Books · People · Rome · Humour
His early childhood passed in Rome; he was brought up as is the custom among Roman grandees who are living out their days. His teacher, tutor, nursemaid and anything else you please was an abbé, a strict classicist, an admirer of the letters of Pietro Bembo, the writings of Giovanni
Books · Observations · Mores · Rome
What the Romans wore, how they furnished their houses and what they talked about, we can picture quite well; but what an ordinary Roman dinner looked like came as a revelation to me personally. In one epigram Martial lists the dainties prepared for his table, inviting a friend to a
Archaeology · Museums · Mores · Rome · Humour
An idea for the Met Gala. The madcap hairstyle of this Roman lady, which resembles a wasps' nest, was the last word in fashion in the Flavian era, when the women of Rome at last abandoned the plain parting, the single-coloured headscarf, the plait or the straight hair
Architecture · Observations · Rome
If you look closely, on the façade of this neglected sixteenth-century Tuscan-style building in the northern part of the Pincio gardens, directly above Piazza del Popolo, you can make out an inscription: ASCENSORI. Yes, it really is a lift. More precisely, it is the first public lift in
Faith · Art · Museums · Mores · Rome
Caravaggio painted the Virgin Mary from Rome's most famous prostitute, Maddalena Antognetti, known as Lena, yet her child is the very embodiment of holy simplicity, for he is not to blame for his mother's transgressions, and he even tramples the symbol of sin. The canvas even
Architecture · Art · Observations · Rome
In the myths of the union of Leda and Zeus-the-swan there are several versions of the outcome: Leda bore two eggs and two children, Helen and Clytemnestra; Leda bore four eggs, plus various versions of paternity: some name Zeus as the father of the eggs and Tyndareus as
Observations · Mores · Rome
Books · Observations · Mores · Rome
Continuing the tale of cult gastronomic haunts, I recalled a Roman café founded in 1760. The cosy Antico Caffe Greco, beside the Spanish Steps, was frequented by Stendhal, Casanova, Andersen and Schopenhauer. The walls of this little coffee house are hung with portraits of its world-famous habitués and adorned
NB! · Art · Museums · Observations · Rome · Humour
NB! · Architecture · Faith · Art · Rome
The tomb of Pope Alexander VII, Bernini. From beneath the drapery that stands for the flesh, Death peers out with an hourglass.
NB! · Architecture · Faith · Art · Observations · Rome
St Peter's Basilica: the dome by Michelangelo, the baldachin by Bernini. I would like to congratulate everyone on the creative power of Christian culture
NB! · Architecture · Faith · Rome · Humour