Rome via Brooklyn

415 words, 2 minutes read time.

 This morning, Jessica and I slept in for the first time in what seems like ages. Resting felt so good, I woke up with oodles of energy. We had a slow morning, took our time with breakfast, and caught up on the blog posts from the long weekend. It was fun to laugh and remember the times we literally were having the day before. 

We then went to the Pantheon, which luckily had no entrance line, which is something we were dreading. I am glad to see the theme of death coming through with the tomb of Raphael; the Romans are consistent with their themes. “There is perhaps some meeting of the ways in the mathematical harmonies of the dome’s design. The cupola, which is a perfect hemi-sphere, has the same height as the diameter of the cylindrical drum on which it sits, and the number of the rows of coffers which divide the cupola-—28-was recognized in antiquity as one of the rare “perfect” numbers, equal to the sum of its divisors (1, 2, 4, 7, 14).” ( Aicher, 234) The dome of the Pantheon and the glow it gives is so unique and that gives it more of a churchy feel in my opinion. Then we went to the Museo Altemps where we wandered around. I loved how this museum was arranged with a courtyard. Hercules was a common theme, as well as his tasks. It was amusing that the artist put himself instead of Hercules for one of the tasks. The church was so charming, the idea of the king having to sit higher than everyone else and closer to God was less charming, but also kind of expected at this point. The Suicide Gaul was one of my favorite sculptures today. A Galatian killing himself and his wife to prevent being enslaved. The detail of the cut and blood in marble has been my favorite detail in the sculptures we have seen. 

Moussa gave a talk about the Colonna di Marco Aurelio, which I am sure has intricate inscriptions about how the Romans’ enemies are brutal, but unfortunately, it is under repair and is fully covered. Jessica, Moussa, and I started walking in the direction of our homes but got caught in the rain and had a bite to eat at the closest cafe we could find, a cute little place with sandwiches, pastries, and gelato. Had a great conversation, and I was personally happy for some rain after the unrelenting sun.