We left via busses in several groups this morning and focused on a few smaller churches in order to see come Caravaggio paintings. We saw one in particular of Saint Matthew that was the best series I’ve ever seen. The first of the three in a small family chapel was of Matthew being called by Jesus to become a disciple. Caravaggio painted Jesus’ hand to be like the one that Michaelangelo in the Sistine in “The Creation of Adam” as if to align himself with Michaelangelo and say that he will be the next great painter. The second painting in the middle was of an angel ticking off his hand the things that Matthew was to write about in his gospel. Caravaggio was a tricky painter who often challenged people and had to recreate this painting because he had made Matthew to look like an idiot in the first one so the church rejected it. The third was of Matthew’s martyred death.
We also went to San Luigi dei Francesci and Sant’ Agostino to see others. We also stopped at the Pantheon but couldn’t go in until after lunch so we made a stop at The Fountain of the Four Rivers, a commission from the Pope to Boronini at first but Bernini really wanted it so he placed his model at a place the Pope had to walk by and the Pope took the commission from Boromini and gave it to Bernini. It has 4 sides and like all of Bernini’s sculptures, tells a narrative in order to get you to walk all the way around it. It displays the four corners of the earth. It shows an American with what they thought to be an armadillo, an African on the Nile with a Lion, and an Egyptian on the Tigris with a snake and finally a European who was elevated above them all and the two people nearest the building that Boromini had created had their hands up and looked away as if to say the building was horrendously ugly. It’s so interesting the stories that come to play in all of the art we learn about. I’m not even scratching the surface on this blog of what we hear.
We took a lunch break at a little café and then went to the pantheon to see inside. It was amazing to see how the light in the top served as the sole purpose of light in a building with no windows. The architecture in that building served the rest of the Roman empire as two complete circles come together. We got to enter after mass that day because it was the day of Ascendance, when Jesus finally ascended back up to heaven after Easter, so it was pretty incredible and goose-bumpy to be there on that day. I got to throw some of the flower petals from the procession after it emptied out J
Afterward we stopped at the Treves Fountain and I did the tradition of throwing the coin over my shoulder and making a wish. I chose not to throw a Euro because that would mean I’d some day come back to Rome, and I’d much rather go see anther place in the world than go back to one I’ve already been to. On our way back to the hotel we passed a lot of street venders and saw a lot of fake designer bags but they were bad so I didn’t buy them for those of you who wanted them, sorry.
ToTonight I’m catching up on journaling and packing because I forgot to mention that last night we set out on an adventure to see LADY GAGA!!
There was a pride parade all day long and after dinner we took 40 students on the metro to see the end of the parade and to hear her talk/sing. It takes us an HOUR of busses, metro stations and walking and we arrive as soon as she’s done. Apparently she only sand Born this Way and the Edge of Glory and just walked off. We were all so disappointed so we went on a walking tour around Rome. It was then, that this night truly turned into an all time low for the trip. The group of girls I was supposed to take a taxi home with got separated from us and I was left with all the people who wanted to stay out. I was then assigned to get two very intoxicated girls home and it took me over an hour to hail a cab. Finally we found a really sweet Italian couple in their late twenties who called the taxis for us and told us there were none in the area due to the concert. Feet bleeding (literally) we stuck together and finally found a ride home. I was in such a bad mood that I just went straight to bed, and I’m writing this later, looking back.
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