What Lies Below: Capuchin Monks and Necropoli of Tarquinia

After spending time in the beautiful Protestant Cemetery we headed to a different corner of the city to see how the Capuchin monks are interred at Santa Maria della Concezione. Here grotesque art lines the walls and ceilings. Human bones, those of devout former Capuchin monks, form the mosaics. But the effect, despite the material of their construction, while austere and solemnifying, is not at all repulsive. It was with great interest that we peered at each room, inside a rather unassuming looking building. They asked us not to take pictures, and we obliged, but you really have to see it for yourself anyway.

We then headed north out of Rome to visit the Necropoli of Tarquinia. We arrived in the late afternoon, and had the place nearly to ourselves. Tarquinia is the site of an Etruscan cemetery, where each of the tombs date from around the 6th and 7th centuries BC. Each tomb consists of a room carved out of the rock of the hill. a winding path leads from tomb to tomb, descend a set of steps through a little stucco entryway, and peer through glass into the rooms painted with nearly Roman figures. The quality and complexity of the murals vary with the rooms age, and show a variety of scenes from Etruscan life.

Before leaving we picked up a small bronze replica statue, like those many Etruscan works we had seen at museums throughout our trip, a memento of yet another culture which once inhabited this country. We returned to Rome for an early start on our last day in Italy.

Ancient Ruins Modern Remains

After seeing what Vatican City had to offer, we leapt a little further back in time to the Roman era, when we went to visit the Baths of Caracalla. The baths are in relatively poor condition, but the towering bits of wall, and broken fragments of mosaic floor that do remain, are enough to impart the general idea of the scale of these baths, if not their opulence. Caracalla makes the well preserved baths we visited in Pompeii seem quaint, in terms of scale. We wandered the ruins, identifying the various areas of the baths based on the wikipedia information we had. It is hard to imagine, as with the Coliseum, the marble walls and various decorations which must have once covered the bare brick that remains today. What is even more difficult to grasp in my mind is the engineering complexity of the baths. I want nothing more, after seeing the ruins, than to see a functioning replica of one of these baths. Preferable life size, but a scale model would do.

From Roman times back to the future, and a visit to Rome's Protestant Cemetery was next on our todo list.  The cemetery is easy enough to find, thanks to the prominent Pyramid which marks the grave of Caius Cestius, which well predates the Protestant Cemetery having been built around 15 BC. The Cemetery is all surrounded by a wall,

and through the gate is a surprising green landscape scattered with headstones of every type. Lounging in the pools of light amidst the greenery and blooms, was the odd cat, another sanctuary. The whole place has the feel, not of a burial ground, but of some secret garden. After the hordes of tourists at the Vatican, this place was purely abandoned. We had it to ourselves.

Besides a few interesting headstones, and the beautiful mourning angel, the cemetery is most well known for two of its residents, and their sidelong buried friends. The first of these is Percy Bysshee Shelley, who's wife penned Frankenstein, and who himself was an accomplished poet. My own favorite poem of his, and probably the best
known, is Ozymandias. He lies buried next to Edward John Trelawney, whose name I only noticed at the time because of one of Harry Potter's professors. But, as it turns out, Trelawney was a friend of Shelley, and when Shelly died in a boating accident in Italy, Trelawney was at the cremation, and took Shelley's heart, to give to Mary Shelley which she kept in a box until her death.

In a corner of the walled cemetery is the grave of John Keats, with its famous epitaph "Here lies one whose name was writ in water", but that's not all there is to the story. A friend of Keats, who was there with him through the final stages of his tuberculosis, abided by Keats's wishes by placing the epitaph , but not Keats's name on the tomb. This man, Joseph Severn used a sort of loop hole in Keats's dying wishes, and wrote a good deal more on that headstone instead. In full, it reads: This Grave, contains all that was Mortal, of a YOUNG ENGLISH POET, Who, on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart, at the Malicious Power of his Enemies, Desired these words to be Engraven on his Tomb Stone Here Lies One Whose Name was writ in Water. Feb 24th 1821. That same year, Percy Shelley, a friend, wrote Adonais in honor of Keats. But still, the story does not quite end there. In 1879, Joseph Severn died, and was buried next to Keats. As a final  honor to the dead poet, Severn's tombstone names the young English poet he is buried next to. Severn's inscription begins: To the memory of Joseph Severn, devoted friend and death-bed companion of John Keats, whom he lived to see numbered among the immortal poets of England.

Basilica di San Pietro

The first thing that you will notice about Saint Peter's is that is it large. It is massive. It is difficult to really photograph this. The curved colonnades that reach around the plaza  like a pair of gargantuan arms to gather you in are hard to grasp in return. The Piazza within these arms is filled with row upon row of chairs, presumably for services here. The people are routed along the right hand side, through security. Be sure to cover your shoulders and knees. Immodesty is frowned on here. You may be able to buy a pair of paper pants if necessary, but the cost is not so modest.

There are nuns and tourists here. there are Swiss guards here and there. We wandered first through the Vatican grotto, beneath the church, where many of the popes are buried. Our visit fell only a few years after the death of Pope John Paul II, and the passageway was crowding with people, several of whom wept quietly in the dimly lit, low ceiling hall. We did not linger long, feeling a little too out of place, too much like a tourist at a funeral, and headed into the church itself.

Because everything is on a grand scale, it is hard to really feel it without other people for scale. Those cherubs are nearly as large as adults. The statues in the nooks are really Goliaths.

Everything in the rich hue of various marbles. Through the years of its construction, the hands of many designed its various structures, most famously Michaelangelo.

It is one of Michaelangelo's own works, the Pieta, which is the most famous piece of sculpture within the church. Christ's body, draped across the lap of his mother, the statue is highly finished and highly detailed. Like David, the Pieta is protected behind a barrier, because someone once took a hammer to it.

Overall I think the vastness of the church is decreased by its decoration, making the structure itself less imposing than, for instance, the austere interior of the Koln Cathedral. However, the greater detail does make it perhaps more interesting to explore and contemplate.

Vatican Museum concluded

After shuffling out way out of the Sistine Chapel, we wandered another long hall back to the main body of the museum, this one filled with various religious architecture. Finally we found are way to the Pinacoteca, the Vatican art gallery. The rooms are ordered chronologically, and the works are almost strictly of a religious nature, whether they be grand paintings of biblical scenes or representations of  the various saints. The works range from the 12th to the 19th centuries and include several works by Raphael, the most impressive of which is The Transfiguration whose vivid colors shine in a dark room. Among the other authors to be found here are Giotto, Bellini, Caravaggio, Titian, Guido Reni, Bernini, and an unfinished St. Jerome by da Vinci.  Also of interest, though the name is less well known to me, is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, by Peter Wenzel, which shows a rather whimsical scene with flora and fauna from the world over.

The Transfiguration

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

From the Pinacoteca, we wound our way through the Pio-Clemento museum. Roman statues peered down at us from crimson niches, as we shuffled past, circling the roman mosaics set in the floor, cordoned off by velvet ropes, and finally into the octagonal courtyard, filled with still more roman sculptures.

After the courtyard we moved into the Egyptian Museum. This museum contains a decent collection of hieroglyph marked stelae, Egyptian statues,  a few mummies, and some bronze votives. Of these, the statues and busts were the most impressive, several good quality pieces as well as a few very interesting pieces that show the Romanization of Egyptian gods, such as the toga adorned Anubis. Of particular interest to me where the final rooms of the exhibit which were not Egyptian, but which contain tablets written in cuneiform, the oldest of all writing forms , and also Assyrian artwork.

Finally, were were done with the museum, and ready to head to the Vatican itself. So we exited by the famous double helix staircase, whose two spirals once allowed guests to both enter and exit this way, but now it is used only as an exit.

Vatican: Il Museo

After returning to Rome for the final time on our trip, we knew we had to get up pretty early to beat the lines to the Vatican Museum. By the time we arrived, there was already a significant line, and it took us some time after the museum opened to reach the doors. In the mean time, we were glad to have a bottle of water, and no small degree of patience. The wait was formed of a thick line of people who wound their way along the sidewalk around the outside of the walled Vatican City. Passing along the lines were vendors selling scarves and water, and even a few beggars. One particularly shaky elderly woman was so bent with osteoporosis that she walked completely bent over, pitching forward on her cane with every unsteady step. Her condition was thrown into doubt however, when she happened to turn her ragged shawl covered head and reveal a surprisingly young and healthy face.

Once at the gate, we purchased our tickets. The Vatican only accepts cash, despite theme park priced admission costs. Through the gate, We began our journey to the primary site. Down a gilded and painted hallway, we worked our way, shoulder to shoulder with a throng of people. Here and there, telescoping antennas, without there cars or radios, extended into the air, bearing scarves of every possible pattern and color, marking the pirates of these human seas: tour guides. Shouting above the din of shuffling feet and rustling clothes, they tried, seemingly in vain, to point out details in the artwork hanging here and there on the wall along the way, their languages nearly as varied as their scarves.

This hallway, filled to the absolute brim with people from the world over, was the Gallery of Maps. Every square inch of its surface decorated. All along its length were hung, not surprisingly, maps. Finally were poured out into the Raphael rooms. Here, you will find that many do not pause. Raphael seems like nothing, when there is Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel just ahead. But do not let your anxious interest hurry you here. There are four rooms painted by the artist and his school.

The first of these is the Room of Constantine, named for the first Christian Roman Emperor. While one wall is busy with scenes of war, the ceiling bears the simpler work of another author, Tommaso Laureti, and shows a statue of a Roman god, knocked from its pedestal and lying on the floor, replaced by a golden cross. The next room in the Room of Heliodorus, which depicts another scene of battle, as well as scenes with the namesake of the room, Saint Peter, Moses, Noah, and others. The Room of the Segnatura is a Hall of Fame of sorts. It is one of Raphael's most famous frescoes,

and certainly my favorite of the Raphael  rooms. The Disputation over the Most Holy Sacrament is a whose who of Christian figures, both from the Bible, and saints. On the wall opposite, School of Athens shows many great thinkers from Aristotle to Euclid, each with their own signs to help tell who they are, such as Ptolemy holding a globe. Among the other figures present on the other walls are popes and cardinals, with Dante and Virgil gazing down from the ceiling.






The fourth and final room is Room of the Fire in the Borgo, which depicts several historical events on its walls, including the namesake fire.

Finally, after somewhat more spacious time spent with Raphael, it is time to once again go shoulder to shoulder with the crowds to see the great Sistine Chapel. Here, no pictures are allowed. Here, talking is prohibited.

Here, it is hot, and crowded, the air pervaded by a general murmur from the people, occasionally overridden by a harsh sshhhh! from the security. People snap photos anyway. Protected by the masses. We did take one discreet, rather blurry picture, no flash. Above, is that classic scene, hand reaching for hand. But all around it, on every surface, as with all the other rooms so far, there too is work. But this room is impossibly large. This room is long and tall. The perspective is worthwhile, but without the ability to move about the room and examine it, it is not enough. If I were to visit again, I would wait for some weekday, some cold day, some rainy day. Some day where maybe I might have it more to myself.

To be continued Thursday.

Siena Duomo

The exterior of the Siena Duomo is a colorful collection of white, pink, and green marble, much like the Duomo in Florence, though this building is smaller. The facade is also heavily decorated with carved spires and arches, statues of man and beast, as well as being capped with a golden mosaic.

Upon entering through the wooden side doors, You eyes will be drawn briefly to the boldly stripped columns and vaulted ceiling, but if you visit during September, you eyes will mostly be inspecting the bared floor. Covered for most of the year in protection from trodding feet, the floor of the Sienna Duomo is covered with scenes done in marble inlay. It is difficult to believe that anyone once took the time to cut the various pieces of marble so finely that they fit together, puzzle like, on the floor to represent various biblical scenes. The works are fascinating in their level of detail, and contrasting colors.

Overhead, the vault looms, its height made higher by the optical illusion created by its painters, who covered the vault with rectangles which grow progressively smaller.

Also worth a visit is the attached Piccolomini Library. Notable for its frescoes and brilliant painted arching ceiling, it also displays a number of decorated choir books, and a roman statue of the Three Graces. The choir books bear words and notes shown large enough for the group to read together from a distance, and are heavily adorned not only with beautiful borders and neat calligraphy, but also with perfectly detailed palm sized ink drawings.

In fact, the entire church is wrought with so many different forms of art, all very heavily detailed and intriguing, making this one of Italy's many not to be missed attractions.

Firenze Fine

The Duomo of Florence, also known as the Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiori, dominates the center of it's Piazza half a kilometer north of the Arno River. This structure stands out for its size and colorful detail, its exterior a dazzling pattern of white, green, and pink marble. Among its most prominent features are its grand dome by Brunelleschi, its bell tower by Giotto, and the Baptistery, which bore the bronze caste doors known as "the Gates of Paradise" by Lorenzo Ghiberti. The doors currently in place are replicas, the originals undergoing restoration in the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The google maps street view provides an exceptional perspective on this church. In the early afternoon in mid September, we found the area surrounding the church to be pleasant and not too crowded. There was, however, an bit of a line to get inside, and since so much of the allure of this building is its exterior, we decided not to enter, but instead headed to one of the more peculiar museums in this city.

The Museo Di Storia Della Scienza houses a collection of scientific instruments and curiosities. The rooms contains ancient astrolabes and sundials, as well as levels and surveyor's instruments. The museum houses an early mechanical calculator, prisms, globes, microscopes, and an interesting collection of optical illusion toys. There are a variety of weather instruments, such as early thermometers and barometers. There is an entire room dedicated to clocks; early electrical machines and experimental contraptions make up another. Still other rooms stock devices used to demonstrate pneumatics, hydraulics, and other experiments or demonstrations of physics. Among the most disturbing collections are the surgery and obstetrics items, which display not only tools used to perform early medicine, which may include "skull and eye surgery; obstetrics and gynecology; lithotomy; amputation; removal and incision", but also the walls are lined with wax models on infants in the womb, many demonstrating all that can go wrong in childbirth with the clarity of a full color cutaway. The collection concludes with items related to pharmacy, chemistry, and measuring. But perhaps all of this, even as interesting as it was, would not have been enough to draw us to the museum. It was, in fact the rooms dedicated to astronomy that were of supreme interest.

There is a later room dedicated to more developed telescopes, but rooms IV and V hold the real treasures. These rooms house possessions and creations of Galileo. Among the collection of smaller items are the very lens through which he first saw the moons of Jupiter, and his very own middle finger. They also have the only two telescopes made by him still in existence today. It is accepted, though generally not well known, that Galileo did not in fact invent the telescope, but what he saw when he used them to look at the moon, the planets, and the sun, he used as evidence for the Copernican model of a sun centered universe.

Unsatisfied with merely the finger of the man, we headed over to the Basilica di Santa Croce, his final resting place, as well as that of several other world famous Italians. From the front, the Basilica's exterior matches that of the Duomo, but the sides are more plain. Within the walls of the church, despite the art and decorations, it is the many tombs, many laid into the very floor of the church, that attract attention. It is here that Florence built its empty tomb for Dante, who remains in Ravenna. Here also lies the body of Niccolò Machiavelli, author of the Prince and the Art of War. As I have said, here also lies Galileo, and finally Michelangelo Buonarroti, perhaps the most famous sculptor and painter in the world, has found his final rest here as well.

Statue at the Basilica

Niccolò Machiavelli

Dante's Memorial

Galileo

Michelangelo