1593 designed by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) and sculpted by Pietro Gucci
Formerly in Piazza Giudea in the Jewish Ghetto. It was removed with the demolition of the Ghetto in 1885
It was rebuilt here in 1930
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Friday, December 27, 2013
PESCHIERA FOUNTAIN
FONTANA DEL PESCHIERA
The fountain was built in 1949
It is the ending fountain of the PESCHIERA-CAPORE AQUEDUCT fed by springs near Cittaducale (Rieti) and inaugurated in 1964, even if the work lasted from 1937 until 1980
With its about 14,000 liters of water per second (about the same amount of all eleven ancient Roman aqueducts put together), a length of about 130 km (81 miles) of which 90% underground and the power of a hydroelectric plant, it is considered one of the largest and most complex artificial water systems in the world
FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE
FONTANA DEL NETTUNO
1576 inner and outer basins by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) for Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85)
It remained undecorated for 300 years until the 1873 contest that decided the decoration
At the center "Neptune's fight with an octopus" by Antonio Della Bitta (1807/c.1879)
Around "Nereids, cherubs and sea horses" by Gregorio Zappalà (1833/1908) placed in the fountain in 1878
Zappalà had designed a black woman (a "Mora") to give a symmetrical company to the "Moro" of the fountain on the south side of the square, but the Neptune by Della Bitta was chosen instead
Thursday, December 26, 2013
FOUNTAIN OF MOSES
FONTANA DEL MOSÈ
1587/89 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) with the collaboration of his brother Giovanni Fontana (1540/1614), expert in hydraulics
It was the end of the Acqua Felice aqueduct, restoration by Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90) of the ancient Aqua Alexandriana, the aqueduct built by the emperor Alexander Severus (222/235) in 226 AD
Very much criticised "Statue of Moses" 1588 by Leonardo Sormani (before 1530/after 1589) and Prospero Antichi aka Prospero Bresciano (active since 1580/d. after 1592) with obvious anachronism of the act of separating the waters while holding the tablets of the law that he would have obtained only later
The statue ended up being nicknamed Mosè ridicolo, ridiculous Moses
Prospero Bresciano was so upset about the criticism that he died of a heart attack or, in another version, he committed suicide
NICHES with bas-reliefs made in 1589:
On the left "Aaron leads the Jewish to drink" by G.B. Della Porta (1542/1602)
On the right "Joshua makes the Jews cross the dry Jordan River" by Flaminio Vacca (1538/1605) and Pietro Paolo Olivieri (1551/99), who also did the "Frieze with coat of arms of Sixtus V between two angels"
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
FOUNTAIN OF THE BLACK MAN
FONTANA DEL MORO
1576 central basin by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) for Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85)
Larger basin by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) originally designed by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667)
"Statue of an Ethiopian man fighting with a dolphin" 1654 by Giovanni Antonio Mari (active from 1635/d. 1661) designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini commissioned by Olimpia Maidalchini sister in law of pope Innocent X Pamphilj (1644/55)
"Mermen and other ornaments" copies made in 1874 by Luigi Amici (1817/97) from the originals executed in 1575 by the Florentine sculptors Simone Moschino (about 1560/1610) and Taddeo Landini (about 1550/96), by the Flemish Egidio della Riviera De Molines and by Giacomo Silla Longhi (active since 1568/d. 1619) from Varese
The originals are in the garden of Villa Borghese's Lake
"Four Masks", also copies of the originals at Villa Borghese. They were moved with the four Mermen from the fountain in Piazza del Popolo by Giacomo Della Porta, that had been removed in 1823 by Giuseppe Valadier
One of the four masks was heavily damaged in 2011 by a deranged man who wanted to draw attention on himself
"The most radical of the iconographical innovations of Bernini was his contribution to the history of the baroque fountain. A tradition of fountains with figures existed in Florence more than in Rome and that tradition Bernini took up and revolutionized" (Rudolf Wittkower)
FOUNTAIN OF THE BIG MASK
FONTANA DEL MASCHERONE
1626 maybe Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655) for the Farnese family
"Basin in porphyry marble" and "Marble Mask", ancient pieces from which, during some festivals, wine would pour, graciously offered to the common people by the Farnese family
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
FOUNTAIN OF THE MERMEN
FONTANA DEI TRITONI
1715 Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721) with eight pointed heraldic star belonging to pope Clement XI Albani (1700/21) in the tank
"Mermen" by Francesco Maratta brother of Carlo Maratta
"Rocks" di Filippo Bai
Not far to the south FOUNTAIN FOR CATTLE made in 1717 also by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri formerly close to the Fountain of the Mermen and moved here after the construction of the banks of the Tiber. It was the only watering place for animals of the many that existed in the center of Rome
SAILORS' FOUNTAIN
FONTANA DEI NAVIGATORI
1704 Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729)
Reassembled partially here in 1930 after the construction of the banks of the Tiber at the end of 1800
It was originally part of the structure of the Porto of Ripetta (Little shore port) and the lantern was used as a beacon for sailors
Monday, December 23, 2013
FOUNTAIN OF THE RIVERS
FONTANA DEI FIUMI
1649/51 Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) who won the favor of Pope Innocent X Pamphili (1644/55) after a difficult period in his career
The pope was also an admirer of the great Francesco Borromini (1599/1667), Bernini's great rival, but ousted, with this work, from the role of pope's favorite architect
Borromini had directed and designed the work for the pipes that connected the Aqua Virgo aqueduct from the area where the Trevi Fountain is now to Piazza Navona and had been appointed architect of the fountain. He was therefore doubly disappointed at the choice of Pope Innocent X who supplanted him with his rival whom he also blamed for stealing his idea of using allegories of rivers for the fountain
NORTH-EAST
"Nile" (Africa) by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli (1619/71)
The face is covered to indicate that the sources were unknown at the time
NORTH-WEST
"Rio de la Plata" (America) by Francesco Baratta (about 1590/about 1663)
The face of an incongruous black African goes to show the little knowledge of American ethnic groups at the time. The coins symbolize the wealth of the new world. The actual longest river in the world, the Amazon was not chosen because it had become a recent colonial possession of Portugal, a big enemy of Spain which had close relations with the Pamphilj family. In 1640 Portugal had rebelled against a Spanish rule that had lasted for 60 years
SOUTH-EAST
"Ganges" (Asia) by Claude Poussin (active since 1644/d. 1661)
The oar indicates that it was almost entirely navigable
SUTH-WEST
"Danube" (Europe) by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86)
His hand holds the papal coat of arms, being the only continent entirely Christian
"The number of fountains created by Bernini is relatively small, but the greater was its effect. Contemporaries were fascinated not only by his new, truly poetic use of realistic elements as rocks, shells and natural products, but also by his revolutionary way of treating the water itself. Because he replaced the traditional thin jets of water with an exuberant and powerful harnessing of the elements. It was the constant movement of water roaring and murmuring, which helped Bernini to fulfill the dream he had long caressed: to create true movement and pulsating life. Throughout the arrangement of the fountain there is a manifest reference to the rivers of Paradise at the foot of the mountain on which the Cross stands. This monument of the triumph of Catholic victory therefore also contains the idea of salvation of humanity under the sign of the cross" (Rudolf Wittkower)
Animals, plants and rocks were painted by Guidobaldo Abbatini (1600/56), the faithful painter collaborator of Bernini, with colors later completely disappeared. This fact makes us wonder about Bernini's continuous interest and research, in this work as well, for an authentic blend of architecture, sculpture and painting in a single baroque phantasmagoria
OBELISCO AGONALE (Agonale Obelisk)
Height 16.53 m (54 feet)
With fountain, base and dove on top it is more than 30 meters (95 feet) high
It is a Roman imitation from the time of Domitian (81/96) of an Egyptian obelisk. Domitian's name is written in hieroglyphics
It was originally placed in the ISIS CAMPENSIS (the Temple of Isis, the Egyptian goddess near the Pantheon) or maybe, some say, in his villa at Albano
Filippo Coarelli and Jean-Claude Grenier believe it comes originally from the TEMPLUM GENTIS FLAVIAE which was located on Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, where the Octagonal Hall or Minerva Hall, former Planetarium is now
It was moved by Maxentius in 311 (306/312) to the center of the circus in his villa of the same name
It has been proved that it wasn't originally at the center of the Stadium of Domitian as some say
It was broken into four pieces when it was found
LIGHTHOUSE OF JANICULUM HILL
FARO DEL GIANICOLO
1911 Manfredo Manfredi (1859/1627) for the Italians emigrated to Argentina who wanted to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Italian unification
Its night light is blinking white, red and green, the colors of the Italian flag
FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE IN VALLE GIULIA
FACOLTÀ DI ARCHITETTURA DI VALLE GIULIA
1926 designed by Enrico Del Debbio (1891/1973) and completed only in 1932
"What is most surprising is the ease with which Del Debbio passes from one style to another: from Baroque to the almost Liberty style, from Rationalism tinged with the colors of Futurism to the Neo-Academical, from Neo-Realism to Classicism up to a sweetened "Brutalism" that, at times, slightly recalls the poetic material of Mario Ridolfi" (Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
HEADQUARTERS OF THE VII FIREFIGHTERS BRIGADE
EXCUBITORIUM
Discovered in 1865/66 and excavated in the following years
Private house converted into a barracks at the end of the second century AD. Headquarters (not just a guard post) of the Seventh Brigade of the Cohort for the surveillance of Regions IX (or XI) and XIV
The brigade was established by Augustus (27 BC/14) in 6 BC with duties similar to the current firefighters and night policemen
The floor is 8 meters (26 feet) deeper than the actual level
LARGE HALL
Originally paved with mosaics in black and white disappeared when the Excubitorium was used as a bomb shelter during World War II
At the center a hexagonal basin for a fountain and, on one side, a rectangular exedra with the remains of frescoes and graffiti that identify it as the chapel dedicated to the Genius of the barracks of the Excubitorium
The other rooms around were probably the rooms of the brigade and a bathroom
Many graffiti in the atrium dating from 215/245 AD and often, bearing the words sebaciaria and milites sebaciarii, derived from the word sego the material of the torches that were used during the night reconnaissance of the brigade
FORMER PANTANELLA FACTORY
EX STABILIMENTO PANTANELLA
PASTIFICIO (Pasta Factory)
1929/31 Pietro Aschieri (1889/1952)
"A specific feature of the poetry of Pietro Aschieri is, at the end of the twenties, his interest in the value of the 'mass' on which he focuses, thoroughly investigating the possible plastic effects. This is the theme present especially in the Pantanella Pasta Factory in which the 'weight' of the building shell, already evident from the type of finish is accentuated by the deep incisions of the openings, by the inclination of the entrance portal and by the insertion of very light glass surfaces. To this overall effect contributes also the shelter corner that seems to bring out, with its projections, the fullness of the building" (Piero Ostilio Rossi)
BISCOTTIFICIO (Biscuits factory) 1954 and OFFICES BUILDING 1960 Silvano Ricci
The structure was redeveloped in the years 1996/2003 by Bruno Moauro and occupied by apartments, shops and a Bingo Palace
Saturday, December 21, 2013
EUR DISTRICT
EUR
First project 1937 by Giuseppe Pagano (1896/1945), Marcello Piacentini (1881/1960), Ettore Rossi (1894/1968) and Luigi Vietti (1903/98)
Second project 1938 Marcello Piacentini and Gaetano Minnucci (1896/1980)
"The new plan brings to the extreme the starting scheme by eliminating uncertainties and contradictions and reaching paradoxically, albeit in a purely academic perspective, greater consistency. The play of axial visions and orthogonal routes becomes tighter" (Piero Ostilio Rossi)
Works were interrupted in 1943 for World War II and started again in 1951, with a further boost for the Olympics in 1960
Project of 1952 by Marcello Piacentini and reworking, at least until 1955, by Giorgio Calza Bini (1908/99) Piacentini's working partner
Area of about 420 hectares (1,037 acres)
Designed and built for the Universal Exhibition which was to be held in the capital to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Fascist March on Rome (1922) in 1942. The event was later canceled due to World War II
The original name was E 42 (meaning Exhibition 1942), then changed in EUR acronym of ESPOSIZIONE UNIVERSALE ROMA, Universal Exposition of Rome
In the toponymy of the Municipality the district is officially referred to as QUARTIERE EUROPA (Europe District) but it is known anyway by its acronym
The rationalist architecture in vogue in the fascist period found here its outburst aimed at creating an ideal city ruled by harmony and reason, but at the same time, imbued with metaphysical architecture and therefore not humane. What's left of it can be guessed among the more recent superstructure and it is certainly full of fascinating dreamlike substance
Another positive aspect, not much present in the rest of the city, is the harmonization of green spaces with built-up areas which creates a considerable attractiveness of the urban fabric
"To understand the urban planning genesis and the architectural significance of E42 one needs to remember that the new 'imperial state' had helped to substantially change the climate in which the Italian architects were to operate. It is also important to note that in those years, because of both the changed political conditions in some countries, and both for the stalemate in which the architectural research had ended up, a general return to classicism was in fashion in all of Europe" (Piero Ostilio Rossi)
Besides the RESIDENTIAL AREA, it is HOME TO OFFICES including:
Confindustria (Association of Industrial Enterprises), Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, SIAE (Italian Society of Authors and Publishers), ICE (National Institute for Foreign Trade)
CENTRAL OFFICES OF INSTITUTIONS:
ENI, Banca di Roma, Italian Post Office, INAIL
ITALIAN OFFICES OF MANY MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES
MUSEUM AREA:
Museo della Civiltà Romana (Museum of Roman Civilization), the Museo Nazionale dell'Alto Medioevo (National Museum of the Middle Ages) and the Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini (National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography Luigi Pigorini) as well as a new planetarium with the attached Museo dell'Astronomia (Astronomy Museum), opened in 2004
A new, innovative and controversial CENTRO CONGRESSI ITALIA (Italy Conference Center) is currently being built in an area of 27,000 m² (6.7 acres), between Viale Cristoforo Colombo, Viale Asia, Viale Shakespeare and Viale Europa. It was designed by Massimiliano Fuksas (1944)
It's called NUVOLA (Cloud) and it will indeed contain a huge cloud-like structure
MULTIFUNCTIONAL BUILDING
EDIFICIO POLIFUNZIONALE
1963/65 Lucio Passarelli (1922) with his brothers Vincenzo (1904/85) and Fausto (1910/98) plus other members of their staff
One of the most interesting works of Italian architecture of the post-World War II period
Curtain wall at the bottom and rough cement in the upper part
It houses the Passarelli studio
BUILDING FOR SHOPS AND OFFICES IN LARGO S. SUSANNA
EDIFICIO PER NEGOZI E UFFICI IN LARGO S. SUSANNA
About 1932 Giuseppe Samonà (1898/1983)
Not officially attributed to the great Sicilian architect since it was built for the Caltagirone family without a license
Friday, December 20, 2013
BUILDING FOR SHOPS AND APARTMENTS IN VIA TEMBIEN
EDIFICIO PER NEGOZI E ABITAZIONI IN VIA TEMBIEN
1949/54 Angelo Di Castro (1901/89)
Curved façade with long balconies, very original for the city of Rome
"The architecture is crossed by horizontal bands of deep bottling terraces, digging deep into the surface of the building, helping to create a powerful chiaroscuro. The architectural result, quite unusual in the Roman area, confirms the success of foreign magazines that spread in Italy the production of Central Europe" (Giorgio Muratore)
BUILDING FOR APARTMENTS IN VIA GERMANICO
EDIFICIO PER ABITAZIONI IN VIA GERMANICO
1920 Marcello Piacentini (1881/1960)
Residential building in Secession style, typical of Central Europe at the end of 1800 and early 1900, so called because of the will to separate from official academic art and its institutions
APARTMENTS' BLOCK IN VIALE LIBIA
EDIFICIO INTENSIVO IN VIALE LIBIA
1953/54 Ugo Luccichenti (1898/1976)
While using the maximum building area available, he did not gave up on solutions of architectural value
"His activity is tied hand in glove with that of the Società Generale Immobiliare (General Realty Company), a company key protagonist of the capital's urban development and real estate throughout the last century, both for new buildings (...) both as regards with famous city 'demolitions', especially around the Vatican, under whose control the company went after the Lateran Treaty of '29 (...). Luccichenti for nearly thirty years has been a key player, able to mix in his works practicality and structural testing, economic needs and a refined language, his being 'engineer' while his being an 'architect'. For nearly thirty years he has been able to incorporate and consolidate the European and Italian lessons, from Giò Ponti to Mallet-Stevens, from Moretti to Mendelsohn, perfectly able to encode expressionist and rationalist influences, breaking codes just to give them new life through precise and never banal interpretations (...). Few like him have managed to combine architecture with the relentless demands of commitments" (Luca Nicotera - (h) ortus, architecture magazine)
Thursday, December 19, 2013
ESSO BUILDING
EDIFICIO DELLA ESSO
1978/80 by the Spanish architect Julio Lafuente (1921) and Gaetano Rebecchini
Still bold and futuristic architectural solution consisting of three gigantic inverted triangles
Highly controversial restructuring work is underway that it seems would affect the original beauty and originality of the structure
BUILDING WITH GARAGE AND MARKET
EDIFICIO CON AUTORIMESSA E MERCATO
1956/57 Riccardo Morandi (1902/89)
The front of the building is sawtooth shaped corresponding to the arrangement of the parking spaces
Excellent parking solution in elevation, which unfortunately has not been much imitated in Rome where building underground parking lots in such a rich archaeological area is an absurd and extremely costly habit
"In an interview given to the magazine Domus (October 1984) he made clear that to solve the same structural problem there are many ways, all of them valid from the static, economic and functional points of view, but the final choice, according to his view, it's up to the designer and it regards the aesthetic and social aspects giving character and beauty to the work. a vision diametrically opposite to that of Pier Luigi Nervi who, although he belonged to the same cultural environment, declared that a correct structure is automatically beautiful" (Alessandra Capanna - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
GOLDEN HOUSE OF NERO
DOMUS AUREA
Built for Nero (54/68) after the fire of 64 by Severus and Celer and adorned with paintings by Fabullus
About 260 hectares (about one square mile)
The only remaining pavilion - 300 x 190 m (1,000 feet x 630) - continued to be occupied until a fire destroyed it in 104 AD. It was then inserted in the foundations of the Baths of Trajan, which kept it preserved underground
Until now 150 rooms have been excavated, 30 of which could be visited until the recent closure
It was inserted in 1932 in PARK OF OPPIAN HILL made by Raffaele De Vico (1881/1969)
"Definitive statement of the new style of painting already begun in the Flavian period, the so-called IV style: inspired by the criteria of stage sets, it scans with thin walls and complex architecture open to illusory prospective backgrounds and enriched by a large repertoire of fantastic decorative elements, checkered landscape, textile motifs" (Simona Fortunelli - TMG)
"It addresses the various models and traditions, whose contrast is indeed one of the characteristics of the IV style. In its qualitatively better, or at least richer, expressions everything is held together by an abundance of small and almost redundant various decorative elements, according to a clear sense of horror vacui (fear of emptiness), which gives a decidedly baroque look to the whole" (Gian Luca Grassigli - TMG)
It is divided into two parts:
1) TO THE WEST
It circles around a large courtyard oriented north-south, perhaps Domus Transitoria, the previous residence of Nero:
GARDEN WITH PORCH
NYMPHAEUM with mosaic "Ulysses offers wine to Polyphemus"
HALL OF THE LITTLE HOWLS VAULT probably triclinium (dining room) beautifully decorated with ceiling fresco friezes around a central motif inspired by the Hellenistic painted curtains
On the right ROOM OF THE BLACK VAULT
Under the group of rooms to the south of the grotto, excavations have revealed the presence of REPUBLICAN HOUSES of the second century BC with remains of mosaic floors and paintings of the so-called First Style
2) TO THE EAST
Rooms arranged around a large irregular polygonal recess followed by a sector in a radial pattern around an octagonal hall, certainly added later, and costituting probably the actual Domus Aurea:
ROOM OF THE GOLDEN VAULT
CRYPTOPORTICUS
CTAGONAL ROOM
ROOM OF ACHILLES IN SCIRO with painted lunette "Achilles with women's clothes unmasked by Ulysses"
When a young Roman fell by chance into a slot on the side of the Oppian Hill at the end of the 1400s, he found himself in a strange cave, filled with painted figures. Soon the young Roman artists began to go in to see for themselves
The frescoes then discovered faded later to pale gray stains on the plaster, but the effect of these "grotesque" (from the Italian word "grotto" which means cave) decorations, in fact, was thrilling for the entire Renaissance period
When Pinturicchio, Raphael and Michelangelo went down under the ground in order to study these images, they had a revelation of what was the real ancient world. They, and other artists, like Marco Palmezzano, who worked in Rome in those years, began to spread throughout the rest of Italy such "grotesque" style
Besides the signatures of famous visitors and later engraved on the frescoes, such as those of Giacomo Casanova and the Marquis de Sade, a few inches away from each other, it is possible to read the names of great painters such as Domenico Ghirlandaio, Martin van Heemskerck and Filippino Lippi
ORATORY OF St. FELICITA
Retrieved from one of the service areas that were not involved in the Trajan construction and later were used as dwellings
There are graffiti and paintings almost completely disappeared dating back from the I/II to the V century AD
ATAC TRAMS DEPOT
DEPOSITO TRANVIARIO DELL'ATAC
1937 Mario Loreti
In the area the CITTÀ DEL SOLE (Sun City) complex is under construction: it will consist of residential buildings, offices, stores, a public library and underground parking, functional to the restructuring of the near Tiburtina Station
During construction of Sun City in 2011 a LARGE ANCIENT BUILDING was found, first for residential and then funeral use with traces dating back from the fifth century BC to the whole imperial period
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
CRYPTA BALBI
CRYPTA BALBI
National Roman Museum
Area between the crypt and the portico belonging to the theater built in 13 BC by Lucius Cornelius Balbo, who was consul in 32 BC. It is the smallest of the three theaters in the Campo Marzio area
The 1961 excavations have revealed part of the great exedra on one of the sides of the almost square underground portico constituting the Crypta Balbi
In the middle of the portico there used to be a small temple, maybe the Temple of Vulcan in Campo Marzio: an inscription with a dedication to Vulcan was found under Palazzo Mattei and it is now kept in the museum. It is an inscription dating back to the Trajan period (98/117) and the dedication was made by a Praefectus Vigilum so that made some scholars identify the Crypt as the central headquarters of the vigiles (firemen and night police), the Praefectura Vigilum
The area must have been used in antiquity by artisans and for some industrial activity, as it can be also proven by the funerary inscription of one L. Aufidius Aprilis, who was Corinthiarius de Theatro Balbi, founder of bronze artifacts in the Theater of Balbus
Museo Nazionale RomanoNational Roman Museum
It is made out of five different museums in five different locations. The other four are Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, Museo delle Terme and Museo Palatino
It opened in 2000
It does include ancient structures of the Theater, part of the Crypta and of the Porticus Minucia Frumentaria
It would really make a lot of sense if the Museo del Medioevo (Museum of the Middle Ages) in the EUR district could be merged here: the spectacular Hall in opus sectile from Ostia could be a much more accessible attraction than what it is now
FIRST SECTION - Ground Floor
"Funerary Altar of Lucius Aufidius Aprilis" goldsmith who worked with bronze in the first century AD
Archeology and history of an urban landscape:
1) CAMPO MARZIO AREA BEFORE AUGUSTUS
2) THEATER AND CRYPTA BALBI
3) CRYPTA BALBI AND PORTICUS MINUCIA
4) TRANSFORMATION OF THE URBAN LANDSCAPE - 5) S. MARIA DOMINE ROSE AND CASTELLUM AUREUM
6) THE HOUSES OF THE MERCHANTS
7) CONVENT OF S. CATERINA DEI FUNARI
8) THE BLOCK IN THE MODERN PERIOD
9) PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES
10) MULTIMEDIA ROOM
11) ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS
Stages of development, end of the Theater of Balbus and subsequent reuse of the same. Interesting documents in support of the findings:
"Fragment of the Forma Urbis" monumental map of Rome in 151 panels (scale 1/246) 18.10 m (60 feet) wide and 13 m (43 feet) high covering 253 m² (2,723 square feet) built between 203 and 211 at the time of Septimius Severus, of which only is about one-tenth is left in numerous fragments
It is the basic document for our knowledge of the topography of ancient Rome. Most of the fragments lie sadly forgotten in storage
"Marble base with a dedication of mensores frumentarii"
There are also findings of later periods as the "Bronze lid with the name of Domina Rosa" of the VIII or IX century, when a church was built on this site
Also noteworthy are the fragments of Roman marble from a calcara (lime kiln) set up in late Roman Antiquity (capitals, fragments of statues)
The exhibition continues with diachronic documentation from the medieval period (ceramics, notarial documents, inscriptions), to the use of the block in the modern age
SECOND SECTION - First Floor
The city of Rome from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Archaeology and history:
1) ROME AT THE END OF ANTIQUITY
2) BYZANTINE ROME
3) RELIGION AND ART: PAINTINGS OF S. Maria in Via Lata
4) ROME UNDER THE PAPAL DOMAIN
5) THE FORUM In the Dark Ages
Exhibition with synchronic display: it shows in a given period (from the V to the X century) the urban life in the city of Rome. Large quantities of findings especially domestic (kitchenware, tableware in African pottery, lamps, glasses) and clothing (buckles, pins, jewelry in Ostrogoth style)
The display highlights the importance of some objects for the reconstruction of the historical context (coins, tiles, brick stamps, inscriptions) and reconstructs a Late Antiquity landfill in order to obtain accurate data on dietary habits, on trades and on the living standards of the period (waste animal bones, fragments of amphorae and tableware)
In addition, findings of Byzantine Rome as coins, pottery, glass, objects of daily life
Interesting "Reliquary Cross with five medallions etched" dating to the seventh century
Brilliant "Early Medieval Frescoes of S. Maria in Via Lata" (VI/IX century) including "St. Erasmus flogged in front of Diocletian (284/305)" and other artifacts of a religious nature as pilgrim flasks, inscriptions
"Part of a fresco from the church of St. Hadrian" (772/795) in the Roman Forum, fragments of architectural decorations
Very valuable "Episcopal throne" decorated with incised bone of the eighth century
THIRD SECTION
Recent discoveries behind the portico of the theater including two portraits in marble: "Livia" wife of Augustus and "Julia Mamea" mother of Alexander Severus (222/235)
In addition, an underground mithraeum has been discovered and excavated, and, with the help of multimedia material, the function of these places of worship is being reconstructed
The excavations in the theater continue to this day
RINASCIMENTO AVENUE
CORSO DEL RINASCIMENTO
1936/40 Arnaldo Foschini (1884/1968)
Foschini included in his project the partial reconstruction of some of the stands belonging to the Stadium of Domitian and made it visible in the building north of Piazza Navona
Monday, December 16, 2013
CONSERVATORY OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OR OF THE SPINSTERS
CONSERVATORIO DELLA DIVINA PROVVIDENZA O DELLE ZITELLE
St. Mary of the Rosary in the Conservatory of the Divine Providence
1705/28 Girolamo Theodoli (1677/1766) and executed by his pupil Egidio Marescotti as a residence for the poor and honest Roman unmarried girls, in order to "remove them from the danger of the world and preserve their modesty, as long as one could find the opportunity to have them married or entering a nunnery"
From 1682 the spinsters benefited from a tax paid by the merchants and boatmen of the nearby Port of Ripetta
Restored in 1986 by Mario Moretti, who transformed the building of luxury hotel RESIDENCE RIPETTA
S. Maria del Rosario nel Conservatorio della Divina ProvvidenzaSt. Mary of the Rosary in the Conservatory of the Divine Providence
Deconsecrated - 1717/28 Girolamo Theodoli and executed by Egidio Marescotti
It was the church of the Conservatory and it is now used as a conference room with the not quite pertinent name of SALONE BERNINI
It doesn't not have a façade but the large window at the top left part of the building gives away its presence from Via di Ripetta
"An interesting example of architecture of the early eighteenth century in Rome. (...) The main altar is qualified with a luministic dramatic effect, produced by a hidden side window: unlike the entire nave dominated by the Tuscan order, in the altar predominates the Ionic order of the pilasters and the Composite order of the capitals of the columns" (Simonetta Ceccarelli)
On the wall facing the street "Bust of Pope Innocent XI Odescalchi (1676/89)" by Bernardo Adrizzoia
VAULT
Fresco "Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes symbol of Divine Providence" 1726 by Giacomo Triga (1674/1746), a pupil of Benedetto Luti
RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX BELSITO
COMPLESSO RESIDENZIALE BELSITO
1953 Ugo Luccichenti (1898/1976) for the Società Generale Immobiliare (General Building Society) during the Italian economical boom
It reflects the new optimism for the future after the tragedy of World War II
"The architectonical vocabulary is part of the so-called International Style, even if it is much richer and variegated in its formal solutions. Walls light as screens, crystal clear transparencies, delicate colors and diagonals repeatedly present contribute to give to the architectonical result that lightness and brightness that the fast growing bourgeoisie, with its new found wealth, is now permitted to enjoy" (Giorgio Muratore)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)