a temple that was dedicated to Minerva, the Roman equivalent to Athena. In front of this church was a bizarre sight: a goofy little baby elephant statue acting as a base to one of the city’s real Egyptian obelisks. After listening to Helen talk about it merits (it was still goofy looking) we went into the church, which is one of the only Gothic structures in the city. There were a number of things to see here including a Risen Christ statue by Michelangelo, generally not considered on of his best works, the tomb of Fra Angelico, the rest of St. Catherine of Siena’s body (you may remember that I saw her head in the Dominican church in Siena) and a nun’s effigy by Bernini.
The Gesù, mother church of the Jesuit Order, was where we next walked. This contained the most amazing, illusionistic ceiling frescos, parts of which actually were built up with stucco to enhance the trompe l’oeil. The main fresco illustrated the triumphant name of Christ and has his painted initials emanating a light that defeats vices. These appear in the form of falling figures which really do seem to be hanging in space. It was quite an effect. We also examined the tomb of Saint Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, which is absolutely unparalleled in lavishness, being covered in gold, lapis lazuli and the like. There even used to be a solid silver statue of the saint that was eventually melted down to pay taxes imposed on the church by Napoleon.
We began making our way to the area of the Colosseum. We saw the Victor Emmanuel Monument (which was incredible huge and ornate, justifying its nickname, “the wedding cake”) and stopped in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli where we saw the tomb of Pope Julius II, sculpted by Michelangelo and his workshop. The most impressive of the figures on the tomb is that of Moses. He is represented as having horns because of an odd mistranslation from Hebrew. Apparently the words for “shining” and “horned” are the same. Who knew?
We soon reached the Colosseum and, after lines, tickets, and worming our way over to the far side of the arena, we talked about the history of the Colosseum and about the various parts of it we could see. Unfortunately, as we were behind schedule from having to backtrack earlier that morning, we did not get all of the free time for exploring we had originally been promised. We had our “Colosseum time” and our lunch break combined. Lesley and I went on a whirlwind walk around the upper section of the Colosseum at then had to leave to find something to eat.
Upon our return (we were all to meet at the Arch of the Constantine), we sat down and ate some sweets we had purchased to go. After waiting for a while without seeing any of our group we began to suspect that Helen had both left early and left us behind! We entered the forum (our next stop, according to the schedule) and tried to decide where we would most likely be able to find our group. After what seemed like quite a long time we finally caught up with them at the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius. In the event that we were unable to meet the group, we had planned to go straight to the Capitoline Hill. We would have been alright, really, except that we would have missed most of the Forum and for Lesley, an archeology major, that might actually have been worse than dying. I don’t have any pictures from this section of the trip because I let Lesley put her memory card into my camera as hers was out of batteries.
As I indicated, Capitoline Hill was our next site. We stood in the trapezoidal square, vaunted as the first modern town square and designed by Michelangelo, and, like always, talked about what it was we were seeing. I might add that it was terribly windy and cold by that point and I’m afraid I didn’t retain a great deal of the lecture and I what I did would most likely bore you. Suffice it to say, the three buildings that make up the site are beautifully harmonized and, with their innovative rule-breaking, represent a transition from Renaissance architecture and that of the Maniera.
Climbing down the grand double staircase that led, to my surprise, to the street before the Victor Emmanuel Monument (we had described a crude circle during our walking tour), my classmates and I were a bit consumed by the bitter cold and the knowledge that we had another 4 hours to go. But we trudged on and saw the courtyard of Palazzo Spada with its particularly strange perspective gallery and small private art collection and the church of Sant’Agostino with its Madonna of the Pilgrims by Caravaggio before reaching Piazza Navona and the Four Rivers Fountain. After examining this work by Bernini (it was behind scaffolding and similar), we got a—wait for it—20 minute break! We all ran into the nearest cafés and ordered cappuccinos or hot chocolates as quickly as we could. Ironically, this break had been scheduled so that we could try the gelato. I don’t think anyone could stand the idea of himself still colder.
On we went, seeing the church of Sant’Ignazio (another Jesuit center) with the most unexpected oddity. Apparently, the building of a dome was not possible due to money, etc, so the church had an artist paint a huge ceiling canvas that, when viewed from a certain angle, looks like a dome that surmount the church’s center! However, it is very strange to look at when you pick a viewpoint far from the intended one: the dome seems to be slumping alarmingly.
We then started the very long walk to Santa Maria della Vittoria. We passed the Trevi Fountain, pausing to through coins in over our left shoulders so that we all may return some day to Rome, and a couple of other rather wild confections. When we reached the church, mass was still being said so we waited (and froze) on the steps for about 10 minutes before entering. Walking down the little nave and turning to our left, we beheld Bernini’s Ecstasy of St Teresa! Such a very famous work for so tiny a church! I would have liked very much to have seen it during the day, when light streams from a sort of chimney structure down onto the sculpture group, mixing with the sculpted rays of light and creating one of those typical Baroque theatrical productions. As it was, I was quite impressed and must admit that the knowledge that seeing this work concluded the day was what had kept me from ducking into the hotel after the Capitoline Hill.
We all then attempted to crowd into a little nearby restaurant, Ristorante da Giovanni, that was highly recommended by Helen. Because space was tight, Lesley and I ended up sharing a table with Helen and our T.A., Colette (who is probably only slightly older than me). Helen, while extremely intelligent (she possesses an endless supply of art history-related information and speaks 6 languages), is not very socially graceful so we had a rather interesting meal. Mine consisted of tortellini in broth, eggplant parimigiano, and dolce della casa, which turned out to be like a cream-stuffed cake with a sort of sweet liquor sprinkled on top. I washed it down with naturally fizzy water. I found out that I don’t like fizzy water.
Those of us who had opted to dine at Ristorante da Giovanni then followed Helen to Piazza Nazionale where we boarded a bus that took us down the same road we had come the day before, dropping us off at the same stop. Once again, Lesley and I made it to our room in time to drop dead.