Back to Rome and Musei Vaticani

After short time in Venice I returned to Rome. Roma, Caput mundi ("capital of the world"), la Città Eterna ("the Eternal City"), Limen Apostolorum ("threshold of the Apostles"), la città dei sette colli ("the city of the seven hills") or simply l'Urbe ("the City"), is thoroughly modern and cosmopolitan. As one of the few major European cities that escaped World War II relatively unscathed, central Rome remains essentially Renaissance and Baroque in character.
Well, that's the word from wikipedia. "The City" title has arguably been taken over by New York City, but Rome retains and remains "eternal". Rome has been an important ancient city, renaissance city, baroque city, early Christian city, cinema city and fascist city. And each of these cities is still visible in some form or another, making it a place that you could never know in a lifetime. This makes it a wonderous, if not daunting place to call home for 6 weeks.

Rome is Roma, which backwards is amor, which in latin is Love (thanks to Dr. Reuter for that bit of trivia). I do love Roma, and I'm not referring to the football/soccer team. However, I do think AS Roma's colours and logo are smashing!

From another point of view, Rome is a bit like an grandiose Italian wedding cake: It has many layers, is full of symbolism, and often has a water feature. This cake's waterfalls reference the wonder of the ancient Roman aqua ducts; the pillars embody the power of Caesars Forum; and the flowery icing mimics the intricately carved marble details adorning the city's many Baroque churches. FYI, the monument to Vittorio Emanuelle II, built to commemorate the first King of unified Italy is sometimes called "the wedding cake". No picture of it right now, as it is under renovations and surrounded by another famous Italian contribution to world culture: scaffolding!



My first destination when I got back to Rome was the Vatican Museums and their stunning art collection that spans the eras of ancient and modern art (there is actually one of Francis Bacon's Popes hanging here!) This is good place to immerse oneself in the symbolism, blood and gore of christian/catholic art. Long before Sam Peckinpaw and Quentin Tarinto saw the light of day, the catholic church was in the business of creating spectacular images of violence. To their credit, these artworks replaced the pre-Holy Roman Empire's live public gore-fests of gladiator fights and animal sacrifices. These artworks are often compelling and beautiful; and since Christianity is still the world's largest religion, it is clear they make for highly effective propaganda tools, too.




Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke

We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,

gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast's fur:

would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.

Translated by Stephen Mitchell



This may not be the specific torso he was writing about, but it's the one I think about. Rilke was probably referring to the Apollo torso in the Louvre, since he lived in Paris. However, I am sure that this is the torso that Michelangelo admired so much, and that had great influence on Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque sculpture. This statue was discovered in the Campo de' Fiori, in Rome during the period of Pope Julius II (pope 1503-1513). It was once believed to be a 1st century BC original, but is now believed to be a copy of an older statue, likely dating to the 2nd century BC. Thanks to A. G. Darby for introducing me to this poem so many years ago.

Rainer Maria Rilke was born in Prague in 1875. He resided throughout Europe during his lifetime, including a 12-year residency is Paris, where he befriended and worked for the famed sculptor Auguste Rodin.

On the way out of the Vatican Museums you exit via a huge double helix staircase.
Symbolic? Was the designer 'taking the piss out' of his patrons with the DNA shaped structure, or is it just an intelligent design to get people out of the building efficiently?