On our fourth day in Rome, we had the perfect recipe for going to the Vatican: 1) weekday, so the Romans were at work; 2) light overcast and rain, so the tourists were light; and 3) time to devote to it.
If you're going to see the Sistine Chapel, you're going to stand in line. A long line. You pay to see the Chapel, you don't pay to see St. Peter's Square or the Basilica. We tried to time it so that we'd be at the Sistine Chapel and in line when they opened up at 9:00 am. I think we might have missed that by a little, but not much. The crowds are frustrating and it's not really well controlled or guided like most public places. Compared to the crowd control at the Louvre, it was a riot.
We bought our tickets, fought our way past the crowds of tourists and tour buses full of students, and entered the residence. There was loads to see, all the walls full of art and decorated like a palace. Once you get inside the chapel, there is no talking (the guards shout 'silence' every three minutes) and no flash photography. In the peak season, I'm told there is a conveyor belt that carry the tourists through so you only get a couple of minutes to take it all in. During the month of March, there are less people. We were able to sit down, look our fill, then move to the other side and take it all in.
The frescoes in this room were done by the dream team of artists. What I never knew was that the chapel ceiling, Michaelangelo's work, was his first ever painting. He was, first and foremost, a sculptor. There was a statue that he really wanted the commission for and he was told that it would be given to the man who painted the ceiling too. They really wanted him to paint that. So he took the job so he could sculpt the statue.
It's really amazing to sit and see the artwork. I was quite taken by the decoration on the walls that is covered up by the famous Raphael tapestries. They've done a faux wall hanging that alternates color and pattern but is similar on all four walls. It is my favorite part of the whole place. It looks like real fabric. There is a sheen and as you move toward it, it moves in the light. Like real fabric folds. Gorgeous. I would have taken a picture, but I'm sure one of those rude guards would have tackled me.
I was told that the chapel was closed intermittently because of the restoration process that took fourteen years. I'm glad I got to see the colors vibrantly restored. It is a stunning work of art. It's almost too much to take in. If this art was created for the glory of God, then they all succeeded. It's just that impressive.
We went from the chapel to the square. Here's where I get to say it: Bernini was a genius. Really. If you look at maps or large scale pictures of St. Peter's Square, you see the arched colonades that encircle the square. All throughout the large area, you see these columns, four deep, holding up the roof. But in the center of the square, there is a small disc set in the stone that you can stand on. When you look around, the columns are so perfectly lined up, it looks like a single column holding up the roof. Visually stunning. Almost feels like an optical illusion.
This is me standing on the disc and shooting a panorama video around half the square, showing the columns lined up perfectly.
If you're going to see the Sistine Chapel, you're going to stand in line. A long line. You pay to see the Chapel, you don't pay to see St. Peter's Square or the Basilica. We tried to time it so that we'd be at the Sistine Chapel and in line when they opened up at 9:00 am. I think we might have missed that by a little, but not much. The crowds are frustrating and it's not really well controlled or guided like most public places. Compared to the crowd control at the Louvre, it was a riot.
We bought our tickets, fought our way past the crowds of tourists and tour buses full of students, and entered the residence. There was loads to see, all the walls full of art and decorated like a palace. Once you get inside the chapel, there is no talking (the guards shout 'silence' every three minutes) and no flash photography. In the peak season, I'm told there is a conveyor belt that carry the tourists through so you only get a couple of minutes to take it all in. During the month of March, there are less people. We were able to sit down, look our fill, then move to the other side and take it all in.
The frescoes in this room were done by the dream team of artists. What I never knew was that the chapel ceiling, Michaelangelo's work, was his first ever painting. He was, first and foremost, a sculptor. There was a statue that he really wanted the commission for and he was told that it would be given to the man who painted the ceiling too. They really wanted him to paint that. So he took the job so he could sculpt the statue.
It's really amazing to sit and see the artwork. I was quite taken by the decoration on the walls that is covered up by the famous Raphael tapestries. They've done a faux wall hanging that alternates color and pattern but is similar on all four walls. It is my favorite part of the whole place. It looks like real fabric. There is a sheen and as you move toward it, it moves in the light. Like real fabric folds. Gorgeous. I would have taken a picture, but I'm sure one of those rude guards would have tackled me.
I was told that the chapel was closed intermittently because of the restoration process that took fourteen years. I'm glad I got to see the colors vibrantly restored. It is a stunning work of art. It's almost too much to take in. If this art was created for the glory of God, then they all succeeded. It's just that impressive.
We went from the chapel to the square. Here's where I get to say it: Bernini was a genius. Really. If you look at maps or large scale pictures of St. Peter's Square, you see the arched colonades that encircle the square. All throughout the large area, you see these columns, four deep, holding up the roof. But in the center of the square, there is a small disc set in the stone that you can stand on. When you look around, the columns are so perfectly lined up, it looks like a single column holding up the roof. Visually stunning. Almost feels like an optical illusion.
This is me standing on the disc and shooting a panorama video around half the square, showing the columns lined up perfectly.
Then I moved to the left about 10 yards and did the same thing. You can see what it looks like (sort of) with the multiple columns shadowed and filling the voids.
I know my crummy little videos don't do the effect justice. I just wish I could convey how cool it is. Plus, it was done so long ago... and it's perfect, absolutely perfecto.
We hopped aboard one of the 'jump on, jump off' tour buses. At this point, I think you'll agree that we've walked our feet off. We wanted to see some sights that were a little further out, so we climbed aboard and rode uptown.
We got off the Rome Open Tour at Piazza Barberini and went to Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini to see the Capuchin Crypt. The story goes that when the monks were being forced out of their monastery, they refused to leave behind the bones of their brother monks. One of them was in the process of being canonized, and his bones would become holy relics. But they couldn't tell which set of bones was his, so they insisted on bringing them all. When they got to their new home and began to create graves, they quickly ran out of room. So, some forward thinking Capuchin monk suggested making an artistic display out of the bones.
Under and beside the church is a small hallway with separate vestibules, each of which houses a display that includes some full skeletons dressed in monk's robes, and bits and pieces of skeletons nailed up all over the walls and ceiling in shapes, displays and artistic renderings. Imagine if you will, a cherub made up of a human skull with scapula layered into 'wings' behind the head. It's just gruesome. They don't allow photography, but the wikipedia page has some good photos to see just what I'm talking about. If you are dragging a teenager through Rome, this is one stop you can't miss.
Then we went to the Italian Resistance Museum on Via Tasso. This museum comprises a couple floors in an apartment house that was once used as a prison for captured men. Several of the 'cells' which were converted rooms in the house, have carved inscriptions that prisoners left behind as messages. There is a collection of ephemera which includes a lot of Nazi documentation. The persecution of the Jews and deportation of tens of thousands of Italians is documented. It's a low budget place. All the signage is in Italian so take a native speaker if you plan to go.
Resistance fighters placed a IED at a corner known to be frequented by Nazi troops marching by. They detonated the explosive and 31 Nazi soldiers were killed. Hitler called for retaliation and demanded that 310 Italians be killed as a show of force. The troops emptied out the prison in this house, rounded up all the known suspects but could only come up with 150 men. When they asked if this might be enough, Hitler went nuts. He demanded 310 men be rounded up and killed. the Nazis started knocking on doors and dragging men out into the streets until they had 310. They were transported up to a cave and shot. The Ardeatine Massacre site is a national park and a cemetery to the fallen.
That evening, we went across town to the Via Rasella and the site of the resistance attack against the Nazi soldiers. The buildings are still intact and show the bullet holes from that time. They've never been patched or painted, but are preserved in memory of the Italian fallen.
We ate dinner that night across the street from this site. The Hostaria Romana was a delightful restaurant. The food and wine were superlative. And, of course, the company was stellar.
-- Sandee Wagner
2 comments:
Delicious Italian Panettone Sweet Bread Loaf.
If you like what we refer to over here in the UK as fruitcake, then you simply must try the Italian version – you simply must get your teeth into Panettone. In fact, Panettone creates a link of sorts between a tradition we have, here in Britain, and a tradition that exists in Italy. Just as we like to have a fruit-based sweet on Christmas day, the famed, flamed and somewhat boozy Christmas pudding (also called fig pudding, or plum duff), it is Christmas and New Year tradition in Italy to eat Panettone.
One key difference is that whilst Christmas pudding is made using a high concentration of dried fruit, in the form of mincemeat, Panettone is made using a comparably modest quantity of dried fruit. Typically, Christmas pudding contains five times as much fruit as Panettone. Panettone originates from Milan, which is Italy’s second-largest city (behind Rome), and situated in the northern region of Lombardy.
Panettone is most often made in a dome-shaped container, referred to in Italian as a cupola; however, the Italian tradition is not overly rigorous surrounding the shape of Panettone, and so therefore it is not uncommon to see the bread fashioned into various geometric shapes. There is also a considerable amount of leeway when it comes to the ingredients that are incorporated into a Panettone, as well as those used to complement its consumption.
It can be made using the addition of chocolate, for instance, either plain or milk, and is as often eaten along with sweet and warm non-alcoholic beverages, as it is alongside chilled alcoholic drinks such as Asti Spumante. In some parts of Italy Panettone is accompanied by mascarpone cheese, or, as an alternative, zabaione, which is itself a type of desert, not dissimilar to custard.
Panettone is an extremely light bread, and its consistency is achieved through a process whereby the dough is risen three times, which is also the reason as to why the bread takes on a tall, domed, or ‘cupola’ appearance. The whole production process of Panettone is labour-intensive, and occurs over a number of days, during which the bread is cured. The fact that Panettone takes time and dedication to produce has led to there being a considerable amount of variance and secrecy between different bakeries, who all feel that their own particular dough, however infinitesimally different from that of another bakery, is the best.
The origins of Panettone can be traced back to the early nineteen-hundreds. Two specific bakers, based in the Milanese area, started making Panettone in large quantities. It was one of these two bakers, named Angelo Motta, who developed the unique triple-rise process of making the bread. It wasn’t long before one Gioacchino Alemagna caught wind of this new technique Motta was using, and he ‘borrowed’ it, before working on his own alterations to produce a different yet similar bread. Both Motta and Alemagna brand Panettone can be purchased to this day, and it is ironic, given the competition between the two bakers, that both brands are owned by one single company called Bauli, who bought the companies from Nestlé, several years ago.
You sure seem passionate about your breads. Quite a comment, really.
Only one time did I try Panettone and it was pretty disappointing. I saw Rachel Ray making one into a sweet French toast for breakfast on a holiday show, so I wanted to try that.
I opened the cone shaped box and it was about a tenth of the volume of the packaging. I felt ripped off. spw
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