Last Day in Roma

Ciao Roma!!!

Our last day in Rome as a group began with a lecture in Mary's class- our last in the University of Washington Rome Center.  Mary gave us a concise recap of modern Italian history and then took us on a walk through the neighborhood of Trastevere and up to the top of the Janiculem hill.  The weather was some of the most beautiful that we have had our entire stay in Rome!  And the view of the city was exquisite.

The rest of the day was spent finishing our last minute tasks up getting ready to move out and move on from Roma until our final dinner together at 7:30.  We spent many hours together as a group, enjoying each other's company and reflecting on a wonderful trip to Rome.  The food was perfect, but the friendship even better.  With touching words from Mary, Lisa and classmates alike, a better evening could not have been asked for, it goes without saying that none of us can wait for a reunion in Seattle!

Ciao Roma!  Until the next trip!!

Tossing coins into the Trevi, the last day of class!

Last Day of Class! by Richelle Mehlhaff

Wednesday was the last day of our Art History class and we heard presentations from Kelly Anthony on the Palazzo Barberini and Nicolette Moser on the Trevi Fountain.
The Palazzo Barberini was the palace where the Barberini family used to live in Rome. They were not a noble family in their older ancestry but had risen to power through their wealth getting positions in the Papacy and secular Roman offices. The Barberini Pope Uban VIII and the Barberini family were famous for patroning a lot of art work around the city. This palace is where both the papal and secular side of the family would live and entertain. The rooms are beautifully decorated with art that reflects the mission of the family to legitimize their power both the religious and governmental sections of Rome.

Here is the family coat of arms, three bees with the Papal keys and crown above them. Before this, the Barberini family crest was horseflies, but the Barberini Pope changed the crest to bees for their greater symbolism.

We also got a special tour inside the palace of a room with a ceiling fresco where Lisa Schultz did a lot of research for her dissertation.

Following Kelly’s presentation we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and learned about the history of the aquaduct that supplies the Trevi, the Aqua Virgin. Carving the Trevi Fountain took a long time and lot of money. Currently the money people toss into the fountain is collected daily, and totals around 3,000 Euros which is donated to a charity providing food to needy people in Rome, and to the Red Cross. The figure in the middle of the fountain is a river god with two figures beneath him representing the calm and wild side of the river.

Trevi Fountain

Everyone tossing coins into the Trevi!

Good job Kelly and Nicolette! What a great way to end the quarter!

Wednesday March 4, 2009

This is Heather, comparing the size of herself to the huge size of Constantine.

On Wednesday we adventured to the Capitoline Museums in Piazza del Campidoglio. The Capitoline Museum consists of two buildings; Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nouvo. We entered Palazzo dei Conservatori and first looked at the very large fragments of Constantine's statue. The size of Constantine's head was taller than me! From inside the Conservatori we could still see parts of the Temple Of Jupiter. It was amazing that we could still look down a stair case or into a room from the temple. A new wing of the building was built to hold the original Marcus Aurelius statue. There were also a couple good pictures of what the marshy hill of the Capitoline Hill used to look like. Also inside is the famous “She-Wolf” sculpture of a wolf with Romulus and Remus underneath it. This sculpture is the ultimate symbol of Rome and we got a group picture around it! The upstairs of this museum is all paintings, including paintings by Caravaggio.

There is an underground passage that connects the two buildings of the museum. We took that passageway into Palazzo Nuovo. This building was added to the Campidoglio to complete the symmetrical look and so is a very narrow building. The main attraction to this side of the museum is the sculpture of Oceanus, which was in the courtyard.

Later in the day we had Mary’s class! We kept getting side tracked, but we had a good talk about the Sack of Rome and Martin Luther. We only have three more classes with Mary in Rome and we are all getting very sad that we are going home!

Ecstacy and Sacking

This morning was beeauuutiful so we took a dandy stroll up to the Quirinal Hill, where we stopped to visit the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. The church was built during the 17th century and was dedicated to Saint Paul for the discalced Carmelites. Inside the church is a very baroque style like we have been often seeing in these past few weeks, but contained inside is one of Bernini's favorite works: St. Theresa in Ecstacy. In our readings for Art history we learned about how Bernini achieved Bel Composto in his master of sculpting, architecture, and painting. Although he did not do any paintings inside the chapel, his use of different colors of marble show his mastery of color. Everything from the iconography he used to the his strategy of architecture all come together to create the bel composto of St. Theresa.


There is speculation that her gesture and the gesture of the angel in between piercings to her heart are overtly sensual. However, our class came to the conclusion that it was not sensual, but in fact gestures of love and pain. The angel is looking at St. Theresa with understanding while in between spearings to her heart. Lisa read us a passage from St. Theresa where she explained her mystic experiences of ecstacy she had with God, it was painful to the spirit but not so much to the body. Here Bernini sculpts St. Theresa in the moments before her death, which occured during one of her mystic encounters with God.



After seeing this church, we then made the trek down to Trastevere, where we went to the second church of San Francesco a Ripa. The church was dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, who visited and stayed in this area during his lifetime. One of the side chapels inside contains another work of Bernini's, The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, which was commissioned for much less money than St. Theresa but we thought was equally as beautiful, although simpler in design and extravagance. The sculpture itself is of a similar nature, however Ludovica is not on her deathbed, but rather simply experiencing a moment of ecstacy with God, with Seraphims surrounding her. Those guys in my opinion are scarier than the puti, I do NOT enjoy either of them and could honestly live forever without seeing another puti or seraphim.
In the afternoon we had class with Mary, and learned about about the sacking of Rome. Some interesting facts that we learned today in class was that during the first stages of war, the Germans did the right thing in killing everyone in sight when they first sacked Rome. But then the next step was not to kill the people right away, and instead try and figure out where the people were keeping their loot, so they could steal it away and keep it for themselves. From Giuccardini's The Sack of Rome, we also learned that venerable relics were found and thrown around the streets. The heads of the likes of St. Paul and St. Anne were kicked around like balls, that is not very nice! The lucky few in Rome got to retreat to Castel San Angelo, while it was said that others went to the Colonna palace.

Typical Day in Rome: Italia Idea, Castle Sant'Angelo.... and a buring car?

Tuesday morning, at the UWRC apartment, we were all woken up to the lovely music of the glass recycling trucks permanently stationed outside of our windows. The noise was so loud and the hustle and bustle of the Campo Market seemed a lot noisier than usual, we all decided to just get up and prep for our second to last classes at Italia Idea with Paola. However, before class we stopped at Joe Rivetto's Cafe for coffee shots and cornettos (always a nutritious way to start the day!). We spent the morning reviewing our EXTENSIVE knowledge of the Italian language, as our final, we soon found out, would be the following Thursday-- Yikes only 2 days away!

The clouds in the sky of teased us all morning, it looked as though our trip to Castle Sant'Angelo would be postponed until Wednesday and instead we would have class time inside the UWRC. However, much to our surprise and great pleasure, just before 2 o'clock the sun decided to come out, the clouds burned off, and the weather took a turn for the best! Mary decided we would go venture to Castle Sant'Angelo to learn about the Sack of Rome, and good thing because the weather the following day was not as favorable.

Mary decided to brave the Italian ticket desk, and after 10 minutes discussion, Mary was able to razzle and dazzle them with her skills and get us all into the museum for free-- Great work Mary! A little history to go along with the grandeur, decoration, and facade of the building-- The Sack of Rome occurred in 1494 with the invasion of the French over the city walls. The French troops were extremely lucky for two reasons. First, the day they attacked, the fog outside was so thick the defending Roman guards were not able to see them climbing over the walls. Second, Clement VII was the ruling pope, and partial to the bridges running across the Tiber, he refused to blow-up them up, therefore, allowing the French to enter with ease.

Castle Sant'Angelo was absolutely gorgeous. Mary informed us all that it was one of here favorite place in Rome because "it isn't a church, it's not a museum, and it's kind of creepy". It was used as a residence for the Popes, their families, the servants and friends, but originally served as Hadrian's Palace prior to Papal Rule. The angel standing on the top was a statue of St.Michael, placed there after the Black Plague to guard and watch over the cit-- what a beautiful view he had! We climbed our way to the top to see the breath-taking view of the entire city; in my opinion the best view in Rome, better than the Vatican. However, as a little shock to the end of our fabulous visit, we saw a car catch fire on one of the streets below. It was a fairly large fire, however, I don't think anyone was injured and in due time, the fire trucks and police cars made their way to the scene and the situation was taken care of.

The smell from the top was not a pleasant one! I'm just glad everyone was safe.

Jesuits, Obelisks and Latin Inscriptions!

Our group started off our amazing day (even though it was raining) with a presentation on the Jesuits in Rome by Reed. During his presentation we walked to Il Gesu church and St. Ignazio church. We then listened to Lia’s presentation on Obelisks, visiting Minerveo, Macutco and Solare Obelisks around Rome. Everyone ended their day with a walking tour with Tyler Landsford on Latin inscriptions in Rome.

The rain stopped when we met at the Rome Center and walked to Il Gesu church. Reed is sick so he had to use his “small voice” while talking to us outside the church on Victor Emanuel street. Il Gesu, dedicated to Jesus, is the mother church of the Jesuits and marks the beginning of Baroque style architecture. Cardinal Alexander Farnese, the grandson of Pope Paul III, commissioned this church. It is dedicated to Jesus and one of the first things I noticed about the façade was the big “IHS” that is inscribed in the front of the church. “IHS” is Christ’s name in Greek and all the Jesuit churches show this lettering throughout all the churches. On the façade, on either side of the door, you see two sculptures. On the Right hand side is the depiction of religion stomping out heresy and the one on the left hand side is the triumph of the church over heresy.

The illusionist ceiling catches the eye of every person that walks into Il Gesu. This ceiling is the “triumph of the name of God” and there is a mirror placed perfectly in the back of the church so that visitors can look up at the ceiling and see the full effect of the figures in the painting “falling out” of the painting. The Jesuit community wanted a less grand, wooden ceiling while Farnese wanted a fancy, vaulted ceiling and since he was commissioner, he was able to complete the ceiling the way he wanted. The Jesuits believed art was for education and didn’t believe in lavish decorations. Il Gesu, is a high renaissance church that is beautifully decorated but not to Jesuits normal simple taste. So we must assume that all the grand decorations were added over time and by the patron himself.

We saw the two most famous side chapels of Il Gesu, Chapel of St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier. The chapel of St. Ignatius holds his tomb and is very extravagant, to the point that he wouldn’t have agreed with the grandeur style of his tomb. Directly across from that chapel is the tomb of St. Francis with a relic of his arm (symbolizing his missionary work of converting many people), this chapel is way more understated and less eye catching.

Reed told us that Jesuits are a secular clergy, meaning they adopt the dress and language of the region and culture they are preaching in. After the Counter Reformation, the soul purpose of Jesuit churches was to be able to see and hear the preacher while having good acoustics. This changed the architecture of Il Gesu in that it is shorter and wider than most churches and has side chapels so that more than one mass could be preformed at once. There are a couple of predominate depictions that occur in most Jesuit churches which are the letters “IHS” are written through the church, the scene of the circumcision of Jesus is usually on the high alter and the depiction of missionary work.

After the Il Gesu we followed Reed to St. Ignazio church. It was surprising to see that the fronts of Il Gesu and St. Ignazio were almost identical, with the only differences being there were no statues. The ceiling inside this church was typical for the 17th century and was less extravagant than Il Gesu, but still had the illusionist look. It depicted the four continents that Christianity had reached; Asia, Africa, Europe and America. The main feature that caught the group’s eye was the dark “dome” that is really just a painting. Before the church was finished they ran out of money and so they couldn’t complete a dome so the artist just painted an illusion of a dome.

Right after Reeds presentation we walk to Piazza della Minerva to hear Lia’s presentation on obelisks. We were lucky to see three of the thirteen obelisks in Rome. Originating in Egypt, they were built for celebratory and religious purposes, are usually made of one stone, having four square sides that taper to the top and were moved when Egypt fell to Rome. Pope Sixtus brought back obelisks and made a path for the pilgrims so that from each one you can see another.

The first obelisk we saw was Minerveo in Piazza della Minerva. It is the smallest obelisks standing at 5 ½ meters, made out of red granite and was placed here in 1667. This obelisk is one of a twin set that was made in Egypt in sixth century. The base was designed by Bernini and on top of the base is a human size elephant. On the elephant’s forehead are the words zeal and industry. The next obelisk we went to was Macuteo in Piazza della Rotonda (Pantheon). Here we talked mainly about the other thirteen obelisks in Rome. An interesting fact that Lia told us is the obelisk Vaticano in St. Peter’s Square is one of two not inscribed on. Our next obelisk we saw was Solare/Campense in Piazza di Montecritorio. It is 72 feet tall and was brought back by Caesar to symbolize conquer over Egypt. At the very end of her presentation it started to rain hard, Lia quickly rapped up her presentation and all rain for cover!

After our lunch break we met back up for our walking tour with Tyler Landsford. The weather was holding up for us, and we were all excited to hear about the latin inscriptions throughout Rome. We started in Paizza della Cancelleria, then moved to the far side of the Campo, then to Capo di Ferro, then Ponte Sisto, to Largo de Librari, into the Ghetto, and then through the Ghetto to Tiber island. We followed the path of the old Via della Pellegrino. My favorite inscriptions that we saw were the ones on top of eight statues on the façade of Palazzo Spada. The eight statues are of Trajan, Gnaeus Pompey the Great, Fabius Maximus, Romulus, Numa, Marcus Marcellus, Dictator Caesar and Augustus Caesar. Trajan’s really stands out to me, reading “Trajan, an emperor of invincible valor, deserved the name of ‘Best.’”

After listening to Tyler’s translations of the inscriptions, I couldn’t stop thinking about the amount of dedication that he put into his work. Stacie asked him about the process he went to find inscriptions, especially the inscription on Ponte Rotto. For this particular inscription he read about it in a book, then every time he visited Rome he would come to this bridge and look for this inscription until finally he found it one day. His lecture was so interesting and walking around the city, being able to see exactly what he was translating was an incredible experience.

Cooking class with Mary!

This morning the boys and I woke up and went to the Pigna apartment for brunch. Cami made pancakes and Richelle made crepes. After eating we sat around for about an hour or two before going to the Rome Center for Mary's class.
The highlight of the day was Mary's cooking class. The first thing she taught us was how to properly chop an onion. Lia and I have always done it differently but Mary's way made sense to us.


This picture shows Richelle hard at work with her onion. We all did a good job and Mary was rewarded with a pot full of chopped onions.

The next thing we made was an eggplant parmesan. I have always loved eggplant parmesan so I was thrilled to learn how to make it. I tried it a few times before but it always came out really sloppy or with the eggplant just being mush. The important step that I didn't quite do correctly was to brown the sides of the eggplant slices either by lightly sauteeing them or by broiling them in the oven for a bit.
Again, it was a fascinating process. Matt and Kelly were especially floored.


After adding several layers of a delicious ragu sauce, eggplant, and parmesan we baked the eggplant parmesan for about twenty minutes. We could hardly contain ourselves and it didn't take long for us to finish it.


Later that night I decided to make bread for the apartment. Baking bread is something that I only learned recently but I have perfected an easy and cheap way to make several loaves of bread. Matthew has expressed an interest in learning how to make along with several others and so I've decided to share the recipe.
Start with adding a cup of warm water to a large mixing bowl. Add a spoonful each of sugar, salt, and yeast and let it sit for about five minutes. Once the yeast has been activated slowly add in 2 cups of flour and stir quickly for a few minutes. Add a cup of melted butter or if you want to make it healthier, add a cup of an oil and warm water mixture. Then add another two cups of flower. Before it gets too doughy add in a spoonful of pesto sauce, some dried red pepper, and anything else you may want (some rosemary is nice). Once you have a big glob of dough then divide it into loaves and let it rise for 2 hours. Bake for about half an hour at 350 and serve immediately.
Ciao!

Caravaggio and the Oregon Trail

Today the weather consisted of nothing but clear, blue skies. It was a bit chilly, but spirits were high and the chance of cholera low. Rations cut to half. The topic of the day was presented to us by Amy, on the artist Caravaggio.

Caravaggio was the son of a master architect, and was apprenticed early in life after his skills were made obvious. He had many friends who were also artists, and they may have influenced his style in various pieces. It is interesting to note that Caravaggio never learned how to create frescoes, one of the more important types of art at the time. Instead, Caravaggio mastered the use of oil paints on canvas. In an even more interesting note, Caravaggio stood slightly outside the swirl of Humanism, as he simply was not that interested in antiquity. As many other brilliant artists, Caravaggio was violent and a drunkard.

We began our trek from the portone towards a church that housed Caravaggio's first piece we were going to learn about. Unfortunately the church was closed until 10 AM, and we were there at 9:30. So onward we went to the next church, but there was mass being held so we couldn't go inside to view the work there, either.

Cardinal Delmonte was Caravaggio's first patron, as the Cardinal was heavily keen on art. Caravaggio finished up a chapel, taking over the work of another artist. Rather than fresco, Caravaggio used oil -- and was so skilled that he maintained the same payment for the job as the other artist. There are some who say that Caravaggio was gay, citing the fact that he never painted women. However, Caravaggio painted two seperate works of women, and there is evidence of Caravaggio entertaining the ladies.

Due to the Counter Reformation within the Catholic Church, there was a re-emphasis on the basics. Subsequently, Caravaggio could have his choice of Biblical scenes including the Last Supper, the Madonna, and any of the Saints -- Caravaggio stressed the reality of these images. Ironically, Caravaggio much preferred painting scenes of nature to people. After leaving Cardinal Delmonte's patronage in 1600, Caravaggio sought out new sources of work.

Caravaggio created the Crucifixion of Saint Peter at the Del Popolo, as well as the Conversion of Saint Paul. Originally the chapel was to be decorated by another artist named Caracci. There was a myth that all the crows in the Piazza del Popolo were evil demons sitting in a tree. As a sign of victory, this walnut tree was cut down and replaced with an oak tree.

One aspect unique to Caravaggio's painting of St. Peter is that only St. Peter's eyes are visible, and they emphasize a focal point. The figure is almost full size, and they were Caravaggio's first to be publically displayed. In the painting, there were different styles of clothing used, and Jesus' hand is very similar to that of God's in the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately for us today, the original painting of Saint Matthew was torn down due to a few problems such as St. Matthew's bare feet, his dirtiness, and the fact that the painting itself was simply too small. Recently, researchers have discovered incised lines in the canvas, used for the purpose of creating outlines of objects to help guide the artist.

After Amy's presentation, we returned to the Rome Center to break for lunch, and then had Professor O'Neil's class at 2 PM. Nobody died from malaria or whooping cough. Crossed South Pass.

Learnin' bouts the Italians and Popes

Today was a class day so we spent the morning in Italian and afternoon in Mary's history class.
In Italian class with Mary, Marco and I worked on reading chapter nine of A Ciascuno il Suo, where we learn in the story more about the politics of Sicily in the 60s, and the plot thickens when they go to talk with the widow of the friend who was murdered.
In the Italidea class the girls learned about adjectives and descriptions, and took a field trip out to Farnese and Campo dei Fiori to describes sights... in Italian! Brava.

Later on we had class with Signora Mary, where we learned about Pope Sixtus and looked at some of his commissions, and began an quick introduction on Machiavelli for next week.

After class, since we had a 3-day weekend, everyone got ready for their trips to Prague, Istanbul, and Lyon!

Eggs in Purgatory

Roma Reporta—February 18, 2009
Posted by Reed

Today was a very relaxed day. Our usual Wednesday morning art history class had been rescheduled, since Lisa was with the honors group in Southern Italy; so, we decided to spice things up with an impromptu group brunch. Jenna was the master chef of the affair. She was assisted by her sous-chef, Stacie, who flipped a mean pancake. The meal—and it was a meal—consisted of two courses. For the first course, pancakes topped with Nutella whetted our appetites for the complex and delicious second course. The second course, appropriately named “Eggs in Purgatory” was a unique and delicious brunch experience, consisting of marinara sauce, a fried-mashed-potato concoction, a fried egg, and plenty of parmesan to top it off. As if all of that was not enough, there was also freshly squeezed blood-orange juice to wash everything down. It was a very tasty brunch and an excellent way to start the day.


The Master Chef at Work


After our feast, it was time for history with Mary. With our second paper due on Friday, we discussed several more aspects of the medieval family, but the majority of class today was focused on a discussion of popes and the papacy. To add to our already relaxed day, Mary decided to end class early in order to give everyone more time to work on their papers. Unfortunately, this was the end of my relaxed day, as I had to get right to work on my paper in order to turn it in before travelling to Prague for the weekend. Much of the class was in a similarly hurried state with the paper, since everyone had travel plans for the weekend, except for Heather, who had chosen to stay in Rome for the weekend. Bryan, Alex, Matt, and I went to Prague; Stacie, Carly, and Maya went to Lyon, France; and literally everyone else (except for Heather) went to Istanbul. My apologies to Heather if it sounds like I’m picking on her—apparently we missed some great weather in Rome.


The Final Product: Eggs in Purgatory

Posted by Reed

Ragazzi Piccanti

Today was loaded with scores of amazingly fun activities! As usual on Tuesday, we started the day with Italian. The class was more intense and interactive than ever before. In class, Paola taught us two new verbs: sapere and conoscere. Cosa significa sapere e conoscere? Sapere, an irregular verb, means to know something. The verb usually is followed by: 1) a phrase, such as “Sai dove vanno in vacanza;” 2) a direct object, such as “So il francese;” 3) another verb in the infinite form, such as “Franco sa suonare il piano. Non lo so, which means “I don’t know” and is one of my favorite Italian phrases, is derived from the first person singular of sappere. Conoscere, a regular verb, which also means to know, is always used with a direct object, for example, “Conosco Seattle.” After learning these new verbs, we played an intense game of trivia. First, Paola split the class into two groups, the A-Team and the Ragazzi Piccanti. Then she had us listen to a dialogue in Italian. After listening through the dialogue a few times, each group constructed five questions for the opposing team to answer. Things got competitive between the two groups. Stacie and Jenna battled it out over points, but in the end, the A-Team barely squeaked by, earning 3.5 points to Ragazzi Piccanti’s 3 points.



After Italian we had a nice three hour break, in which most of us worked dexterously on our essays for History class. Art History class convened at 2:45 in Villa Borghese at the Galleria Borghese. At the museum, Maya gave her art presentation on four of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculptures: David (1623), Rape of Proserpine (1621-22), Goat Amalthea with Infant Jupiter and Faun (1615), and Apollo and Daphne (1622-25). Although, I enjoyed all of the statues, I found the Rape of Proserpine particularly intriguing as it vividly captures so many human emotions, as well as, vividly portraying the action of the moment. The details on the statue are absolutely mind-blowing, for example: the teardrop running down Proserpine’s face, the different textures of the characters skins, and finally, most impressive, was the impressions of Pluto’s two hands imprinted into Proserpine’s skin. After the presentation, we were free to enjoy and walk around the rest of the museum. Other interesting art pieces at the Galleria included: the statue of Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, Caravaggio’s St. Jerome, Sick Bacchus, and Raphael’s Entombment of Christ.



After looking around the Galleria for about an hour, we made our way to the Piazza Navona, where Jenna gave her art history presentation on Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers. The Fountain of the Four River’s depicts the allegorical figures of the Ganges in Asia, the Nile in Africa, the Rio de la Plata in America and the Danube in Europe. One of the most interesting facts that I learned from Jenna’s presentation was how Bernini got the commission for the statue. Originally, Bernini’s archrival Borromini, who had reconstructed the façade of the nearby Church of St. Agnus and designed the Acqua Felice, was assumed to be a shoe-in for the commission. However, after the pope saw a model of Bernini’s design, which had been dropped off inside the papal palace, he decided to pick Bernini, reportedly proclaimed, “the only way to resist executing his works is not to see them."



To cap off the day, we ate dinner at a restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. We had fried artichokes, fish and zucchini leaves, all of which were delicious! The food was the perfect ending to another wonderful day in the Eternal City.

Jewish Ghetto and Campidoglio

We started our day with not one but two presentations! Stacie presented the Jewish Ghetto and led us around this very small quarter, while Carly presented on the Campidoglio.

The Ghetto was built in the 16th century on the banks of a frequently flooded bend of the Tiber River, and was the forced home of the Roman Jewish population for more than 300 years, between the Counter-Reformation (16th century) and Italian unification (19th century). The Ghetto is very small and at certain points up to 7000 Jews were squeezed into its confines.


The Campidoglio is the piazza on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome which houses the city government building as well as two museums. The façade of the buildings and the brick pattern on the ground are all from the designs of Michelangelo, even though he did not see the project through to completion.


It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time!

Palestrinaby Lia Pittman

Friday the 13th! Ahh!! Fortunately there was no bad luck today! We took a joint visit with the honors students to Palestrina, a town just an hour outside of Roma. The bus ride was a little bumpy....I think the bus driver could have used a bit of a refresher course on how to drive a giant automobile. The weather was absolutely beautiful outside, however, so the views on the way there were great.




View from the hill where the museum was located

The main thing we went to see in Palestrina was the museum which was the home for one of the most beautiful mosaics I have seen. It contained intricate details of landscape, animals, and people in an amazing style. Also in the museum there was a large collection of ancient trinkets, statues, and other artifacts. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I got a picture of this case of artifacts before I was told "no foto!" Oops!

Trinkets in the museum
After we had finished in the museum, we ventured outside and ate our sack lunches on the sunny steps while we looked at the pretty scenery of the town below and of the mountains nearby. A few of us looked around at the ruins outside of the museum and the church that was close, too.

Lunch time!!
Later today, we went with our Italiaidea intern to a cafe/bar called Pourquoi that is slightly outside of the main parts of Rome, over by the University of Rome. A group of us went there by bus with Daniele, the intern with an awesome English accent, and another group of us tried to find their own way. Well, the group without Daniele got lost and we had a fun adventure trying to figure out where we all were! It all ended up great, though, and Pourquoi was a great little place with a fun atmosphere. We all had so much fun interacting with the locals and ordering our drinks in all Italian. After that, we took buses home and called it a night! :)

All about the Michelangelo

Today was a day all about Michelangelo, our buddy. In the morning we all went our different Italian classes. Marco, Mary, and I read Sciascia's A Ciascuno Il Suo (to each his own). Everyone else went to their Italian class, and made some new Italian friends, word on the street says he looks like a tall Harry Potter?....

After we breaked for lunch, we met up at San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). This church was built to house the chains of St Peter that were used when he was inprisoned in Jerusalem. The relics are actually housed in the church, and we were able to get a great look at them.

The Church however, is more famous for the sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo. Built for the tomb of Pope Julius II, it was completed long after his death, and turns out that Pope Julius never actually was buried in this tomb, in fact, his tomb is actually quite simple and ordinary. In an article we read for class by Freud, we learned that the Moses was his favorite sculpture. But he explains his interpretation of the sculpture, because in order for him to truly appreciate art, he needs to intepret the artist's intention on the subject-matter. His interpretation of the sculpture was that Moses was intended to show him not in an a wrath before he threw the tablets, but rather in a more relaxed pose of thought and submission. We discussed as a class whether or not we thought this was a legitimate argument, and concluded that art is meant to be interpreted, and there is not only one interpretation of a piece of art, or a right or a wrong one.

It was a great day to visit the churches and bask in the sun! Although it was really cold, it was worth it!

The second church we went to was called Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, which translates as St. Mary's on top of Minerva, which was the name of the temple that the church was built over. This church is one of the few Gothic style churches left in Rome, and is quite impressive inside. Some famous names such as the 2 Medici Popes, St. Catherine of Siena and Fra Angelico. Michelangelo's most criticized work, Risen Christ, is located near the high alter. Upon first glance, the frontal view of this sculpture is quite unappealing. However, from our readings by Wallace we learned that in fact the statue is viewed in the wrong way, which makes it unappealing to the viewer. The view that is normally photographed is with the face facing front, which is the wrong angle. This therefore shows that wrong proportions, which makes Jesus look unrealistic. Also, the first evidence that sparked this movement was a letter that was written to Michelangelo, suggesting that the assistent had damaged the sculpture during transport. However, Michelangelo did not change anything, and his clients were happy with the result of the work. Below is a photo of the way the sculpture is meant to be viewed, which is in fact quite moving and spectacular, with the exception of the loincloth that was added on later, to cover up the scandal of his nudity.

Villa Farnesina: Wednesday 11th, Feb 2009

Today our group traveled to a quant little country villa located just across the Tiber river.

In the early 16th century, Rome’s wealthy papal banker Agostino Chigi commissioned Baldassarre Peruzzi to build a pleasure palace for his mistress Imperia. Located in the surrounding countryside outside of the city walls, Villa Farnesina’s exterior was surrounded by lush gardens while its’ interior was decorated with lavish frescoes. This villa is well known for its characteristic renaissance architecture as well as the great art works housed inside.

Chigi commissioned several painters to decorate the loggias and dinning rooms of the villa. Those who were lucky enough to be invited to one of his elaborate parties would be entertained under the works of Guilio Romano, Sebastiano del Piombo, Il Sodoma, and best of all...Raphael.

I think the group was a bit relieved to find that none of the frescoes in Villa Farnesina were of the Madonna and Christ, or any other religious scenes for that matter. Because Chigi's palace was used for leisure, the paintings depicted secular, mythological scenes, many inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses.

On the left is a picture of the entrance way ceiling (Loggia di Psyche), which depicts Raphael's "Cupid and Psyche". Although Raphael was not able to paint the ceiling personally, his sketches were used by his apprentices to create the romantic tale of Cupid and Psyche.

On the right is a picture of Raphael's "Triumph of Galatea", located in the dining room next to the Loggia di Psyche. This fresco is important because it represents a combination of Raphael's techniques. He seems to have perfected his idea of beauty. It is said that Raphael culminated the most beautiful features from several women in order to create his Galatea. Also, the fresco portrays perfect balance. The cupids all point downwards toward the central figure of Galatea. There is a perfect balance of light and dark, as well as figures. It is also interesting that Galatea rides atop a seashell, which closely resembles Botticelli's "Birth of Venus".

Above the "Triumph of Galatea" and surrounding the ceiling are scenes from Ovid's metamorphoses, which also represent the astrological symbols.

Chigi's bedroom was frescoed by Il Sodoma; the 4 walls portray scenes from the life of Alexander the Great. This picture shows the wedding of Alexander and Roxanne. The viewer may notice a stark contrast from this scene (which is well done), compared to the other 3 walls. This is because Sodoma felt that Chigi was not paying him well enough. Sodoma's brush painted to the sounds of coins, meaning the quality of his work decreased if he felt he was not paid appropriately.

After we left the bed chamber of Agostino Chigi we decided we were long over due for a group photo, so we snapped a shot in Chigi's stairwell.

After our visit to Villa Farnesina, the group had a few hours until Mary's history class. Lisa, Nicolette, Shannon, and I went and grabbed a small bite to eat in Trastevere and poked into a few small shops until finally returning to our side of the river.

While returning over the Ponte Sisto we got caught in a snow/hail/sleet/rain storm, whatever you might call it.

In Mary's class we spent our time learning about Leon Batista Alberti and his ideas about the renaissance family. That Alberti is quite the guy!

I can only speak for myself here, I spent the rest of the night, reading, making pasta, playing guitar, and reading some more.

Another great day in Roma! Ciao

The Things We Have in Common--by Cami Jared

Today was a great day in Italian class! We spent almost the entire two hour period listening to an Italian song called "Le Cose in Comune", by Daniele Silvestri. The title means "The Things we Have in Common". Paula, our Italian teacher wanted us to listen to the song once just to listen and see if we could pick out any of the words. After hearing it one time everyone was pretty lost. Paula gave each of us a print out of the lyrics and there were blanks scattered randomly thoughout the song. We were supposed to fill in the blanks with the correct words! AH!

Here's the link to the song. After listening to how fast the man is singing maybe you can appreciate the difficulty of the task that we had been assigned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT4KEGhwOrE

(Just a warning--the music video is a little strange...)

We spent the class trying to figure out the meaning of all the particular words that Paula had underlined. The first line in the song goes like this:

"Le cose che abbiamo in comune sono 4.850" which means, "The things that we have in common are 4,850". Paula made each one of us say the number as fast as we possibly could. This was hard for most people and a little easier for others.

The chorus lyrics are:

perché quando io dormo... tu dormi

quando io parlo... tu parli

quando io rido... tu ridi

quando io piango... tu piangi

quando io dormo... tu dormi

quando io parlo... tu parli

quando io rido... tu ridi
quando io piango... tu ridi

...roughly translated the singer is saying, "because, when I sleep, you sleep. When I talk, you talk. When I laugh, you laugh, when I cry you cry...and when I cry, you laugh"

No wonder why this guy thinks he has so many things in common with this girl! Every person sleeps and laughs and talks. Geez.

Overall, it was a pretty fun exercise and we ended up learning and laughing a lot.

(Danele Silvestri, the singer of "Le Cose in Comune")

After a short lunch break, we went to the Rome Center for history class with Mary. We have been talking about Women and the Family this week. Our main reading this week, in addition to a few selections out of our copied reading packet, was "The Family in Renaissance Florence" by Leon Battista Alberti. Alberti was an Italian humanist who is often thought of as the model of the "Renaissance man". He was born in Genoa as an illegitimate child to a wealthy Florentine merchant. The Alberti family had been exiled from Florence under the rule of the Medici. The book gives us a good idea of the role of women in society and the picture of the "ideal" family. In addition, Alberti gives his opinions of honor and nobility. He introduces the reader to the idea of "nobility of character" whereas all previous nobles had been noble by blood. The main idea that we were able to take out of our readings was the concept that there were two sphere's in Florentine society--a public and a private. Women were supposed to be private people and only in the private sphere and men were supposed to represent their family in the public sphere. This is an interesting idea which has definitely evolved over time.

(Leon Battista Alberti, author and Italian humanist)

Today was another great day in Rome! We're learning a lot and having fun!!

Vatican Museums - Monday February 9th

Today we had a beautiful sunny day for our trip to the Vatican Museums, literally not a cloud in the sky!

View of St. Peter's from Vatican Museum courtyard

We had a great set-up for our tour in which we all had headsets that were linked to Lisa’s microphone so that we could wander through the museum at our leisure while Lisa gave us all the details about the highlights of the galleries. Our first stop was the painting gallery – the entrance of which is protected by a cast of Michelangelo’s Pieta that allows visitors to get much closer to the statue than you can to the original that resides in St. Peter’s. The painting gallery begins with medieval works and then progresses to Renaissance artists – bridged by Giotto and by the famous fresco of Sixtus IV appointing Bartolomeo Platina Prefect of the Vatican Library by Melozzo of Forli.

Left: Giotto's triptych - the former altar piece of St. Peter's Basilica, Right: Melozzo da Forli's della Rovere Fresco

Our next room of focus was dedicated to Raphael - the walls covered in intricate tapestries designed by the master himself, and the main display of the room being a set of three paintings that demonstrate the progression of Raphael’s style. This progression culminates in Raphael’s Transfiguration, completed in 1520. The painting shows Raphael’s ability to combine multiple scenes into one painting with an effortless flair, and simultaneously demonstrates the ethereal style and magnificent use of color Raphael is known for along with his desire to incorporate the muscular, sculptural figures he so admired in Michelangelo’s work.

Raphael's Transfiguration

From Raphael’s room we journey into that of Leonardo da Vinci, which focuses on an unfinished painting of Saint Jerome in which the viewer can see Leonardo’s obsession with anatomy and the human form. We then ventured into the realm of the Baroque – studying the intensely graphic paintings of Caravaggio and Guido Reni, where we received an introduction to the technique of chiaroscuro- the play between light and dark so widely explored in Baroque painting. With a quick view of the still lives in the adjacent room, we quit the painting gallery to go out into the beautiful sunlight of the courtyard where Constantine’s giant bronze pinecone commands the scene. From here we entered the ancient sculpture courtyard where we had the privilege of seeing two of the most influential and magnificent sculptures that still survive from antiquity – the Apollo Belvedere and the Laocoön.

Laocoön (c. 1st century BCE)

It was the incredible intricacy of the body of the Laocoön that inspired Michelangelo to perform countless studies and drawings of the sculpture – its importance to the sculptors of the Renaissance cannot be overemphasized. With a nod to a giant, second-century BCE bronze statue of Hercules that was excavated from our very own Palazzo Pio that now houses the UW Rome Center and the incredible ancient mosaics under our very feet we worked our way through the crowds to Raphael’s famed Stanze.

Palazzo Pio Bronze Hercules

There are four rooms included in the Stanze commissioned by Julius II so that he would not have to endure the unpleasantness of living in the former Borgia apartments. The most renowned of these rooms is the Stanza della Signatura as it is home to the celebrated School of Athens - with many of Raphael's honorable contemporaries depicted as ancient thinkers - such as Leonardo da Vinci as Plato (the left central figure).

partial view of School of Athens with Michelangelo as Heraclitus front left

After viewing these masterpieces of Raphael, we swept through the Hall of Maps and the Modern Art wing to arrive at the culmination of our visit – the Sistine Chapel. How can I hope to describe the Sistine Chapel? It is indeed an overload on the senses – incredible frescoes by Botticelli and Perugino cover the side walls and Michelangelo’s Last Judgment with its deeply blue background and countless almost-nude figures adorns the altar – and then of course there is the ceiling which speaks for itself.

Sistine Chapel with Last Judgement center

(photo taken from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-541593/Painting-ceiling-weekend-Spare-thought-man-created-Sistine-Chapel.html - as being good little art historians we didn't take any photos inside the chapel)

One of the most interesting things we learned about the chapel was that a heavy cleaning and restoration was just completed less than five years ago that completely changed the hues of the frescoes that had become extremely dark and dirty over the years. For many art historians the cleaning of the frescoes required the interpretation of Michelangelo’s Sistine frescoes to be entirely altered – that in fact they were not dark and tumultuous but bright and vibrant. This day at the Vatican museums was incredible and many of us felt that we could spend days here and still not see everything that the galleries have to offer.