SPQR Fellowship

Our final full day in Rome was a good change of pace. With only six days in the city, we did some serious walking (20+ miles a day) to pack in all the sites we wanted to see. The tone of today was slightly different – everything slowed down and we got one last chance to take in Rome and reflect on an excellent 15 days in Italy. After waking up, Jenna and I walked to the Pantheon from our hostel, which was located a few blocks east of Termini station.  I sat down at one of the restaurants located in the piazza in front of the Pantheon and ordered an espresso. It came with some apple tart treats and a glass of water, which was a nice surprise. I got out the sketchbook and spent the next hour and a half working my way through a drawing and a several more espressos. I must say, that as much as planning out drawing sessions in our short time in Rome seemed like a lot to tackle, it was during these drawing sessions that everything slowed down for me, and I was able to find some clarity on the particular building and its significance to me.

After our sketch session, Jenna and I reunited with the group and set off to see a final few sites around the city. As it was currently 1pm-3pm when most of the churches close, we walked up to the Borghese Gardens and rented a 4 person bike thinking it would allow us to view more of their massive expanse in the short time we had. The bike turned out to be more of an adventure in itself but we were out of time for visiting the Borghese’s museum’s so I’ll say the injected fun and silliness didn’t really hurt our viewing of the gardens. At 3pm, we returned the bike carriage and headed off to a few final churches. We hadn’t yet visited the Ecstasy of St. Terasa by Bernini and located in Santa Maria Del’Vittoria. The church was hopping with tours and we were able to hear a few compelling accounts of the statues history by guides.

When considering what we might see in Rome, Jenna and I had come up with a plan to focus some of our attention on Borromini’s work. We had both taken a liking to Baroque architecture and especially Borromini during Leon Satkowski’s class on Baroque Architecture in our undergraduate studies at the UofM. Not only was Borromini a true pioneer of architecture and widely misunderstood during his time, but to this day his churches are beautiful on a level not achieved by other architecture in the city. A great example of this idea can be found in Borromini’s San Carlo alla Quattro Fontane (S. Carlino for short because it is tiny) and Bernini’s San Andrea Quirranale, located a block apart from one another. We had both these churches yet to visit so we headed over to them. Inside S. Quirranale, there is a wide array of materials and colors, rich red marbles and gold guilding. The oval plan culminates in an oval dome covered in gold pattern and lit from a cupola filled with yellow glass. The effect does have a beauty but there is also a certain heavy handedness to it. Inside S. Carlino is an entirely different story. Everything is white and Borromini has relied on geometry, shadow, and light to create a space that becomes transcendent. The oval dome is coffered with a pattern of crosses, hexagons, and hexagons within ovals – each shape reflecting the floor plan which contains a complexity to it, a combination of oval, cross, and hexagon. We have been reading up on Borromini and apparently many of his designs that were considered somewhat wild and outlandish at the time are in fact, highly intricate and exacting works of geometry.

As our final, and fitting, stop in Rome, we headed west towards the river to visit Borromini’s grave. Borromini requested to be buried in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini along with his relative and mentor, Carlo Maderno. On the outside of the church we were able to read that many architectural master’s had work on the church over time. These included Carlo Fontana, Maderno, Michelangelo, and Borromini himself (he did the high alter). Upon walking inside, it was easy to see why he had requested this church as his final resting place. It was fairly unelaborate in nature; with little color and some wonderful lighting from the main dome and the high alter. With a sense of closure we walked over to the Piazza Navona and shared a drink and some people watching as the sun set around us. Tomorrow, we’ll head for home but you may still here a few more words from us yet.

David j.