Art in Roma

Borghese Museum

Wow - this is a city to rival all cities.  Yesterday I went to the Borghese Museum and was immediately overwhelmed.  It doesn't take much.  But in the case of Roma's museums being overwhelmed is part of the price you pay to get in, (some museums are free so the overwhelm is also free, just when I think nothing is free).  This was the very first Museum ever, it set quite a standard .  It was raining and I loved the feeling of the moist air so I stayed outside for the hour or so before I was to enter the Museum. At that time I went over to a small office by the formal gardens, there was no admittance to the gardens it was guarded by big beautiful gates with even bigger locks. I went up to the desk and asked the guard questions about the garden, she couldn't answer in words because she spoke Italian and I speak really broken Italian we managed to communicate, thank god for hands.  The guard invited me to stroll through one of the gardens and so I have some wonderful pictures. The avery in the center was once home to many tropical birds.  The park like setting of the museum lulled me away from  the wild and crazy city sounds.  Of all the wonderful pieces in this museum the "Apollo and Daphne" piece was my favorite sculpture and "Sacred and Profane Love" and "Danae" were my favorite painting. It was a rainy day and the museum was filled with every nationality, hot, no photo's, no place to sit, miles and miles of an art collection that rivals almost any I've ever seen - That's because I hadn't been to St Peters yet.  Speaking of St Peters  it curious that there is any marble to quarry in Italy, I mean everything in this massive church is marble, pink, black, white, brown, pale blue and the famous yellow - there are almost as many colors as gelato flavors. 

Atrium at The Borghese

St Peters is so big and so jammed packed with great pieces it's almost impossible to capture with words or photo's.  Can you imagine wanting to live amongst such splendor?  I can't, it would reduce me to a grain of sand which it was already managing to do and I was only there for a few hours.  I would bore you to tears if I explained what I had to go through to get to the Sistine Chapel it's a maze of halls that display an endless collection of art - it's daunting. By the time I climbed yet another stair case and walked down another hall I was over this palace. I just wanted to get to the chapel. I forged ahead ignoring everything finally arriving at the famous Chapel. This is a masterpiece and since it's been cleaned and brought back to it's original life it vibrates.  This is not a dark and gloomy chapel but a bright colorful and explosive depiction of the bible.  I got a seat and just soaked in the amazing work of this artist.  I thought I would cry when I saw this work but I went beyond tears to a sort of awe that left me speechless (until now).

Here's a bone - While I appreciate the ability to have such a massive collection under one roof or country - with all the poverty in the world wouldn't selling a few of these pieces and setting up schools and farms help the people more then prayers (which are hard to eat)  Although when I think about it if this god is so used to such splendor why would he leave to check out what's happening in the rest of the world.  Why would he want to sit with the hungry and the waring tribes when he could spend eternity contemplating himself as man sees him. 

The only people who get to see this daunting collection are people with money.  I know I'm not the first to suggest this but really it is a bit overwhelming and absolutely impossible to see this collection in it's entirety in one or twelve visits. So maybe just sell some of the less observed pieces some of the pieces in the vaults or in the back rooms ( there are many back rooms).  A few pieces here and there might feed or educate thousands of people. I'm open to any suggestion you may have on this topic.  In fact I'm open to any suggestions you have on any topic. 

My foot which I twisted 24 hours before I left for Italy is getting better each day, It's just that I cant walk as much as I would like and this is making me a little crazy.  I don't want to push myself and yet there is so much to see. My bone on this topic is why did I twist my foot right before a trip to Italy?  

Finds - A little tea house at the foot of the Spanish Steps - great scones. It's called Babington's and it's been there since 1893 so it's not just me that requires tea.  

Fashion "bone"  -  I don't get the very puffy jackets and coats - What am I missing? I even tried one on and I looked like the dough-boy's girlfriend.

Please feel free to contact me to share your Italian experiences or to disagree with my stuff.