The Pantheon and Raphael's muse

3-24-2009

Camilla thinks I understand absolutely no Italian, but I understand most of what the conversation entails. I am using this to my advantage. I take it we are going to Tuscany for Easter. The girls have a week vacation from school for the holiday. I have to say, I'm not thrilled. This means another week with no Internet and nothing to do. I absolutely plan to visit Siena this time. I really should be happier about getting the chance to spend a week in Tuscany during the spring, but that means less time in Rome, and ...

Today I went just about everywhere in Rome. I spent the morning at the Pantheon and Campo de Fiori. Then I walked to Piazza Venezia and ate lunch at the cafe above the Campidoglio. There is a pretty good view of Rome from this rooftop bar. I keep going to the same spots in Rome. I love these three places so much, the Campidoglio, the Pantheon and Campo de Fiori. Piazza della Rotunda (the piazza containing the Pantheon) according to my guidebook is, "... worthy of Felinni. Half-naked beauties, pickpockets, street hawkers, introverts, extroverts, freaks and oddities of every ilk heap abuse on each other in an irresistible spontaneous commedia dell'arte." This statement is so true. This piazza has a life of its own.

Henry James wrote the following letter to his sister in 1869 regarding the Pantheon:

By far the most beautiful piece of ancestry in Rome is that simple and unutterable Pantheon to which I repeated my devotions yesterday afternoon. It makes you profoundly regret that you are not a pagan suckled in the creed outworn that produced it. It's the most conclusive example I have yet seen of the sublime. Imagine simply a vast cupola with its drum, set directly on the earth and fronted with a porch of columns and a triangular summit: the interior lighted by a hole in the apex of the alters. The effect is the very delicacy of grandeur - and more worshipful to my perception than the most mysterious and aspiring Gothic. St. Peter's, beside it, is absurdly vulgar.

I love this description of the building, but the Pantheon has not always been so loved. In the middle ages it was almost destroyed due to its pagan heritage. It was transformed into a christian church in the seventh century, but apparently there was this belief that the building was cursed and inhabited by satan. During the Renaissance the building regained its rightful place in the "pantheon" of Roman architecture and when Raphael chose to be buried there in 1520 instead of at the Vatican "its fame as a paradigm of classical perfection was symbolically reconfirmed."

After lunch I headed to Piazza Barberini because I wanted to visit Palazzo Barberini. This is where Raphael's painting of La Fornarina hangs. I don't know why I am fascinated by Raphael and his mistress, but I just am. La Fornarina was simply a baker's daughter and supposedly Raphael was lovesick for her. His painting has been met with much disdain by some prudish individuals. I, however, LOVE this painting. The details are exquisite. Raphael signed his name in a bright blue band around the beautie's arm and she is wearing a delicate ring above the knuckle on one of her fingers. I just love the idea of an artist painting a portrait of his great love. It's so romantic.

Piazza Barberini itself has a wonderful story to tell. It's not a very beautiful piazza, but many literary figures and artists have stayed there. My guidebook says "its literary history is second only to that of Piazza di Spagna. Among the many authors who resided in the square were Louisa May Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Hans Christian Anderson and Nathaniel Hawthorne." Also Friderich Nietzche stayed in this square for some time. It's pretty cool to think of all the people who have walked the streets of Rome.

After a full day of wonderful sightseeing I headed back to Camilla for an evening of hard labor. Ugh. I arrived at the house and immediately picked up a heap of toys and escorted Ludovica and her friend Daria to a birthday party. I walked back from the party and Camilla informed me that I would be taking Anna and Pietro to play at her friend's house who lives close to Borghese. OK. The friend has an American au pair and it was nice to spend time chatting in English. There were two other babies there, Elena and Luigi. The children threw toys all over the place. I am so tired of cleaning up toys. I HATE TOYS. This house made me appreciate Camilla's home. The toys there were all pushed to the side in a giant pile and there was no organization. This made it more difficult to clean up. Also, the family had three dogs and the front terrace reeked of wet dog. GROSS!