The elevator to Cavallini's hidden frescoes.

There is another Last Judgement in Rome, less known than the one admired by millions of tourists each year in the Sistine Chapel, but as powerful and grand, painted almost 250 years earlier. To appreciate this masterpiece all you need to do is ring a bell.  Following modifications to the church the fresco is now in the cloistered nun's choir and can be reached only by passing through part of the convent. So ring a bell, follow the nun, a quick ride in the elevator and you are there, facing its vibrant colors in a close-up view.
The fresco was rediscovered in 1900 during some restoration works in Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, one of the most ancient titular churches in Rome. According to Ghiberti and Vasari it is by the Roman painter Pietro Cavallini, a pioneer in visual art in the late Duecento.

Pietro Cavallini worked for most his life in Rome, active also in Naples and possibly in Assisi.  Some scholars in fact attribute to Cavallini the fresco cycle of the Legend of St. Francis traditionally considered by Giotto. Not much is known about Cavallini's training.

The present church of Santa Cecilia was built under the pope Paschal I (817-24) who appears in the mosaic of the apse completed when the pope was still alive. Around 1300 the church was redecorated: a new ciborium by Arnolfo di Cambio was placed above the altar while the nave and the counter façade were frescoed by Cavallini. The precious cycle was largely destroyed when the cardinal Francesco Acquaviva had the interior redesigned in 1725.
Cavallini's Last Judgement  (around 1293) was rediscovered in the beginning of XX century, behind the choir-stalls of the Benedictine nuns. Large sections of the old fresco came to light again: the middle register of the Last Judgment, fragments of the Annunciation on the north wall, and two scenes from the story of Jacob on the south wall.  It is assumed that there were cycles of the Old and New Testament on the walls of the nave.

The monumental enthroned Christ and Apostles, the angels with feathers in graduated colors reveal a new sense of volumes, a blend of Byzantine, Roman and early Christian elements. The idea of portraying the apostles with the symbols of their martyrdom was a novelty derived from a French practice, just inaugurated at the time. The chiaroscuro models those faces who reveal true emotions, beyond the abstract Byzantine manner, inspired by the great pictorial tradition of late antiquity.  A new sense of real!

The discovery of new frescoes by Cavallini in Santa Maria in Aracoeli in 2000 brought about another wave of interest on the artist whose reputation decline was mainly due to Vasari who relegated him to a secondary role, as a pupil of Giotto.  While the innovations of Cavallini might have inspired the younger Giotto instead.



A Smarthistory Video on the frescoes:  http://youtu.be/pwHzN9aV1WY

When Moses twisted his head.

During the restoration of Michelangelo's Moses, completed in 2002, many unexpected findings were made, including significant modifications in the final years between 1542-45. The theory is supported by a great scholar on Michelangelo: Christoph L. Frommel.  In his biography on the artist Michelangelo una vita inquieta (2005) chief restorer Antonio Forcellino describes how the artist worked over time.  
According to a document recently discovered by Forcellino, Michelangelo would have turned the head of Moses 25 years after his first version.  A letter from an anonymous acquaintance of the artist reports (shortly after Michelangelo's death) how the master had turned the head of Moses at a later time. Frommel noticed how oddly enough art history makes no reference to the fact.
Other elements discovered during the restoration seem to confirm the theory:
- the massive beard pulled to the right, presumably because on the left there was not enough marble left after the torsion;
- the throne of Moses is lowered on the left and to place the left foot back the artist is forced to tighten the knee;
- for the first time since the days of Canova the rear part of the statue was examined: a belt survives (which disappeared from the front).
Apparently the reason who prompted Michelangelo to turn Moses' head was religious.
Moses does not turn around and grab his beard to 'tame his passion' and save the tablets as Sigmund Freud had suggested. 
According to Frommel Moses looks away from the altar where the venerated chains of Peter granted indulgences to countless pilgrims. 
Just as if he had seen a new golden calf.
Further evidence for Michelangelo's involvement with Reformation circles.

The Lanternarius at the Baths of Diocletian.

Lanternarius with cucullus - I-II century A.D.
Rome Tiber, Palatine bridge.
National Roman Museum (Baths of Diocletian)
Michelangelo's Cloister.

A little mysterious statue rests in the shade of the cloister in the National Roman Museum (Baths of Diocletian).  Among hundreds of statues of the Imperial age, it would easily risk to go unnoticed if it were not for the seductive charm it emanates, a sense of peace, an aura of mystery.  
Rather than statues of emperors or victorious generals,  those 'extras', background actors in history, have much more to say about daily life back then:  a little boy, a slave, holding a lantern, fallen asleep while waiting for his master.  It's chilly outside and the lanternarius is wrapped in his cucullus, a rough hooded jacket. 

Streets had no public lighting, except when shows were held at night at the circus or amphitheater. 
Therefore to venture out it was necessary to have a torch or a lantern, perhaps carried by a slave (lanternarius).  Especially in the heavy and noisy night traffic.
Caesar in fact in 45 b.C. prohibited the circulation of carts and chariots during the day (Municipal Julian Law), except to transport building materials for great public works.

The cucullus, later adopted also by medieval monks (and by the likes of Yoda in Star Wars) was the work coat used by Roman slaves:  just as the toga was worn by  Roman citizens so the cucullus was indicative of a slave, who needed to be outside in bad weather. 

The cucullus is the ‘cloak of invisibility’ associated also with the underworld and the most renowned cucullatus divinity of Hellenistic antiquity is Telesphorus (god of sleep):  a hooded, cloaked, barefoot child-god, venerated also in association with Asklepios, the healer god who visits patients at night.  Thus often on tombs similar funerary statuettes illuminated the path of the dominus through the darkness of death. 

 

  

 

Klimt's Three Ages at Gallery of Modern Art in Rome.

Mothers have always been a popular subject in Art,  depicted as goddesses, tender Madonnas,  timeless mythological figures.
There is one work in particular that comes immediately to my mind when I think of motherhood. An icon. It's by Klimt, probably the greatest Austrian painter who ever lived and one of the most expensive of all time, after death.
It is surprisingly in Rome.
Shown for the first time at the Biennale in Venice in 1910, it won the gold medal in 1911 at the International Exhibition in Rome for the 50th Anniversary of Italian Unity. It was purchased by Rome's National Gallery of Modern Art in 1912.
A tender portrait of a loving mother posing as a Madonna. In fact it's often referred to as Mother and Child.  



The Three Ages of Woman (1905) - Gustav Klimt.
Galleria d'Arte Moderna - Rome.

But a mysterious third woman appears in the background: old, naked, an unforgiving depiction of decay.  A disturbing vision. So disturbing that in the numberless reproductions, posters and postcards, it's often simply 'cut out'.
The old woman might have been inspired, according to some scholars, by Rodin's  Old Courtesan, in Vienna for the Secession Exhibition in 1901.  
Three women at different stages in life: an allusion to the never-ending cycle of life and death. 
Klimt had lost his son Otto in 1902 and besides an apparent tribute to motherhood there is a clear obsession with time ad death.  Nevertheless it evokes also youth, fertility and love.
The vibrant colors of his palette convey a less bitter and tragic interpretation of the theme.  But the decorative elements in the background, similar to the byzantine mosaics he loved, are something else:  those mysterious shapes have been interpreted as bacteria and protozoa, symbols of decay and decomposition. He was fascinated by microbiology.
Death and sexuality were regarded as inconceivable elements of chaos by his society. Nevertheless Eros and Thanatos were the source of  Klimt's inspiration. 
The ageing process, especially concerning women, was a popular subject already in the Renaissance depicted by artists such as Giorgione. It became a common theme also in Klimt's Symbolist era.
His works have even been criticized for being pornographic.  He was fascinated and obsessed by female bodies. And by women's clothing.  Some of the outfits he created for his creatures are truly spectacular. Not surprising they inspired designer John Galliano for one of his collections.
Not much is known about his private life but he was apparently the father of at least 14 illegitimate children with his various lovers.
He once wrote: "I have never painted a self-portrait. I am more interested in other people, especially women.'





Trappist: the historical Roman chocolate.

 

In Sicily it's Modica, in Tuscany Stainer, in Turin Peyrano or Caffarel, among others. 
In Rome the synonym for chocolate is Trappist, produced from 1880 by monks! 
Dark, with milk or hazelnuts, gianduia and for Christmas 'torrone' (nougat) of course.
Their recipes are ancient and strictly top secret, their logo:  the Colosseum with a cross!
Trappists are named after La Trappe Abbey in Normandy (France).  They are a reformed wing of Cistercian monks who were also originally from France (Citeaux) where the order was founded in 1098.  Trappists follow St. Benedict' s rule.
They used to speak only when necessary:  they actually have a sign language!  Even if they were actually much more rigorous until the Second Vatican Council in 1960s.
They still live by the work of their hands, not neglecting study and writing.  Monasteries are generally located in rural areas and produce cheese, bread, chocolate, beer, jams, liqueurs and also cosmetics!
Their beers contain residual sugars plus yeast so, unlike common beer, will improve with age.

Three Fountains Abbey, 1874.

The Trappist Abbey in Rome is located at the Tre Fontane (Three Fountains) on the Via Laurentina where they have three separate churches (one to St. Paul, one to the Blessed Mary and the third dedicated to the Saints Vincent and Anastasius).  The Church of St. Paul was raised on the spot where the saint was beheaded by order of Emperor Nero. Legend accounts for the three springs (fontane) asserting that, when severed from Paul's body, his head bounced and struck the earth in three different places, from which fountains sprang up. The church also holds the pillar to which St. Paul was tied according to tradition and some mosaics from Ostia Antica.

More on the Abbey:
http://www.sanpaolotrefontane.org/index.php
http://www.abbaziatrefontane.it/index.php (only in Italian).

Once the area was swampy and malarial:  that's why eucalyptus trees were planted:  their liqueur distilled from the leaves is very popular.   Their specialties are sold in the little shop by the entrance.  The monks also sell an aromatic vinegar which is said to cure headaches and rheumatism and the best chocolate you can find in Rome. 
Actually till 1970 all those goods were produced by the monks, now a factory in Frattocchie supplies the shop of the Tre Fontane.

Their specialties are also online:
http://www.bottegadelmonastero.it/index.php?manufacturers_id=20&sort=3a&language=en

A brief video on the factory (better without audio):
http://youtu.be/mHaCkTcmKn8

 

 

St. Joseph of the Carpenters in Rome.

San Giuseppe dei Falegnami is one of those surprising non-tourist Roman parish churches definitely worth a visit.  It is located up above the Mamertine Prison, the ancient Roman prison where, according to the legend, St. Peter and St. Paul were kept before martyrdom.
At the foot of the Capitole hill, by the Arch of Septimius Severus.
It's a baroque church, 'very' baroque:  a golden light pervades the richly decorated interior.  Built in 1597 by the Congregation of the Carpenters:  many of the angels hold carpenter's instruments in honor of their patron saint St. Joseph. The project by Giovan Battista Montani is completed by G.B. Soria.

Interior.
Partly remodeled at the end of XIX century.



 Cantoria.
Rest on the flight to Egypt and Prophets by Giuseppe Puglia (1634).



Nativity -1651
Carlo Maratta
(2nd altar, left).

The Oratory is the real gem.
Frescoes by a very active baroque artist from Velletri:
Marco Tullio Montagna.
One of the preliminary sketches for those frescoes is...
in the Art Museum of the School of Design in
Rhode Island!

Marriage of the Virgin Mary.

Nativity.

Flight to Egypt.

SS. Luke and Martina: Pietro da Cortona's two souls.

The church of St. Luke and Martina was designed by Pietro da Cortona next to the building which housed the Academy of St. Luke  till 1931, on the site where originally a VII century chapel to Santa Martina (martyr Septimius Severus) was erected,  facing the Arch of Septimus Severus and the Roman Forum. 

Bust of Pietro da Cortona by Bernardino Fioriti.
(lower church).
His tombstone can be seen on the floor of the nave (upper church).

In 1634, when Pietro da Cortona became the director of the Accademia, he requested to build his own funerary monument in the church.  But surprisingly during the construction of his chapel the body of Santa Martina was unearthed. 

Santa Martina (main altar) by Nicola Menghini (1635).

To celebrate the event cardinal Francesco Barberini, pope Urban VIII's nephew, commissioned Cortona the project of a new church in honor of Martina but also dedicated to St. Luke (patron saint of painters) for the building was owned by St. Luke Academy (the guild of artists founded in 1577). 



Symbols of the Evangelists


The remarkable stuccoes are by Camillo Rusconi, G. Battista Maini, Filippo della Valle.
Completed in 1730.

Cortona's plan is based on a Greek cross.  The dome is ribbed and it's supported by a tall drum, lightened by huge windows, rhythmically undulated.  The windows are adorned by garlands, shells, scrolls and female heads.  The dome and the vault are coffered and decorated with the Barberini bees and laurel, lilies for chastity and palms of martyrdom. 

The shrine of Santa Martina was designed by P. da Cortona
and cast by Giovanni Artusi.

In the crypt the shrine with the remains of Santa Martina.  The materials are colored, the plan is more complex.  A striking contrast with the upper monumental church, austere and white, almost entirely decorated with white stuccoes (surprising, considering da Cortona was primarily a painter).   Around this time also Borromini adopted white stucco for S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane).  Preminence is given to architecture.  They could have been influenced by Palladio who retained 'white' the most appropriate color for churches.