Reflection 2

My favorite thing we saw today was the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. Even after watching the movie about Michelangelo's experience painting the ceiling, I did not expect it to be so breathtaking. My first impression was that I did not realize it would appear so 3D. The image of Jonah with the whale seemed to be actually falling out of the picture. Professor White had said that he was supposed to look like he was about to fall onto the alter, but I thought the fresco would just be above the alter. All throughout the ceiling there were images of angels hanging onto pillars, which truly looked like they were three dimensional. That is the part that surprised me the most. 

It was very helpful to be able to stop outside with the pictures, and have Professor White explain some of the images we were going to see inside. For example, I had not realized that there was a progression from one end to the other, showing the creation and fall of man. Seeing the images of God creating Adam and Eve and then watching them sin was much more understandable after getting the explanation. Additionally, I learned that there were many pagan oracles interspersed in the frescos, which demonstrated the shift during the Reniasance back to the art of antiquity. The idea was that God gave them their abilities, but they did not yet understand it to be the Christian God. Finally, I thought it was meaningful that Eve is a representation of the church. Professor White said that Eve being created from Adam's rib was purposefully in the center of the ceiling, because it signified the church being born out of Christ. It seems weird that they would have the original sinner equated with the church, but maybe that is connected with the idea that Jesus had to die for everyone's sins. Overall, the imagery we saw in the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking, and I'm glad I got to experience that on this trip. 

Pompeii Photo Dump

Thursday was our first oft so free days, so a group of us decided to travel to Naples and Pompeii to see the ruins. There, some of my friends were set on going to the top of Mt. Vesuvius, which had never crossed my mind. However, I decided to join them, and it was an awe inspiring experience. We took a taxi most of the way up then climbed for about half an hour. Then we spent some time wandering around (and getting lost in) Pompeii. I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures below, since it wasn't technically a class day. 

Emo train pic

Halfway up!

We were on top of the clouds

Everyone else looks nice at least

Inside the ruins, in an amphitheater 

Casts of the body cavities found in the hardened ash

Even though we were rushing to see everything before dark, the ruins were beautiful in the sunset

Cast of a dog

The way they were covering their faces freaked me out the most

Ancient temple with an airplane and the moon

Reflection 1

Today's visit to St. Peter's Basilica was very informative, because we were able to go more in depth about various aspects of the design and artwork. My favorite part was Michelangelo's statue, Pieta, which is just inside the Basilica. I thought it was amazing how he knew he had to portray mercy while using the hard marble, since this is a scene of Mary mourning Jesus' death. She looks as if she is accepting of his death, seeing it as God's will. Jesus also looks calm, which is different from many of the violent portrayals of the crucifixion from earlier periods. This is not an image of two people suffering. Instead, it is an acceptance of fate, and peacefulness in a time of hardship. This statue was originally in Constantine's Basilica, and was moved to the new one after its completion. I think it is a shame that people tried to ruin part of it, which is the reason it's behind glass now. Beauty should be appreciated and not hidden away. 

This statue relates to what we learned in class before coming to Rome, because it shows a shift towards portraying humans realistically (even though Mary is very disproportionate) and away from showing all of the bloody wounds of Jesus' dead body. Medieval art was all very focused on the graphic portrayal of Jesus' wounds and pain. They wanted to imitate Jesus' life, and part of that life was suffering in the name of God. This is also when the Stations of the Cross became popular (page 266). Additionally, the textbook points out that the art of the Renaissance period was more focused on humans and classical forms (page 314). I'm excited to compare the talent of Michelangelo at this young age (he was only 24 when he finished this statue) to the work he did in the Sistine Chapel (about 13 years later) when we go visit it tomorrow. 

Michelangelo's Pieta

What's a god to a nonbeliever?

Based off the Kanye quote in the title, I'm going to add a sort of atheist reflection at the end of this post. But first let's jump right in to today's visits. 

The first church we went to was the church of St. Clemente. In the style of Rome, the current church is built over a fourth century church, which was built over a first century neighborhood. The reason the church is in its location is that it is believed that St. Clemente once ran a house church in that neighborhood. The old neighborhood was recently excavated, so we got to go down there and walk around. One thing that confused me is that the dimensions of the rooms were not what they were in the first century. The archeologists built brick walls to keep the churches supported while they were digging, so that was much of what we saw. Professor White showed us the distinctive tiling that meant it was an original wall, but it was still harder to picture what life would have really been like. 

Next we went up into the fourth century church. It was interesting to learn that they had to fill in most of the archways to provide support after a massive earthquake. They then painted the walls with murals depicting events after the martyrdom of St. Clemente, which have survived to the present. 

In the actual church, I learned that a bishop named Mercury was the first man to change his name when he became pope (to John). He did that because Mercury was a pagan god, and it would not be okay for the pope to have that name. 

The outside of St. Clemente Church

The second church we went to was SS Quatro Coronati. This church was interesting because there was a community of cloistered nuns living in the connecting building. We got to see the grate they had to interact to people through, and the turnstile where they received things from the outside world. The artwork inside was really beautiful, and it was nice to sit in silence for a few minutes and gaze upon the paintings and statues. 

Exterior shot of SS Quatro Coronati

The Apse of SS Quatro Coronati

After this tour, I went with some friends to the Spanish Steps. I hadn't heard of them before this trip, but everyone said we had to go see them. Honestly they were a little underwhelming, but it was such a nice day that it didn't really matter. Here's a nice selfie in which I tried to face the sun AND keep my eyes open. 

A clear fail. 

There was a well dressed couple having a photoshoot on the steps which was fun to see. Maybe we'll see them in a magazine ad in the next few months!

And finally, the view from the bottom of the steps:

After the steps, we wandered around the area, because it was filled with high end shops (Chanel, Prada, Hugo Boss etc.). My favorite thing was that we found this gelato in one of the cafés:

The lady behind the counter assured us it was a joke.... 

Other than that we've just had more class, went to grab dinner, and have been blogging. I got to FaceTime with Jeff which was nice. Maybe he'll actually read this blog and see this shout out (I think that makes this a test).

After I posted on Facebook about seeing the Pope mosaic, someone commented and said "I thought you were an atheist?" I don't really think that matters for this context. Even though I'm not British, I would love to see the Queen of England. In the same vein, I'm not Catholic, but I'm super excited to see the Pope. Not only is he a major world leader, but he is a super good Pope for the times. The church (in my opinion) needed someone to turn back to the biblical roots of helping the poor, turning away from wealth, and accepting everyone for who they are. He even likes the atheists! (Even though I've read recently that the quote where he said atheists can go to heaven if they're good people was mistranslated.) Additionally, as a history major, I learn a lot about religion. The two have been interlinked for the last two thousand years, so it would be silly to not want to learn about Catholicism but still try to study history. Finally, I have no problem educating myself on the things I claim to reject. I've actually found more reasons to affirm my atheism during this course than reasons to convert. Hopefully this trip will give me a greater ability to express my own beliefs, which is always a beneficial tool. 

Ok rant over. Time for bed, because we're getting up early to visit Pompeii on our day off tomorrow! Goodnight!!

History, History, History

So not only do I have two days worth of activities to blog about, but they were two of the coolest days ever. On Monday morning, we went to the Vatican to tour the necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica. The land was initially a burial place for the pagan citizens of Rome. When Constantine converted to Catholicism in the fourth century, he wanted to build a church over that spot, because St. Peter was buried there after he was crucified. Then, the current Basilica was built over the old one in the sixteenth century. When Pope Pius XII died he wanted to be buried as close to Peter as possible, and so they began excavating under the Basilica. They found all of the mausoleums and decorations from the first century and then dug most of it out. We got to go down on a tour and it was seriously one of the most interesting things I've ever seen. 

We weren't allowed to take pictures, so this is part of the Vatican from where we were waiting for the tour. But we were able to see the mausoleums that housed the tombs and some original frescos. We learned that there was some overlap between pagan families and Christian families, and you could tell by the symbols used on the tombs. My favorite fun fact was that sometimes, when a family member would die, they would dump the bones from a previous burial into a fancy box, and put the newly deceased into the old tomb. This made it easier and cheaper to bury family members. 

Next we went into the actual Basilica. We are going back a different day so I didn't take too many pictures or anything. But I did find the tomb of John Paul II which was really cool. 

After the Basilica a group of us went to Palatine hill and the forum. This is what I was most excited about. I read a book called Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran that mostly takes place on Palatine. We got to see the ruins of the palaces of Ceasars and the old market area. I couldn't pick just one picture so I'll put a bunch below. It was so surreal to walk along these ruins and picture what things were like two thousand years ago. Essentially: 10/10 would recommend. 

After the Palatine we had a few hours of class, then took a quick nap. Then my friends and I went out to an Irish bar for a quick drink. There was live music, cheap drinks, and we were home by 12. All in all it was a great day. 

Today we woke up early (again) to do some church tours. Professor White was our guide again, which was good because he knows a lot about everything. The first church we went to was St. Maria Maggiore. One of the four major churches of Rome, it was built in the 440's. The inside was original from the fifth century, but the outside has been added to so much that you can no longer see the facade. An interesting fact is that the early church leaders didn't know how to build a church so they modeled it after the pagan structures. We were able to see many of the similarities inside, like the lack of pews and the long rectangular rooms. 

The second and third churches were dedicated to two sisters from the Bible. They were daughters of the first upper class man of Rome to convert to Christianity. They both risked their lives to help persecuted members of Christianity during Nero's reign, and would bury the martyrs that were left to rot. They were later martyred themselves. There was a lot of fascinating symbolism in the art from the Book of Revelations and other books of the Bible. 

I asked Professor White whether any of the major churches had been damaged in warfare. He said that many of them were attacked in the early modern era. However, during World War Two the allies and the axis both agreed to avoid Rome and the Vatican. I thought this made sense, since many of these leaders were Catholic or Christian and might fear retribution in the afterlife. 

Interior of St. Prassede

Apparently the post Jesus was flagellated on

Exterior of St. Prudenziana

Between the church tours and our next event, a few of us went wandering. We found a street market (bought a cute scarf) and a delicious restaurant (bought the salad my poor carbed-out body needed). Then we had to head back to Vatican City for a tour of the mosaic studio. 

Another view of the Frum from our walk this afternoon. I seriously can't get enough. 

Our tour was arranged through an alumni of DePaul who now works for the Vatican. The area is closed to the public, but we got the full access. First we went into a gallery of some of the pieces they've done, and pictures of the Pope presenting the mosaics to various foreign leaders. Here is one mosaic done in tiny pieces (fingers for scale):

Then we went into the studio where they're currently working on mosaics. The highlight of that (and the day) was that we got to see the official mosaic being made of Pope Francis. There is a church called St. Paul Outside the Wall where they have a mosaic of every Pope on the walls. The one being made for Francis was almost done (maybe ten pieces left to be placed) and will be presented to him, completed, for the first time tomorrow morning. So it was pretty special that we got to see it even before the Pope himself. Then we saw how they heat, combine, and shape different colors of glass, went though their stores of glass, and saw other works in progress. Then the head architect of the Vatican gave us a private tour of the secret rooms above the Basilica. We got to see the original model of the Basilica, sketches of Michelangelo's plans, and old pieces of statues and plaster artwork. 

Originally 16th century plan (that we got to walk inside of)

 Mr. Head Architect Man and a comparison of the various stages of planning for the dome. 

After some more class time, we all were exhausted and came up to the dorms to write blogs. This has taken me way longer than I thought, so now I have to shower and go to bed to prepare for yet another early day tomorrow. Goodnight!

Can You Hear the People Sing?

So today was Martyr Day. Our professors said on multiple occasions "the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church." So naturally I've had Can You Hear The People Sing from Les Mis stuck in my head all day. Hence the title of this post. But in all seriousness, today was the first day of actual class and I learned so much! 

First, I went with a few friends to the Colosseum for an early morning visit. We got there around 9 and wandered around for an hour. Besides the shame of losing my buddy-system buddy, it was a lot of fun! It's very awe inspiring to stand in the same place that people stood in almost two thousand years ago. The stairs were the best, because they were all grassed over and had faded into almost a slope. There was also an exhibit where they displayed artifacts found in excavations, and explained what they showed about what people did while at the Colosseum. We only stayed for about an hour because then we had to head back to the dorms for class. Luckily there was time for our first of many trips to the gelato place down the street. 

Mandatory selfie

After a class session and lunch break, we went back to the Lay Center to meet up with Professor White. First we went to learn about Palantine Hill, which is where Rome was founded, according to legend. It's also the hill where many of the early emperors lived with their families. It was interesting to learn that when Nero allegedly started the fire that burned down 1/3 of Rome, he did it to acquire that hill. In the picture below you can see the ruins of the palaces and a church built to honor St. Sebastian. 

We also learned that when they started expanding Rome after World War I, they'd find artifacts under the city. Because there were so many of them, they'd bring them to this site to be dealt with later. You can see them all lined up in the center-ish of the picture below. 

We also went to the Case Romane del Celio. Basically, two brothers who had a secret church in their house, were killed by Roman authorities after Emperor Julian revoked the legality of Christianity. A church was built over it in the third century, then another church was built over it in the twelfth century, which is still open today. In the nineteenth century someone excavated the house, and now you can walk through it and look at the rooms and frescos.

One fresco I found interesting was in the dining room. Professor White explained that while there weren't many images of Christianity present, there was one piece that was contested.  Many people think that the figure in the picture below is a woman worshipping God, while others think it's supposed to represent philosophy. We learned that people often used a female for images of people practicing Christianity, because of the idea of humans as the bride of Jesus. Also, it was fascinating how well preserved the frescos were for the most part. 

The church that is on that site now was really beautiful. The outside has remained the same since it was built in the 12th century, but the inside was renovated during the baroque period. Here I realized that I really have no idea what the rules are in a Catholic church. I was afraid to walk up to the alter, in case I was supposed to cross myself or kneel first or something. I guess that's one more thing I can look forward to learning more about on this trip!

Once the tour was over, we were free to do what we wanted. I went with some friends to the Trevi Fountain. We wanted to see it at night and during the day. After learning about it a little bit during class, it was impressive to see the statues in person. It was definitely bigger than I expected. I think it's fascinating how every statue has a meaning, like abundance and purity on either side of the building. It makes me wonder what symbolism I'm missing out on in other statues and paintings!

Woohoo more selfies!

After a delicious dinner, I'm ready for bed! Tomorrow is another early start, and I need to catch up on more sleep. Bye for now!