Rome via Brooklyn

I got up to another scorching hot day in Rome but luckily we skipped the hottest part of the day in the museum. We took a bus to the spot we were supposed to meet at but sadly it only took us half of the way, so we had to get out and walk. Arriving at the museum it was absolutely amazing, and had some beautiful works of art. I’m honestly very surprised there weren’t very many people at the museum. I’m really glad Professor Yarrow took us to some of the more “lesser known” museums on this trip along with the touristy sights because I doubt I would have discovered them on my own. It really allowed us to take our time and not have to navigate a big sea of people. There were many amazing pieces in this museum like the bust of Antinous, emperor Hadrian’s male lover, or the sculpted head of a sleeping fury. But the piece that stuck out the most to me due to its disturbing nature was the one shown below of Pan and Daphnis.

This statue depicts Pan teaching the shepherd Daphnis to play the syrinx (panpipes) but he has ulterior motives. This piece depicts Pan and Daphnis in almost awkward, life-like poses. We learned about this style of pose in sculpture from Professor Yarrow and saw it in other pieces like the one of the boy taking the thorn out of his foot. This sculpture of Pan and Daphnis evokes themes promiscuity that we see in a lot of Roman art.

Speaking of touristy sights, after the museum we made our way to the pantheon, this was the part of the trip I was most excited for. The reading describes it as “Ancient Rome’s best preserved building (due to its sturdy construction, as well as its conversion into a church in AD 608).” This seems accurate as it was probably the most intact and colorful ancient structure I saw on the whole trip. I had learned about the history of the pantheon in my art history class. I was instantly enthralled with architecture. I loved the use of different granites, marbles and other stones cut into different geometric shapes. It truly is a masterpiece of human artistic ingenuity.  Sadly the original Roman pagan statues were replaced and thrown away. This is a massive shame, I would have loved to have seen the original statues. 

The pantheon is also the burial place of Raphael, one of the greatest artists of the renaissance if not all of history. I remember learning about that fact and thought it was both egotistical and a beautiful way to make your death into a final piece of art. 

Me in front of the grave of Raphael.

After the pantheon Lucy, hamood and danella did their preparations. Everyone did an amazing job!

This is an image of me listening to Lucy give her presentation on Isis! Her presentation described how Isis started off as a minor cult but later grew, being properly incorporated into the roman pantheon. This idea was echoed in the reading where it said  “the emperor Severus Alexander embellished the temples of Isis and Serapis with fitting additions of statues.” Because  Isis finally became a part of the Roman pantheon, the Roman emperor Severus Alexander embelished the temples of Isis with statues. 

After the solo presentations were finished Professor Yarrow took us to her favorite gelato place in Rome! It had over a hundred and fifty flavors but I was only interested in my go to’s, mint chocolate chip and chocolate. I got three scoops and it was incredible, some of the best gelato I had on the whole trip! It was really nice to sit and eat our gelato together as class after a long day out in Rome.

After class me, Fannie, Lucy, Arden, Paola and Safa went to Sophora and Kiko. I got this amazing pinkish purplish lip stick that I absolutely love and used multiple times on the trip. The others bought some makeup from Kiko and got it engraved with their names and an image of the colosseum. I personally didn’t think it was worth waiting in the line for the engraving so I waited outside and had a nice talk with Safa. 

After the engraving we made our way to a jewish pasta place that Professor Yarrow recommended. It felt very homely, It was pretty cramped (in a good way) and the menu was handwritten. It was nice to go to a less “touristy” restaurant for once. The pasta was incredible! Both me and Lucy got the cacio e pepe even though Professor Yarrow said it wasn’t their best dish. Personally i disagree, i though it was the best cacio e pepe i had in rome, and some of the absolute pasta overall i had in rome.