June 6, Rome day 2 and thoughts about the Sistine Chapel

            I have a few moments before I meet Jonathan to see Baroque churches, most notably the one with Bernini’s Ecstasy of St. Theresa, which neither of us have ever seen before.

            So I thought I would write my ideas of the Sistine Chapel.  What really struck me was the size and power of the Sibyls and Prophets.  They seemed to me to dominate the ceiling.   Perhaps part of this is that as one enters from the altar side, the central figures are upside down.   Plus I also know those central stories pretty well from years of teaching.  But the colors seemed to radiate from the side figures, and the size of the row of prophets was astounding, so very monumental.  Their gestures and movements were so free.

            Of course, I have heard and repeated the general knowledge about Michelangelo: his tension, expressive use of the body, etc.  But it was wonderful to see and study the works in person.  The Last Judgment, so dominant on the right side as one entered, did indeed strike me as tense and pessimistic. Even the figures rising from the dead to Heaven looked as if they were tense and struggling.  None had that promise of freedom of movement seen in the Sibyls and in the ignudi in that ceiling overhead.

            I studied further and realized that there could be several levels of movement and light in the work.  The darkest figures are also those most oppressed by the architecture: the little copper figures above the lunettes, some of them actively pressing against such entrapment.  Then the little “sculptured” figures beside the prophets and sibyls; they are also bound by the architecture, but their colors are lighter and they are a bit freer in motion.  The ancesters of Christ in the lunettes and triangles, they don’t seem as active, perhaps because they are, in one sense, dead to history.  But intellectually I find their inclusion fascinating and need to study the book I bought there to understand them more.

            The Old Testament stories in the corners are also fascinating and I need to study them more thoroughly as well.  Odd figures seem to emerge from dark uncertainty and complete their confusing tasks. 

            I still remember how the Tufts graduate professor would not allow me to do my Michelangelo seminar paper on the Sistine Chapel.  “It’s all been done,” he said.  So I did the Last Judgment and the Medici Chapel instead.  But I am cannot help but still be drawn to the Sistine ceiling.

            Today I met Jonathan Barbato at the train station so that we could see some Baroque churches.  First we went to Santa Maria Maggiore, which sure had a great deal of Baroque changes made to an Early Christian church (from the façade to the transept chapels).  But much of it was original, with some of the early mosaics too.  John noticed a Star of David near the altar and another sign of Judaism as well, so he is going to do some research into that for his paper for me.

            We also saw Bernini’s St. Theresa in Ecstasy in Sta. Maria delle Victoria.  There were actually a good number of people there, probably due to Dan Brown and Angels and Demons. It was actually a surprisingly small church, and the Cornaro Chapel with St. Theresa was right next to the altar.  The sculpture on the altar tried to show Bernini’s use of golden rays and floating clouds, but it didn’t work well at all and one could realize in comparison the powerful energy that Bernini could almost miraculously create.  I had not realized that St. Theresa would be floating so high above our eyes and that there would thus be such a sense of movement: sinking and floating at the same time.  I loved the side chapels with the family watching, and the mosaic bodies floating up from the floor.  It was really most effective.

            We also saw Santa Susanna, almost right next door.  I remember attending a service there with my parents decades ago, as it is the American church, and I think my father knew the cardinal at that time as well. I enjoyed the Renaissance illusionistic frescoes there very much.

            Then we walked to San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane.  Later on, our taxi driver said that Borromini’s teacher had done the four sculptured fountains.  I actually enjoyed this church much better than I expected.  It was nicely white and not busy with dramatic paintings, gold and busy statues.  Instead, Borromini conveyed his ecstasy with moving, curved, architectural form, some of which was very surprising.  We sat there for a few minutes, too.  Again, not a large church but a powerful one nonetheless.

            We found a bus that took us to the Borghese Gardens and we walked the rest of the way to the Borghese Gallery.  It was a pleasant walk and a breezy day, not too hot, but threatening to rain.  We hoped that if it was going to pour, it would do so while we were in the gallery; but it didn’t, and it was sunnier when we emerged.

            We got our tickets for the 1:00-3:00 slot, so I had time for a snack before the museum.  Jonathan could not wait to see the Bernini sculptures: at least three of them.  Hades and Persephone was a new one for me, but I did enjoy it.  Jonathan pointed out the superb effects from his hands pressing into the flesh of her unwilling body.  I thought that he had a funny expression on his face, but otherwise I liked it, and Jonathan liked her tears and the fact that as you walked around the piece, there was always a face that you could see, from three-headed Cerebus to the main characters.

            Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne was just amazing to see in person.  The energy created by the twisting bodies and the drapery blowing behind Apollos was incredible.  His foot is raised and appears to be flying.  The textures as she changes into a tree is wonderfully illusionistic, and the way that the shapes are constantly turning in three dimensions as you walk around is wonderful.  I really wished that they would have allowed us to take slides, because the one angle that is shown in books conveys very little of the true dynamism of this sculpture and its flying drapery.

            I probably liked Bernini’s David least of all.  I loved the tension in the sling shot, but the fur covered carrier looked awkward on his body.  I guess I just like Michelangelo’s version better, with his gathering tension and promise of movement that seem more absorbing than the grimacing Bernini counterpart.

            I also did enjoyed Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love, which I remember seeing with surprise in 1976 with my parents.  I also enjoyed all the architecture of the rooms, and it may be for the best that I could not take slides for I would have too many if I could. 

            We took a taxi after this; I got off at the Markets of Trajan and Jonathan walked to the Pantheon.  The Markets have been done up as a museum, and one was not allowed to photograph the museum works.  However, they seemed to be rather random parts of enormous ruined works, although some of them were related to specific parts of the Forum (which I have never been able to keep straight in their ruined state anyway).

            But the forms of the Markets blow me away every time.  What a rich space: with barrel vaults, groin vaults, travertine marble over the portals, with smaller portals overhead.  Probably offices took up the two upper stories, looking over central space with its giant groin vaults, while the lower three levels may well have been stores.  I think I got a better handle on all of that as I wandered around for over an hour.  But because I had to leave my pack behind, I did not have a chance to draw as I would have liked.

            Then I walked past the Column of Trajan to the closest bus stop and took bus175 to the train station.  As I walked back, I stopped again at the internet point site (forgetting that there is a general computer in the lobby of the hotel). I got to chat directly with Sarah, read messages from John and Steven, and write other messages that I have been meaning to do.  It feels great to be in touch with family so immediately, and Sarah is a great little computer correspondent. 

            Last day in Rome tomorrow before our 3:55 train back to Verona.