Rome via Brooklyn

331 words, 2 minutes read time.

In the morning I ate my last graffe for breakfast :,( Jessica and I rallied to go to St.Peter’s Basilica once more, this time because we missed the dome and the La Pietà di Michelangelo last time. So hot but so amazing to walk through the doors and see how grand and amazing the basilica is. The dome I specifically loved the mosaics and specifically did not love the narrow stairs in the heat, but the view made it worth it. Later at the Museo Nazionale Romano delle Terme we saw the bathhouse theme we saw in Ostia, and this always reminds me of how the rich lived vs the poor. That coupled with the presentations about how to praise a dead woman and the cursed tablets always brings out how the Romans were vicious and resentful. 

A comparison I saw was the boxer at rest and the weary hercules. Both look so human, defeated, but in a way the way they are captured shows that they are not superhuman, they have feelings and are just like everyone else even if the way they live is “unattainable” or very selective. They are both statues that give a humbling feeling. “ The other bronze is a seated boxer, still wearing his heavy leather boxing gloves (caestus).Also a work of the C1 BC, the lips and the injuries on face, arms, and legs are inlaid with copper, and the cauliflower ears, broken nose, and dazed expression are all vividly rendered. The rock seat is modern.” (Clairidge, 483)

There is so much more to say about the works in this museum, the mosaics, the frescos, the sculptures in motion. There are themes of mockery, of adoration, and statues made to invoke confusion and to make you question your beliefs. 

At night, Mazzy graciously invited us to watch an Italian movie , Deep Red, at her casa. Huge shoutout and thank you to the Borgo Pio residents! Creepy and unsettling movie but joyous and happy home and feelings.