Sunday, July 17, 2016

Renaissance in Rome

Following about 1000 years of "darkness", art and architecture were revived again in Italy. Thank goodness for that Renaissance! The action took place from ~1300-1600).              

It feels to me (Kenzi) that as a result of that Renaissance, scale is off in Rome. Buildings appear small and close to you, when in fact, they are huge and distant. For example, do you see the small children in this picture?


See the little kids?
Second row up, second window from the right
After I saw them, I realized how huge those windows were, and therefore how huge that building was. This happened repeatedly during our time in Rome.

We visited the Vatican Museums. Goodness gracious, there's a lot there! Highlights: Nero's massive purple marble (porphyry) tub from Egypt, the hall of maps, Raphael's School of Athens painting (my personal favorite), the Laocoon sculpture, and the Sistine Chapel (they don't allow pictures in there, but wow!).


Nero's marble tub from Egypt
Hall of Maps
School of Athens, by Raphael
Laocoon
Just next to the Vatican Museums is St. Peter's Basilica, designed by Michelangelo and others, and is one of the largest churches in the world. It was started in 1506 and took 120 years to build. This building is another example of how things are so large that they appear closer to you than they really are (this was done on purpose by those smarty pants Renaissance folks). St. Peter's tomb is below the alter, and several popes have been interred there. It's a massive building, really impossible to describe.


St. Peter's Basilica alter with Bernini's baldacchino

St. Peter's Basilica dome

Michaelangelo's Pieta, behind bulletproof glass now, 
due to a crazed person who tried to destroy it in 1972
Also, we saw the Pope!! St. Peter's Square is the gigantic plaza in front of the Basilica, where we saw the Pope speak from his window on Sunday. He speaks to everyone from the 2nd window from the right. The first window on the far right is his bedroom. I said to Bill when we walked up that it seemed kind of small and I was hoping they didn't have him crammed into a little closet. Then, when he appeared at the 2nd window and was so tiny, I realized that the scale of buildings here had confused me once again. We didn't understand a word he said, but it was still cool to see and hear him (in spite of the sweltering heat!).

Pope Francis is the tiny speck just above my head
Panorama of St. Peter's Square
We climbed to the top of the dome of the St. Peter's Basilica, where you have great views of the city and can peek down into Vatican City as well. We think we figured out the building where the previous Pope, Benedict, is hanging out post-retirement. Vatican City seems like a very quaint respite in the middle of a bustling city.


Vatican City from the top of the St. Peter's dome
Just a "little" tile mosaic that was repeated probably twenty times around the St. Peter's dome
We've also seen multiple times the massive monument Alter of the Fatherland, aka National Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of unified Italy, built in 1925. It also honors the 1st World War soldiers. Apparently, the locals think it's obnoxious in its size, color, and placement, which may be true, but it is indeed magnificent.



The Trevi fountain is from the 1700s.  It is really nice to see at night, especially while eating gelato, and most especially after sweating in the heat all day. The Spanish Steps are currently being restored, so we don't have any fabulous pictures of them.
Trevi Fountain

Thanks to the Romans for all the great Roman ruins still around today and all the artists of the Renaissance for beautiful buildings and art. Rome is rad!

Next up on our itinerary: Naples, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast

Recommended reading if you ever go to Rome, or go back to Rome if you've already been there:
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
I, Claudius by Robert Graves


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