There is so much to do in Rome, one could be hastening around all day every day. Which we were, except Rome at Easter is super crowded. Travel advice: Don't go then unless you love a mass of humanity. We stayed at the Westin Excelsior, on the Via Veneto, a delightful mix of neo-classic and beaux arts design. Below, the lobbies and rooms were both comfortable and beautiful and the service was excellent. Please remember to click on the photos for complete copies.
Below, left: The Borghese Gallery; right, a 2nd century copy of Sleeping Hermaphroditus discovered in1781. The original, an ancient marble sculpture found in the early 17th century, which once stood here, is now in the Louvre.
Above, left: Apollo and Daphne, a marble sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), created between 1622 and 1625, and hailed as one of the artistic marvels of the Baroque age. In Ovid's Metamorphosis, the nymph Daphne escaped from Apollo by changing into a laurel tree. At right, a close up of Daphne's foot turning into leaves.
Below, two views of Venus Vitrix by Antonio Canova (1757-1822), a renowned Italian neo-classic sculptor, in actuality portraying Pauline Bonaparte Borghese, commissioned by her second husband, Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona.
Below, two views of Venus Vitrix by Antonio Canova (1757-1822), a renowned Italian neo-classic sculptor, in actuality portraying Pauline Bonaparte Borghese, commissioned by her second husband, Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona.
Above left, Pauline Bonaparte (1780-1825) was a sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. A life-seize reclining figure, the portrayal was created in Rome between 1805 and 1808.
Above, right, a copy of the statue in the British Embassy in Paris. When the Duke of Wellington acquired L’hôtel de Charost, the British Embassy in Paris, 39 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in August, 1814, after the first defeat of Napoleon and his exile to Elba, Wellington purchased it indirectly from Pauline Borghese. A replica of the renowned Canova sculpture still stands in the British Embassy.
Below, left, the Palazzo Bonaparte in the Piazza Venezia in Rome, one of the homes of Napoleon's mother, Letizia, also known as Madame Mere. We attended both to see the building and the vanGogh exhibition. Right, we were amused to see the replica of Canova's sculpture Napoleon as Mars, the Peacemaker, aka Mars the God of War. (You choose.)
Above, right, a copy of the statue in the British Embassy in Paris. When the Duke of Wellington acquired L’hôtel de Charost, the British Embassy in Paris, 39 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in August, 1814, after the first defeat of Napoleon and his exile to Elba, Wellington purchased it indirectly from Pauline Borghese. A replica of the renowned Canova sculpture still stands in the British Embassy.
Below, left, the Palazzo Bonaparte in the Piazza Venezia in Rome, one of the homes of Napoleon's mother, Letizia, also known as Madame Mere. We attended both to see the building and the vanGogh exhibition. Right, we were amused to see the replica of Canova's sculpture Napoleon as Mars, the Peacemaker, aka Mars the God of War. (You choose.)
Above, left, the replica in Rome's Palazzo Bonaparte. Right, the original, which stands in Apsley House in London. Canova was asked to make a bust of Napoleon in 1802 but chose instead to create this large statue representing Napoleon as Mars, Roman God of War. Napoleon disliked the statue and consigned it to storage. After his eventual defeat, it was acquired by the Prince Regent in 1816 and presented to Wellington. The floor of Wellington's residence at No. 1 London had to be reinforced to hold the weighty marble statue which stands over ten feet tall.
Below, a pair of the vanGogh (1853-1890) paintings in the exhibition from the Kroller-Muller Museum in The Netherlands. At left, Flowers in a Blue Vase, 1887; at right, Garden in Saint-Remy, 1889.
Below, a pair of the vanGogh (1853-1890) paintings in the exhibition from the Kroller-Muller Museum in The Netherlands. At left, Flowers in a Blue Vase, 1887; at right, Garden in Saint-Remy, 1889.
Below left, the view of Rome from the Capitoline Hill. Right, the Capitoline Venus.
Above, left and right, The Capitoline Venus:
From the Text Panel: "The statue, slightly larger than life size, was found sometime between 1667 and 1670 near the basilica of San Vitale and given to the Capitoline Museums by Pope Benedict XIV in 1752. The Goddess is nude, portrayed in a sensual but modest gesture, her arms attempting to hide the harmonious shapes of her body from the viewer’s sight. The objects at her feet, her nudity, and the arrangement of her hair indicate that she she is bathing. The statue is a variant of the Aphrodite sculpted by Praxiteles in the fourth century B.C. for the goddess’s shrine at Cnidus Turkey...The number of known replicas and variants of this work attest to its success in the Roman world. The high value ascribed to this statue is borne out by the fact that it was discovered hidden in a walled up space, where its owner hoped to save it from some impending danger."
The Capitoline Venus was one of many ancient Roman treasures taken by Napoleon and installed in the Louvre in Paris. It was returned to the Palazzo Nuovo on the Campidoglio in 1816. About fifty copies exist, most in museums, but also as garden sculptures.
From the Text Panel: "The statue, slightly larger than life size, was found sometime between 1667 and 1670 near the basilica of San Vitale and given to the Capitoline Museums by Pope Benedict XIV in 1752. The Goddess is nude, portrayed in a sensual but modest gesture, her arms attempting to hide the harmonious shapes of her body from the viewer’s sight. The objects at her feet, her nudity, and the arrangement of her hair indicate that she she is bathing. The statue is a variant of the Aphrodite sculpted by Praxiteles in the fourth century B.C. for the goddess’s shrine at Cnidus Turkey...The number of known replicas and variants of this work attest to its success in the Roman world. The high value ascribed to this statue is borne out by the fact that it was discovered hidden in a walled up space, where its owner hoped to save it from some impending danger."
The Capitoline Venus was one of many ancient Roman treasures taken by Napoleon and installed in the Louvre in Paris. It was returned to the Palazzo Nuovo on the Campidoglio in 1816. About fifty copies exist, most in museums, but also as garden sculptures.
Piazza Navona... Arrivederci, Roma!
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