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.