Wednesday, February 4/2015

Some breaks in the rain so we take first streetcar from the roundabout at the corner to Termini and from there the metro to Piazza del Popolo and, more specifically, the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Like most Roman churches, it's a repository of great  art, painting and sculpture. In particular, we've come to see the Caravaggio paintings, knowing that the church has two. It's a bit of a disappointment there are two fine paintings by Caravaggio, as well as sculptures and paintings by other great artists, but the light isn't good, especially in the tiny side chapels. It is possible to put a euro in the meter and get quite good good light for about 60 seconds, but a little frustrating to know that we could be at home studying the painting on the ipad and be able to see it much better. Buy two postcards of the Caravaggios (the Crucifixion of St Peter and the Conversion of St Paul) for a better look.

The Pantheon is interesting in the rain because the circular opening in the dome (the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world) without which, oddly enough, the dome would collapse, lets in rain, the area where the rain hits the floor being prudently roped off. The building is nearly two thousand years old and in surprisingly good condition. It was first a pagan temple and then a Christian church. It is this use of it as "sacred" space that leads to the frequent (recorded?) requests for silencio, not, it seems, very closely related to the actual rise in conversational volume. There are also notices which I notice a little belatedly forbidding the taking of photographs, but few people seem to be deterred.

Our experience of modern art is in the early evening when we wield the umbrellas once more and go in search of Sala 1, a combined innovative gallery, which has sponsored shows of contemporary works from such places as Bangladesh and Iraq, and studio space for priest and sculptor Tito Amodei. The Vatican originally supplied the space in a former basilica but its operation is entirely unrelated to the Church. It's a tiny gallery with some interesting works and we're the only visitors on this rainy night. But that is our good fortune as the director, the American Mary Angela Schroth, is happy to show us Amodei's studio. He's 90 now but still comes in every day to work on his sculptures and the studio is a wonderful collection of drawings, studies, and sculptures both large and small. The energy is palpable even in the man's absence, the work varying from the lyrical or whimsical to brute power.

Home with a sausage and broccoli pizza straight out the wood oven from a tiny place near the roundabout half a block away. Not a tourist in sight.