unforth | Day 5

As expected, our plans for today were constrained by the need to pre-buy our tickets to go to the Museo Borghese. However, even with that, the day didn't go much as planned. And that's probably a good thing; I definitely am an "over planner" on trips like this! It's just that I want to fit some much in...!

We didn't worry much about getting a late start this morning. While we were eating the hotel breakfast, we started chatting with the couple sitting at the table next to ours, and older man and woman from Austin. In the course of this conversation, we exchanged information useful to each other: they told us that if we pre-registered to visit the Vatican, it would save us hours in line (especially to see the Sistine Chapel) and we told them how they could register online to see the Museo Borghese. They didn't have a computer with them, so I fetched mine, and they registered for their visit (which had to be on Wednesday, as they are leaving tomorrow evening) and I tracked down the links necessary for us to schedule ours. They also told us about the extra-special steps necessary to visit the Scavi (the catacombs underneath St. Peter's Basilica where folks like St. Peter are buried) but we ultimately decided not to worry about that part, as we're not Catholic and thus don't care enough to go the extra trouble. It was nice to get to meet some nice people, and help each other out.

The downside was that we got a kinda late start, in such a way that it made all the rest of the timing for the day a bit awkward. Thus, instead of going to another museum before going to the Museo Borghese, we instead wandered over to the Spanish steps, then over to the Tomb of Augustus. We walked by the museum across the street, but decided not to pay the 6.50 euro necessary to get a closer look then the windows afforded us, which is for the best, cause we didn't have the time. Mom ended up having a very bad day for her back, such that she barely was able to make it to the Borghese, and I ended up wheeling her around in a wheelchair and then she caught a cab home.

Today was the day of "museums where pictures are not allowed," which makes it all the more important for me to try to write a bit down before I forget all the awesome bits (especially the awesome bits not included in the books that were obtained to learn more and as memory aids.)

The Museo Borghese is housed in a villa built in the 16th and 17th century. The man who built it constructed it specifically to house his art collection, so it was never anyones home, but this didn't stop the family from decorating it lavishly over the next few hundred years. Every gallery room had astonishing paintings on the ceiling. Some where themed - there was an "Egyptian" room, and all were put together with a unifying idea that tied the walls, stucco, and paintings together. The most amazing was definitely in the room that used to be the entrance foyer; it was a huge, pink-sunset-color suffused painting of "Marcus Furious Camillus Fighting the Gauls, with Romulus Entreating Jupiter to Send Mars to Succour the Roman Hero" (thanks, book, though why don't you have a picture??) and it was pretty awesome, especially the vivid way in which the deaths of the barbarians were pictured - flowing blood was common. Other rooms were also spectacular, such as the first room we entered, which was a motif of gods and angels in muted tones. In many instances, the rooms themselves were the highlights of the museum.

In addition to this decoration, though, was a really fine collection of mostly Italian art, including works by almost all of the great Italian masters - multiple works by Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio, plus works by folks like Veronese, Lippi, Corregio, and more. There weren't any Michelangelos, but there was a copy of Leda and the Swan after an original by Da Vinci. There were some standouts, including a lovely and slightly strange Caravaggio of Mary crushing the head of a serpent as she helps Jesus to walk, a beautiful Raphael portrait of a young woman holding a small unicorn, a richly colored, vaguely erotic painting of Eros and Aphrodite by Zucchi, another painting of Leda by an Italian I had never heard of, and...well, a lot more. Thank god for the book! There were also some really awesome Bernini sculptures, particularly one of Apollo and Daphne that was very dramatic, and an intense looking David getting ready to take on Goliath. Furthermore, these were all accented by ancient Roman pieces, some of which were very fine (including one that still had it's three original brass baubles, which I've never seen before intact with a sculpture), though what stood out to me among the antiquities were some large mosaics (Which were actually on the floor) of Roman Gladiators fighting each other, fighting animals, and generally getting into mass melee. It's really too much to list, and if I hadn't been able to get the book in order to compensate for the lack of photography, it would have been very upsetting. In a lot of ways, as a collection, it felt like the Frick: a hand selected group of some of the very finest works. Not overwhelming in number, but everyone a masterpiece.

From there, I got mom to a cab to take her home, and then decided to go the not-to-distant Museo Nazionale Estrusco di Villa Giulia, which is a collection of Etruscan art housed in a former papal villa. My travel guide suggested that this was not a very large collection, which was why I decided to go - little did I know. I should have clued in to the line of the book that indicated that one room contained "several hundred vases," which would have given me a much more accurate idea of what I was facing, and probably would have changed my plans (it was mid afternoon by this point, and I hadn't eaten since breakfast...). However, by the time I had realized my error, it was too late to change things, so I ended up going through the whole museum. I'm not sorry, either, though I was definitely flagging by the end. I had figured this museum would be largely composed of broken off heads of old Etruscan statues which, if you've ever seen the broken off heads of old Etruscan statues, virtually all look exactly the same. This was very far from the truth, though (I only saw one sculpture in the entire museum that looked like this, in fact). The majority of the museum was composed of very fine findings from old tombs, especially bronze wear of various kinds (including vases, mirrors, cases, arms and armor, tablewear, and jewelry) and vast quantities of pottery vases, from impressive red figure and black figure works all the way to a local kind of black pottery that was impressive in and of itself. There were also a few pieces of gold jewelry, a whole bunch of fragments of terracotta patterns and sculptures that had been pieced together (some still showing signs of their polychrome painting) and, in one room, jewelry that was in the collection of the Pope who had built the villa.

All in all, it was a very lovely collection that sadly, the book doesn't begin to do justice. It was jam packed with artifacts. The vases in particular stood out to me, as many were in very fine shape. Unfortunately, the two I remember best I remember because they were bizarrely sexual, but there were many others that were very fine. They also had a lot of lovely incised bronze mirrors, with a wide range of mythological topics. Some where very detailed, and others rather crude, but all were very interesting. Among the finest of their items were these cylindrical bronze cases which, as far as I could tell, were used by Etruscan women to hold their jewelry, combs, mirrors, etc. The tops of these tended to have small standing figures, and the sides of the cylinder - which were in thin bronze and therefore often didn't survive, or didn't survive in tact) were incised with scenes of the gods and people doing things, entirely in the round. They were very interesting, and there were three or four that were almost completely intact in the collection.

This was yet another of these museums that was very old; it had originally been the Kichener (I think I have that right) which was founded in the 18th century to gather up artifacts that pertained to the roots of the Roman empire. As such, this collection was an odd mixture of items that had been in the possession of the museum of a very long time, mostly donated by collectors, and those that had been excavated, some even very recently. The first floor in particular emphasized retrievals from the necropolis around two of the ancient Etruscan cities (Vulci and Cerveteri), the tombs of which seem to have been largely unlooted. There was also an interesting recreation of an entire tomb that you could step into, with the artifacts placed as they had been found.

The crown piece of the collection was a tomb, very similar to this one which I saw at the Louvre last year - according to the information about this sarcophagus, it was found very near the Louvre one, and it sounded like they were from about the same time period and might even have been made by the same person.

Another interesting thing about this museum was their relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I had more than once noticed, while I was there, that they had 4 very fine vases on loan from the Italian government, but no further explanation had been given. However, now I think I get what must have happened. At this museum there were a few rather accusatory signs that talked about how the museum had retrieved items from the Met that, apparently, had left Italy under less than kosher circumstances, but had now been reclaimed to their rightful home. I have the feeling that these items were "loaned" in exchange for the pieces at the Met, but that no one really expects anything to get sent back. The reclaimed pieces all seemed to be of great importance, and while the ones at the Met are very fine, they were on par with some of the better pieces at this museum (all of the items in question are painted pottery vases and similar items). I feel like there's a strange little political story behind all of this...

Taken as a whole, this museum was more than I was really up for when I went, and I'm of two minds on whether I wish I could have taken photographs or not, as I saw many lovely things that have now sadly blurred together. Like, there were some neat large pottery pillar things with cut out patterns. There was interesting black pottery actually made in Italy, some with very fine patterns and one that I particular noted that had faces peering out of the base of the bowl. There were mirrors that focused on the female gods gossiping. One of the cylindrical cases had a strange image that looked like one god helping another female god give birth. There was a lid of another case that had a whole bunch of figures playing on top of it, culminating in the middle with a monkey with a chain around it's neck. There were some very complete greaves, and a helmet, and a couple of fragmentary breastplates that clearly had images in raised relief over the abs. There was a funny little statue of a girl in a pointed hat holding up one arm as if to say "stop." A terracotta statue of a man lunging forward, with his original paint badly faded. A huge terracotta relief of the gods in a fight, in which one of the gods was on the verge of eating another of the gods brains (it's what it looked like, and when I read the label, sure enough, it's what was happening.) A painting on a vase of a bacchanale, where a little satyr was carefully gathering urine in a vase. Several paintings of battles, finely done on vases. A number of the small vases with pale backgrounds and dark paintings of a type I've seen before and liked. A collection of core formed glass. Two large ovals that I think were shields (the large signs that described each room in general were translated into English, but the individual item labels weren't, which sometimes made it complicated to figure out what I was looking at). Really, there's more than I can list, which is a pity, cause the book doesn't begin to cover it all - it's a very short one, with a description of each room and an image of about one item per room, which barely scratches the surface - but maybe I've written enough that when I come back to this some day it'll at least remind me a little...

After I finally finished up at the Etruscan museum, it was getting on towards 5 PM, and I was getting VERY hungry. Fortunately, I had a plan, namely to go to Babington's Tea House, at the base of the Spanish Steps, and get what I had already been warned would be a very expensive afternoon tea, which at this point would have to double as dinner. This ended up being a very nice experience, to the extent that I think we'll go again so that mom has a chance to partake. The tea was a house blend and VERY nice (though as a result of the quantity I drank, I'm still a little bit wired and it's been almost three hours...) and through judicious use of extra hot water I managed to keep it from getting too overbrewed and bitter. They had a nice selection of little sandwiches - two of the standards (excellent cucumber ones, and even more excellent salmon), and two that were not of the type I've usually encountered (a light kinda tuna fish salad, and a slightly strange mustard-based schmear that I can't quite identify). From there, it was little dessert things, plus scones. The little desserts were mixed, but two were excellent, including one of the best macaroons I've ever had. The scones were very tasty, came out buttered (odd) and were served with very nice, thick strawberry jam, and whipped cream (NOT clotted cream). I don't think I've ever had my scones served with whipped cream before, but the whole ensemble was very sweet and very tasty. The only downside was the price tag, but since I'd been anticipating it being costly, I wasn't particularly surprised, and at least it was very good, the service was very good, and it was, all in all, a very soothing and relaxing way to end the day.

And end it I did, for I then walked home, and have been putzing around on the computer ever since. :)

Tomorrow is another day that is pretty much set, as we've got our tickets to go to the Vatican.

Pictures are now up from the first few days, and the next set are uploading, but I still haven't managed to integrate them in to the LJ posts, and chances are not looking great for tonight, either, but we'll see. :)