THE Rome Trip

Luckily on Monday morning after Carnevale, we had art history lecture in the classroom instead of out on a field trip, which was relaxing. On both Monday and Wednesday we learned more on Michelangelo and his work on the Sistine chapel ceiling to prepare for our trip to Rome!

Since this week was the last full week to work on our painting project in the studio, I worked hard on my drawing and painting in class. On Monday, I worked up the detail and contrast in my drawing, and on Wednesday I worked to make my painting more finished. For the drawing, I decided that since the photograph I’m using for reference has a very small depth of field (meaning only a small part of the image is in focus) that I would make that part of the drawing in focus. For the center of the drawing, I used very controlled marks and high contrast, and as I got closer to the edge of the page I made the marks and values more vague. I like the feeling that this focus gives the photograph and in turn the drawing because of its dreamlike quality that reminds me of memories.

This dreamlike quality relates directly to my photography class on Tuesday! Each person in my class had a one on one with our professor about what we’d like to photograph and work on for the course of the semester. I started off by bringing up my reflection photograph of the Duomo (which I posted a couple weeks ago) and the possibility of doing a project based on reflections. My professor stopped me and asked me if that was something that I felt passionate about, and I had to admit that it wasn’t. We discussed what made the photograph of the Duomo successful, and he told me what he thought I should pursue based on that photograph and some of my past work that I showed him. We concluded that I should keep taking pictures like the Duomo in the way that I did, which was to convey a memory or an emotion. This could involve a reflection, but it could also involve double exposures or printing on a transparent surface. I left class feeling so inspired and confident in my work; it was truly a wonderful and eye-opening talk. I can’t wait to make photographs!

In drawing this week, we did a very interesting and at times frustrating exercise. We set up a station to draw in and a station to observe ourselves with in order to draw a self portrait. Instead of the two set ups being next to each other, however, as usual, they were in two separate rooms, meaning we would observe our face then walk back to draw it and repeat. This helped us practice observing and measuring our subject before drawing it as opposed to making assumptions about what our own face should look like. We spent two classes on this. It was difficult but I’m happy with my result!

Bright and early on Friday morning, my High Renaissance class met at the train station for what has come to be known as THE Rome Trip. It can only be described as three days of non-stop art history touring! I don’t even know how many miles I put on my shoes. Luckily the weather in Rome was sunny and lovely all weekend; chilly, but not a drop of rain! From the Florence station, we took a train right into Rome and a bus to our hotel. After dropping our stuff off, we started our walking! We saw some of the typical sights of Rome- the Pantheon, the Colosseum, and the Trevi Fountain- as well as Santo’Ivo all a Sapienza, San Luigi dei Francesci, Sant’Agostino, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Piazza Venezia, Victor Emmanuel Monument, Via dei Fori Imperiali, San Pietro in Vincoli, the Arch of Constantine, the Palantine Hill and Forum, Capitoline Hill, Santi Luca e Martina, Gesu mother church of the Jesuit Order, Chapel of Saint Ignatius Loyola, and Piazza Navona, which held paintings, sculptures, and architecture of the great artists Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini, and Raphael. And that was just Day 1! Once we were back in our hotel area, a friend and I went to dinner, had some wine, and went to bed early to prepare for the next day.

On Saturday morning after our free hotel breakfast (which was excellent), we began our second day. The majority of the day was dedicated to our visit to the Vatican. Before we got there, we visited Campo dei Fiori, Palazzo Farnese, Palazzo Spada, Ponte Sisto, San Pietro in Monotorio, Bramante’s Tempietto, and the Farnese Villa. While in the Vatican, we toured the Pinacoteca, the Belvedere Courtyard, the Vatican Collection, The Borgia Apartments, The Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. After the Vatican, we visited Santa Maria del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, and Santa Maria della Vittoria. A bunch of us relaxed with more delicious Roman food, then turned in early again to prepare for our last day.

Sunday morning brought us another yummy breakfast, more sunshine, and the least tiring schedule of the three days. We visited the Borghese Gallery in the Villa Borghese in the morning, which holds hundreds of incredible works. There are 6 famous Caravaggio paintings there, as well as masterpieces by artists such as Raphael, Titian, Correggio, and Bronzino. Some of my favorite works of the trip were there; I absolutely loved Bernini’s marble sculptures of Pluto and Persephone & Apollo and Daphne. The Borghese was our last stop in Rome: from there we took a bus to the town of Tivoli up in the hills. We visited the Villa D’Este, a giant estate of former Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este and others. The estate had incredible gardens and fountains, which made for wonderful photo-taking combined with the sunshine! After lunch and gelato outside, we got on the bus again to head for Hadrian’s Villa. Once a giant estate, the villa is the largest ancient Roman villa today. The surrounding landscapes with the skeletons of ancient buildings in the sun were so picturesque! After exploring the estate, we started on our three hour bus ride back to Firenze.

Although the trip was exhausting physically and mentally, I feel so lucky to have gone on it. My roommate has described my professor as “a whirlwind of knowledge” and I think that nails it! She moves so quickly that it’s hard to keep up at times, but she knows so much and I can tell the lectures and the tours are starting to sink in for me.  It was also interesting to compare this type of travel to my travels on my own. On one hand, when I went to Paris alone, I picked each place personally so I remember each one well and will for a long time because I put the time into the planning, whereas I didn’t plan this Rome trip. On the other hand, the weekend in Rome was unlike any trip I could’ve planned myself because I have nowhere near the knowledge on Rome that my professor does. I feel lucky and happy to be able to do both types of travel!