Up on the Capitoline Hill is the piazza designed by Michelangelo framed on two sides by the buildings of the Capitoline Museum and on the third by the seat of government for the city of Rome. To get to the piazza you must climb a set of marble stairs. At the foot of the stairs is a fountain in the shape of a sphinx, that would normally be jetting its water into the urn in front of it. The day I was there, it was windy and rainy, and the water jet was spraying off to the side and missing the urn.
Fountain in the Wind, Capitoline HIll
At the top of the steps, a pair of giant equestrian statues flank the staircase. These are, I believe, original Roman pieces on pedestals from the Renaissance. Certainly the style of carving and the general weathering and condition suggest an origin in antiquity.
Equestrian Statue, Capitoline Hill
In the center of the piazza is a Renaissance copy of a famous bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. The original is inside the Capitoline Museum. Passing between the City Hall and the Museum, you can descend the back side of the Capitoline Hill toward the Forum. Looking between the two buildings you can see the third-story bridge that connects them, and bears a resemblance to the Bridge of Sighs in Venice (although to the best of my knowlege the similarity is coincidental).
Bridge to City Hall, Capitoline Hill
As frustrating as it can be at times to be out photographing in the rain, it’s also kind of fun- it’s a very different atmosphere, and things look quite different than they do when it’s bright and sunny. Umbrellas create their own kind of patterns. People dress differently and move differently. You can really create contrast through use of color instead of having to have strong directional light.
These sculptural fragments are part of the Capitoline Museum’s collection. The Capitoline Museum in Rome is famous, rightfully so, for its ancient Roman sculpture. Even in the entrance courtyard there are magnificent fragments of colossal statues. A row of funerary monuments lines the opposite side of the courtyard. The torso fragment sits on a pedestal under the eaves of the building. The collection is so large they had to take over a former power generating station along the Tiber to serve as an annex (the one I miscalculated the operating hours and didn’t get to go inside).
Emperor’s HeadTorso FragmentColossal Hand
To give you an idea of the scale of these pieces, particularly the head and hand, the head is larger than the torso (which is not from the same sculpture). The head is probably 6 feet high. The hand is probably four feet from wrist to fingertip.
I went to the Forum on a bright and sunny day, thinking I would pass the time until I could get in the Colosseum. Little did I realize that the two-plus hour delay on entering the colosseum was for timed entry tickets, not general admission, even with my Roma Pass, and I would still have to wait in line for two hours to get in. It all worked out in the end – I enjoyed the Forum and wandered the periphery of the Colosseum and got some good shots of the exterior, and took a pass on going inside. Now that I know better I’ll go back the next time and get timed-entry tickets or book a tour in advance. Do NOT get suckered in by the tour guides touting skip-the-line access on the plaza around the Colosseum – the guides who give the tours are of questionable expertise and foreign language skill, so about the only plus you’ll get from going in with them is skipping the line.
This column is one of the few remaining columns of a loggia across from the Basilica Julia.
Solitary Column, Imperial Forum
The temple of Vesta is a small circular structure, with a few columns and a fragment of a wall jutting up. This would have housed a flame kept burning by the Vestal virgins, women who pledged celibacy for some thirty years of service. They would have been too old to marry or have children by their retirement, but if they were able to wait that long, they were richly rewarded and retired to lives of considerable luxury and comfort. If they couldn’t wait, well… they and their defilers were sentenced to death.
The Temple of Vesta
I caught this school group in the Forum, one student presenting a topic about the place to his fellow students. I suspect it was a project for a history course. Made me wish I had gone to school somewhere in Europe that we would have taken field trips to the Forum, instead of to the American History museum to look at displays of Revolutionary War muskets.
A School Group at the Forum
Two of the major surviving structures of the Forum are visible in this view – the Temple of Romulus (now part of the Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damiano) and the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. The temple of Romulus is the cylindrical structure in the foreground. Because of its early re-use as a Christian church, the temple of Romulus is, after the Pantheon, the best preserved Roman temple in the city. The Roman Senate structure is also quite well preserved, and the main Senate chamber retains is marble steps and the black marble slab that supposedly marks the tomb of Romulus.
Temple of Antoninus and Faustina and the Temple of Romulus
A striking rarity are the doors of the temple of Romulus – they are the ORIGINAL bronze doors, over 2000 years old. Many other temple doors have been either removed and melted down for re-use or, as in the case of the doors of the Senate building, moved by Bernini to Saint John Lateran. You can really feel the patina of the ages when looking at these doors.
Ancient Bronze Door, Temple of Romulus
The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was originally built in honor of Faustina, the wife of Emperor Antoninus. She was deified upon her death, and Antoninus had the temple erected in her memory. When he passed away, he too was deified and added to the temple’s namesakes. The colonnade survives in its current state of preservation due to the later conversion of the structure into a Christian church. You can see the former entrance to the church a whole story above the top of the steps – at the time of the conversion, the Forum had infilled to the level of the door.The columns also owe their survival to this infilling – you can see the diagonal gouges in the columns from where ropes or chains were wrapped around them in an attempt to pull them down. This may have been because of an anti-Pagan movement during the early Church, or it may have been by marble scavengers trying to get the columns for their stone.
Temple of Antoninus and FaustinaColumns and steps, Temple of Antinous and FaustinaTemple of Antoninus and Faustina
Most of the temples of the Forum are ruins – a few scant columns remain of them, or in some cases only foundations. The temple of Castor and Pollux is one survivor with a few columns to mark its location. Their losses are due to various anti-Pagan movements and repeated use of the Forum as a low-effort quarry for marble to be used in the palaces of popes and cardinals.
The Temple of Castor and Pollux
The original altar from the spring of Juturna was on display inside the temple of Romulus as part of a temporary exhibition when I was there. This side depicts the twins Castor and Pollux, who supposedly visited the spring to water their horses. The temple of Castor and Pollux is directly across from the spring. They have a replica in place at the spring itself.
The Altar of Castor and Pollux from the Lacus JuturnaeSpring of Juturna, Roman Forum
This is somewhat of a recap of some earlier images, but they’ve been a running theme in my Italian work so I thought I’d pull together a collection of my photos of fountains from Rome and Florence.
Fountain Detail, Palazzo BarberiniFountain, Capitoline Steps, In the Wind and RainCannonball FountainTriton Fountain, Piazza BarberiniFountain, Palazzo PittiFacade, Villa BarberiniFigure, Neptune Fountain, Piazza della SignoriaFountain, Temple of HerculesSPQR Fountain, Centrale MontemartiniFountainhead, Palazzo PittiPinecone Fountain,Piazza Venezia, RomeAcqua Potabile, Castel Sant’Angelo, RomeWater Fountain, Trastevere, RomePapal Tiara and Keys Fountain, VaticanFountain, PantheonFountain, Villa Borghese, RomeFountain, Villa Borghese Park, RomeFountain, Palazzo BarberiniDrinking Fountain, Ponte Vecchio, FlorenceDrinking Fountain, Castel Sant’Angelo, RomeCellini Fountain, Ponte Vecchio, FlorenceTrumpeting Merman, Fountain, Piazza NavonaHorse, Four Rivers Fountain, Piazza NavonaRiver God, Four Rivers Fountain, Piazza NavonaAncient Fountain, ColosseumLion Head Fountain, San Lorenzo, FlorencePinecone Fountain, Piazza Venezia
These two pieces are quite moody, and that somber undertone of them inspired me. From their weathered appearance to the various forms of damage they’ve taken over the centuries, they act as a kind of memento mori to remind us that even art in marble will eventually die.
I’ve joked to friends that this one is proof that there were zombies in ancient Rome – but in fact the damage to the face is probably caused by relatively contemporary rivals seeking to damage the visage of a now-dead adversary, or inadvertent blows from overzealous Renaissance-era treasure hunters or clumsy builders trying to clear debris in preparation for fortifying the former Imperial tomb.
Roman Bust
This one has suffered different indignities – while his visage remains relatively intact, at some point his head was separated from his shoulders, and later re-attached.
Bearded Bust
Just for the record, to the best of my knowledge there were no zombies running around ancient Rome.
The title of this post is in reference to the statuary of animals both fantastic and natural found on the grounds of the Villa Borghese and its garden park in Rome.
Scipione Borghese was the Cardinal Nephew of Pope Paul V. The Cardinal Nephew (Cardinal Nepotente in Italian, from which the term nepotism is derived) was an official position and title in the church until 1692. In addition to the familial tie it implies, the position brought with it immense opportunities for wealth and power. Scipione Borghese took full advantage of these opportunities, at one point being one of the largest landowners in central Italy. He was a lover of art, and had a passion for gardening, creating famous gardens at both the Palazzo Borghese and the much larger private park of the Villa Borghese. The gardens consist of 148 acres of naturalistic parkland landscaped in the English fashion.
The Villa Borghese itself sits on the edge of the park, and houses the Galleria Borghese, an art museum focused around the collection amassed by Scipione Borghese. The art includes paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, and Raphael, ancient Roman sculpture, and contemporary work by Bernini. The museum operates by timed, limited entry tickets, so unlike some of the larger, more popular museums (think Vatican Museum or the Louvre in Paris), the experience is never crushing as only a fixed number of people are in the museum at any time. You can always see the art without jostling or rushing. The park, on the other hand, is open to the public free of charge. It provides an oasis of greenery and openness amidst the chaos and compactness bordering on claustrophobia that is the city of Rome.
The plaza in front of the Villa is decorated by statuary, fountains, and an Egyptian obelisk or two. On the wall that demarcates the boundary between the plaza and the park, pedestals to support decorative urns are carved with dragons and eagles, elements from the Borghese family coat of arms. The eagles and dragons here are from the pedestals.
Eagle, Villa BorgheseDragon, Profile, Villa BorgheseDragon and Eagle, Villa BorgheseDragon, Villa BorgheseSnarling Dragon, Villa Borghese
The lion devouring the stag is from an ancient Roman marble vessel on the side terrace of the Villa Borghese.
Lion and Stag, Villa Borghese
The bull’s head is from one of a pair of cornucopia/planters adorning the front steps to the Villa Borghese.
Bulls Head, Profile, Villa BorgheseMarble Bulls Head, Villa Borghese
For the photo geeks in the house, these were all shot with my Tele-Rolleiflex, many using the 0.35 Rolleinar close-up filter. The 0.35 Rolleinar helps bring the minimum focus down from 8 feet to a much more manageable 4-ish.
Here are a few more individual photos of the Palazzo Pitti.
The first one is another version of the rear view of the Palazzo, from the Boboli Gardens. There’s a vast difference in quality between this one and the one I took with the Belair X6-12. The Belair has its charms, but I still prefer the sharpness and contrast of the Rollei version.
Fountain, Palazzo Pitti
Here is the panoramic version from the Belair for direct comparison.
Pitti Palace, from the Boboli Gardens
Out front of the palace there are these massive granite bollards, carved with the Medici coat of arms. While they’re kinda-sorta the equivalent of a traffic cone, they don’t really qualify for my “portraits of ordinary objects” series, do you think?
Granite Bollard, Medici Coat of Arms, Palazzo Pitti
A marble bust of a man in a stylized Greek helmet. This would be a 16th or 17th century piece, so the ancient Greek style helmet would have been done to make him appear heroic and classical, an idealized noble warrior type.
A view of the courtyard in the Medici-Riccardi Palace in Florence. The courtyard was designed by Michelozzo the 15th century artist and architect for Cosimo the Elder, and is the first Renaissance building in Florence. Originally there was a street-side loggia that was later filled in, and two “kneeling” windows were added according to designs by Michelangelo.
Courtyard, Medici-Riccardi Palace
The statue in the courtyard is Orpheus, by the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. This palace was the primary residence not only of Cosimo the Elder but Lorenzo Il Magnifico. When you tour the palace you can even visit one of the bedrooms although it is furnished in 17th century style.
This lion’s head and the Medici coat of arms (six gold balls) adorn the pedestal to a statue in the courtyard of the Medici-Riccardi palace in Florence. I’m very glad that day was gray and overcast or this would have been too contrasty to photograph- the left half of the pedestal would have been deep inky black and utterly devoid of detail.
dcphotoartist 