Rome via Brooklyn

478 words, 3 minutes read time

Today Dakota, Lucy, Paola, and I took the 8 bus to meet everyone at the Piazza del Campidoglio by 9am. The bus was running a bit late so we started to worry, but we still made it a couple minutes early. Going up the cordonata (the slanted ramp like stairs) leading up to the Piazza, I enjoyed being greeted by these huge Colossal statues of Castor and Pollux with their Horses, with Marcus Aurelius on horseback(replica) and his philosopher beard slowly coming into view. I like horses so it’s nice being surrounded by so many horse statues. The Colossal statues are “originally monoliths of Greek (Pentelic) marble, 5.5 and 5.8 m high respectively”(Claridge). Creating that scale from one piece of marble seems unbelievable, but the size of these sculptures is a big part of what gives them great emotional power. I have been feeling moved by beauty many times already during this trip, and I think the scale and detail of the art and architectural pieces is a big part of this effect. I still love all the tiny stuff though! Professor Yarrow then did a quick lesson on this Piazza that was designed by Michelangelo and it was refreshing to hear her take on Marcus Aurelius. I always felt a bit bad that I didn’t study his writings because he is considered thee philosopher-emperor. But it was not surprising being told that an emperor of Rome justified authority systems and detachment from the suffering caused by inequality through his meditations.

It was also interesting to learn that the reclining pose is seen as the personification of a river. I love bodies of water, swimming in lakes and such. This resting position truly does feel relaxing, just like the water. I like finding out what are considered symbols for things that I value. This also happened later in the day with the Winged Psyche statue inside the Capitoline Museum. I didn’t know butterflies were symbolic of the human psyche, and I love butterflies and am very interested in the human psyche! I titled one of the first songs I released “Though I am a Butterfly” and didn’t really know what I meant by that, it just felt right. It felt like a full circle moment learning about the Winged Psyche statue and how the butterfly represents the human soul.