Basilica di San Clemente

Yesterday my Catholicism class had a site visit to the Basilica di San Clemente. This church is very unique archaeologically speaking because it has three different levels. Before I list the different levels of San Clemente, I have to mention the reason for the different levels. Rome's ground level was constantly rising because the Tiber River flooded frequently carrying silt throughout the city of Rome. Therefore, all of Ancient Rome is technically underground. The only reason present day Rome does not have a rising ground level is because high stone embankments were built fairly recently in the late 1800's.

The present church was built in 1100 during the Middle Ages. Beneath the basilica is a 4th century basilica that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman. This level was originally a room he had given to Christians to practice their religion because Christianity was not legal prior to the rule of Emperor Constantine. The third level contains the remnants of the foundation of a republican era building that was destroyed in the Great Fire of 64.


One part of the church I found particularly interesting was a basement of the 4th century church that contained a Mithraem. A Mithraem is a room dedicated to the Mithraic Mysteries which was a mystery religion practiced in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to 4th centuries AD. The Mithraic cults believed in the Greek god Mithras who presumably sacrificed a bull and from the bull's blood everything was created. The picture below was taken offline because I wasn't permitted to take pictures inside the church, but if you can make out the center piece it is a podium-like structure. Carved into this structure is a scene depicting Mithras killing a bull. On the sides surrounding this structure are beds in which people practicing this religion would lay down head pressed up against the wall, feet upward so they're bodies would be at a downward slant. At this downward(I would imagine incredibly uncomfortable) position the people would feast for hours.



Thanks to my fabulous professor Ann Giletti, I was able to learn all of this amazing information about the church. The Basilica di San Clemente is by far one of my favorite site visits and churches I have seen in Rome. Although I have lived here for a whole month and a half, I feel as though I have just barely taken a few slices of the giant pizza I think of Rome as. With every slice I appreciate it more and am starting to figure out what is in this giant Pizza. Although I might never figure out every little ingredient, I'm enjoying it delicious bite at a time.

Bracciano

This past weekend a few friends and I decided to take a quick train ride to the little town called Bracciano. Bracciano is a small town about an hour train ride from Rome. It is best known for its volcanic lake, which is one of the largest lakes in Italy. The lake owes its origin to intense volcanic activity from 600,000 to 40,000 years before present.

The other main attraction is the well preserved castle, Castello Orsini-Odescalchi. It was built in the 15th century, and combines the functions of a military defense structure and a civilian residence of the feudal lords of the period, the Orsini and Borgia, both papal families. We took an hour tour of the beautiful castle. Afterwards we bought melanzana and pomodoro pizza(eggplant and tomato)and looked out at the lake. Simply put it was a perfect day trip!

l'opera di elektra!

This past Tuesday I went to the Opera called Elektra with eight of my friends in the program. The entire opera was in German, but it had Italian subtitles which I was actually able to translate a little. So we all ended up listening to the opera in German, trying to read it in Italian, then trying to translate it to English. Although we couldn't understand the whole Opera, trying to translate the Opera was probably the best part of the whole thing!

The plot of Elektra is based upon the great Greek tragedy of the Sophocles. The Opera was a drama based solely on revenge. The mother Klytaemnestra along with her lover Aegisth secured the murder of her husband Agamemnon and is now afraid that her crime will be avenged by her child Elektra, Chrysothemis, and their banished brother Orestes. Elektra, tries to persuade her timid sister to kill Klytaemnestra and Aegisth. Before the plan is carried out, Orestes, who had been reported as dead, arrives, determined upon revenge for his father's death. He kills Klytaemnestra and Aegisth.

The main actress' voice was absolutely amazing. All nine of us watched the Opera awe-struck. Towards the end of Elektra's final act, her voice seemed to vibrate throughout the entire opera house. Chills ran up my arm as the audience sat motionless while this woman sang as if she was pouring her heart out for everyone to see. I can't tell you how impressed I was with every actor in this Opera. Every actor and actress was fully committed to their role. The Opera house itself was also very impressive. It was everything that I imagined a traditional Roman Opera house to look like. Red carpet lined the walkway to each seat and all of the seats were covered in red velvet. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling of the building along with smaller chandeliers surrounding the perimeter of the ceiling. The people attending the opera were dressed beautifully along with a touch of class. It was almost like a scene out of Phantom of the Opera. Bellisimo!!

Palazzio Barbernini

For my second site visit for Women and Art, my class went to the Palazzio Barberni. It is a palace located near Via Del Corso(the main street in Rome leading to the piazza di popolo) and was created by three great architects: Maderno, Francesco Borromini and the man himself, Bernini. It was owned by Maffeo Barberini, of the Barberini family, who then took the papal throne as Pope Urban VIII.

The main focus for this site visit was based on Caravaggio. Caravaggio is the epitomy of Baroque art. For a little background, the church had a very important prescence during the time this painting was composed(during the 16th century). When cardinals funded a commission, they wanted something in return that was going to attract people and move them towards devotion. Caravaggio's "Judith Beheading Holofernes" was exactly what the church wanted.

This painting is based off of the Book of Judith which revolves around Judith. She was a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken daze. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved.

We also saw Raffaelo's "La fornarina" (Portrait of a Young Woman). It was created between 1518 and 1520 depicting a woman with an oriental style hat. She is making the gesture to cover herself and is illuminated by a strong artificial light coming from the external.

Galleria Spada

I had two site visits for my Women and Art class this week. For our site visit we meet in a particular place located in the city of Rome instead of going to our normal classroom at the time of our class. On Tuesday we went to the Galleria Spada. The Galleria Spada is located along the Tiber River and has a wonderful collection of art. The collection was originally assembled by Cardinal Bernardino Spada in the 17th century.

Because my Women and Art class is based off of the artist Artemisia Gentileschi, we focused mainly on her piece of work in the galleria along with her father's work (Orazio Gentileschi). One of her earliest works of art called "Madonna and Child" was in the galleria. She composed the piece in 1610 when she was sixteen years old. Artemisia was a baroque artist, following Carravagio's style. Caravaggio and her father Orazio Gentileschi were good friends when Artemisia was a child. It has not been proven that Artemisia met or had any type of relationship with Caravaggio, but her work was based off of his style. Orazio started as a Tuscani artist, but once he saw Caravaggio's work he transformed his style. Although Orazio and his daughter Artemisia have very similar style's, they differ in the sense that Orazio slowly transformed his style into Baroque whereas Artemisia started as a Baroque artist.

Another painting Artemisia completed in her early teens was "Susanna and the Elders." In this painting Susanna is a wife of a wealthy man who is bathing in the privacy of her private garden. Two Jewish Elders appointed as judges become aware of the beautiful woman and accost her, but Susanna rejects them. To get back at her they accuse her of adultery with a young man in her garden and based on false testimony Susanna is condemned to death. Artemisia is known for depicting women in her paintings as strong and admirable.


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The last painting I saw at the Galleria Spada was one of Orazio's pieces called "The Head of Goliath." Caravaggio had a piecework similar to this, but Orazio's David does not interact with Goliath's head, rather he stands beside it lost in a moment of deep introspection, evoking a pensive atmosphere.

Basilica di St. Agnese

Today I went to my first site visit for my class The History of Catholicism, we went to the Basilica di St. Agnese.

Saint Agnese was a Roman, Christian martyr of the first years of the 4th century. She died around the year 304 during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian just a few years before the legalization of Christianity under Emperor Constantine. Her martyrdom took place in the stadium built by Emperor Domitian (today the Piazza Navonna). In Piazza Navonna there is also a 17th century church dedicated to Saint'Agnese. Although this is a little brutal and detailed, for her prosecution St Agnese was supposed to be burned. Legend has it that she would not burn because her hair grew so long that it covered and protected her entire body. Instead of being burned, she had to be beheaded. For this reason, the symbols of Saint Agnese are fire and a sword. Her head still remains in Piazza Navonna today but the remains of her relics and tomb is in the Basilica di St. Agnese.

In addition to seeing the actual tomb of Saint Agnese, we also went into the catacombs underneath the church. Although I was with twenty-six other people, the catacombs still creeped me out a little. It smelled extremely musty and was very dark. The walkways were very narrow and on either side they had dug out shelves called "Loculi" where dead people were buried. After people were put inside of these dirt shelves, they were sealed with either cement or tile which was wrote on describing the person and when he/she died.

It was very interesting to look at the Latin written on the tile covering the tombs. I saw the symbol of Christ, a dove and an olive branch multiple times. The symbol of Christ in Latin almost looks like an uppercase P with an X written on top of it. The dove symbolizes the soul going to everlasting peace and the branch symbolizes victory. Therefore when it is written on a tomb it represents "victory over death."

Right after we left the church a wedding was actually about to start and we were able to see the bride and groom. I can't imagine getting married in such a beautiful church, it was neat to see. I have really enjoyed visiting the churches in Rome. They are by far some of the most interesting places in Rome, not only because of their extravagant beauty, but because of the stories behind them.

Week One of Core Classes

This week our school semester started for my program. Im enrolled in Ancient Roman Civilization, The History of Catholicism, and Women and Art. Each class has site visits in which the entire class travels to parts of Rome or cities in Italy. Sometimes they are during the actual class time and sometimes they are during the weekend.

My Ancient Roman Civilization course mainly focuses on the material remains located within the walls of Rome to examine the history, politics, economics, religion, social structure, public services, and various aspects of daily life in the city, from its beginning to the fourth century AD. Along with a few temples and the Colosseum, we will be visiting Pompeii at the end of November.

The History of Catholicism course begins with the foundations of Christianity in the teachings of Christ and St. Paul. We trace how the Catholic Church was formed as an organization and turning to central religious institutions such as the papacy and the monastery. So far this class has been my favorite. On Wednesday we studied scripture from the book of Matthew about Saint Paul. We also talked about the history of Rome and beginning of Christianity. In this class we will be visiting multiple churches and tombs, one of which including the tomb of St. Peter (which is accessible by special permission only).

My Women and Art course will be based around the Roman-born Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. It is designed to consider not only the life and career of this woman artist in its historical context, but also the impulse the study of her experience has given to women’s studies in the field of the history of art. This course includes a site visit I am especially excited for. It just so happens that this year an Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition will be held in Milan including almost sixty pieces of her work. (Which is extremely rare because her artwork has been dispersed throughout all of Europe) In a few weeks my entire class (around twenty-five people) will be traveling to Milan for the day to visit this exhibition.

I am still in the same Italian language class that I was in before my week break to Greece, but this is now a continuation course. The first course has already been completed and now we are starting a new one. Almost like we took Italian one for the first month we were here and throughout this semester we will be taking a less intense Italian class that be similar to Italian two.

Overall, I have enjoyed every one of my classes and also really like my professors. Each professor is very different from the other but they are all very enthusiastic about what they are teaching which makes the course even more interesting. The UC program is very intensive and has been known to be very difficult but judging from this past week I think I'm going to really enjoy this semester!