July 30, 2019 Tuesday the
first of two posts today
After the disappointment of not seeing the Caravaggio
painting that I thought was on display in Rome, but it wasn’t, we went back to
the Barberini today. I did get a chance
to check the Barberini Facebook page where I asked if the Caravaggio would be
on display. There is a Facebook page for
the Barberini Gallerie Corsini Nazonali, and a Facebook page for the Barberini
Museum/P that is for the Potsdam museum.
My question from April 29 is on BOTH pages. It doesn’t matter now, but we wouldn’t have
been disappointed if we knew the painting would not be in Rome. I will have to be very, very specific in the
future when I ask about what, when and WHERE specific paintings will be on
display.
The Barberini has paintings mainly from the 15th
to the 17th centuries. They
actually call it the Gallery of Ancient Art.
Most people do not appear to be too interested in ancient art, because
both the Barberini and the companion Corsini Gallery, were almost deserted when
we visited. Even without the Caravaggio,
there were specific paintings that we wanted to see. Many of the religious paintings depict the
same subjects and themes, as I’m sure you noticed. Another thing to notice is how the figures in
the paintings become more realistic, or life like over time. The older paintings are more like Orthodox
icons with only two dimensions.
Eventually the paintings begin to show the figures and scenes in three
dimensions. So much for the art
discussion, just wait until you read the comments on some of the photos.
July 30, 2019 Tuesday the
second of two posts today
On our way from the Barberini to the Doria Pamphilj Gallery,
Google Maps appeared to have us going into this long road tunnel, about a
quarter mile long. This didn’t seem
right, plus we would lose the gps signal once we got into the tunnel, and we
wouldn’t know if we were on the right path until we came out the other
end. We walked a bit in the opposite
direction and as you probably guessed it was operator error. I believe Sue would have probably killed me
if I made her walk through the tunnel and then turn around and come back. The Doria Pamphilj another palace that is
still owned by descendants of the original family. The princely Doria
Pamphilj family, which has included a pope and a 16th-century admiral, is
one of few in the Roman aristocracy to retain its estates, palaces and private
treasures. I believe we learned
here where the term nepotism came from.
The term is derived from the Italian word for nephew. Pope Innocent X, and previous popes had made
their nephews Cardinals. This put them
in powerful positions. The guide
explained that some of the nephews may have been the illegitimate sons of some
of the popes. One more source of
corruption that fueled the Reformation, but that is another story. Fortunately for us these princely Cardinals
were art collectors.
I was able to get the name of the artist for most of the
paintings, but not the titles. I’m sure
that eventually I can find out what most of the titles are, but that is work
for another day.
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