LYSIPPUS' BOXER IS RESTING AT PALAZZO MASSIMO.

One of the highlights at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (main seat of the National Roman Museum) is undoubtedly the Boxer at rest:  a magnificent bronze statue long attributed to Apollonius (1st century b.C).  Recent studies prove that it is certainly by Lysippus (340 b.C.) the greatest Greek sculptor known for his meticulous attention to detail. The mistake was due to the alleged existence of an inscription on his left glove strings showing Apollonius' signature. Lysippus was a restless artist:  (more than 1500 works are attributed to him and his workshop).  Unfortunately most of his works are lost and we have mostly Roman replicas of his statues.  His masterpieces were moved to Rome as spoils (as the Apoxiomenos on display at the Vatican Museums) and then sent to Constantinople (when the capital was moved). Just a few survived.
The Greek bronze statue was discovered in 1885 on the Quirinal hill while building the Teatro Drammatico Nazionale (closed in 1929).  The area was originally the site of Constantine Baths.
It has been suggested that it could represent the Olympic athlete Theogenes.  Probably it's not a true portrait  but a generic character of boxer.  It is surprisingly well preserved (except for the eye balls).  His hands are protected by boxing gloves.  
Formed by eight separately cast segments. The lip, wounds and scars on his face were originally inlaid with copper and further copper inlays are used for drops of blood on his bruised body. The fingers were worn from being rubbed by passers-by in ancient times.  It's the muscular and noble body of a middle aged man revealing scars, marks and deformities caused by such a violent profession.  His expression suggests also weariness and a sort of resignation.  Even if the Boxer is 'at rest' the pose does not diminish his strenght.  His head is turned as if someone had caught his attention in that precise moment.

Looking for some souvenir in Rome?

What about some delicious Chocolate covered coffee beans from Caffé Sant'Eustachio?  The most celebrated coffee in Rome (reviewed also in the New York Times).  Its historical roaster dates back to 1940s.
Piazza Sant'Eustachio, 82 (near the Pantheon).



Or a fancy pair of Italian leather gloves?  A charming little shop is just off Piazza San Silvestro  (this is where I go but there are a few in Rome).  As you enter you'll see photos signed by movie stars and celebrities from the 50's, 60's and 70's.
Solo Guanti -Via di San Claudio, 70.



Why not an old print of Rome?
One nice address is Mercato delle Stampe:  an interesting little market specialized in old prints of Rome (not far from Piazza del Popolo) .
Largo della Fontanella Borghese.





You'll see soccer shirts everywhere in Rome. 
An excellent address for soccer fans is the official Roma team wear - A.S. Roma shop is at Piazza Colonna 360 (near the Pantheon).

BORGIAS' PAPAL APARTMENTS.

Jeremy Irons

You may have liked the series by Neil Jordan (2011) for the BBC which stars a fabulous Jeremy Irons as the pope Alexander VI.
At the Vatican you can actually visit the Rooms where the Borgias lived, rooms which oversaw intrigues, alliances, even murder.
The papal apartments were decorated by Pinturicchio and his school at the end of 15th century:  the frescoes on the vaults (some have been recently restored)  show Christian, Jewish and pagan elements. 
After the death of pope Alexander VI and the disgrace of the Borgias, those rooms were abandoned.
Only in 1889 the apartments were first restored and opened to the public.
In 1973 the Modern Art collection of the Vatican Museums was installed here.
In the Hall of the Sibyls Cesare Borgia was imprisoned in 1503 by Julius II, in the same room where he had his cousin Alfonso of Aragon (second husband of Lucrezia Borgia) murdered! 
In the fresco showing the Disputation of St. Catherine (in the Hall of the Saints) the figure of the Saint could be the portrait of Lucrezia, the pope's daughter (or his mistress Giulia Farnese).

PALAZZO MASSIMO. ANCIENT ROMAN VILLAS RECONSTRUCTED

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme is one of the seats of the National Roman Museum.

Just around the corner from Rome’s Termini train station, it's the perfect place to get a feel for ancient Roman art.
Highlights include the famous bronze Boxer and two versions of the Discobolus!  

Pride of place goes however to the breathtaking ancient frescoes and mosaics stunningly set up to "re-create" the look of the villas they once decorated. 
The second floor of the museum in fact is dedicated to those amazing decorations from the heyday of the Roman empire. 
 

The frescoes from the Villa of Livia (Augustus wife)  at Primaporta, on the via Flaminia were discovered in 1863 and displayed here in 1951.  A lush painted garden covered the walls of a semi-subterranean chamber, probably a cool triclinium (dining room) for summer banquets.  These stunning frescoes, which totally surround you, depict an illusionary garden with all the plants in fool bloom.

 

The other villa 'reconstructed' here is the Villa Farnesina:  sumptuous residence of the Augustan age,  brought back to light in Trastevere in 1879.  Set up like the villa itself, one can actually see how the rooms would have looked with the frescoes on the walls, detailed molding on the ceiling and mosaics on the floors. The references to the Egyptian world can be read as a celebration of the conquest of Egypt. In fact the owner of the residence is probably to be identified as the general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa himself, author of the victory at Actium, who married Augustus' daughter. 

The traditional Roman Pangiallo.

The pangiallo romano is a typical Roman cake (pangiallo means yellow bread) already known in the ancient Rome.
It was prepared during the celebration of winter solstice to invoke the return of the Sun (that's why yellow). Obtained through a mix of dried fruit, honey and candied citron. It was customary in the past to use dried kernels of apricots and plums instead of the most expensive almonds and hazelnuts. In modern versions you might have also almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, pistachios or chocolate (which couldn’t have been added until the 1500s’).  Younger generations may have never tried this specialty.  It's still made in Rome's Jewish Ghetto and in some traditional delis.  Unfortunately industrially produced Panettone or Pandoro are more often seen on Christmas tables.

Tombola: the most traditional Christmas game.

Tombola was born in Naples in 1734.
Father Gregorio Maria Rocco wanted king Charles III to abolish Lotto, the very popular public lottery. The king preferred to keep it in order to have public control over gambling:  without a public lottery illegal gambling would prosper.
In the end Lotto was kept but suspended during religious festivities, so people started playing tombola at Christmas.
Now it is the most traditional Christmas game all over Italy.

Villa Giulia: the eternal banquet of an Etruscan couple.

 

Ancient Etruscan Sarcophagus of the Spouses, 520 BC, made of terracotta which was once brightly painted, currently located at the Villa Giulia National Etruscan Museum, Rome.

 

From the Banditaccia necropolis in Caere (modern Cerveteri), previously owned by the Ruspoli family, from which Felice Barnabei, founder of the museum, bought broken into more than 400 fragments! 

However, its function remains uncertain because burial and cremation were both practiced by the Etruscans. It may actually have been a large urn designed to contain the ashes of the deceased. Another example similar to this work is known (Louvre, Paris).
The urn is shaped as a bed upon which the deceased are resting and banqueting. The Etruscans, like the Greeks had adopted the Eastern custom of feasting in a reclining position. Etruscan women, who held an important place in society, could take part in a banquet (in Greece only men were admitted).