|
|
 |
|
Sept 15--Domus Aurea |
|
written
by Ben Jacobs / 07.04.2004 |
|
|
| |
Itinerary |
| |
We met this morning at 8.30. Shawn made some paltry excuse for the early meet...something about an appointment; but we all knew that he just wanted us to suffer.
We followed Shawn at his regular sprinting pace to the Domus Aurea, Emperor Nero's golden house. We then met our tour guide, Emanuela Stirpa, and she proceeded to give us a wooden tour. It sounded like she simply memorized a chapter of a text book: "In this room you can see some ruins. Notice the impossible-to-make-out fresco on the wall. It's very important because..."
After the Domus Aurea, we walked to the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli, to see Michelangelo's Moses. Although there was restoration work being done while we were there, so there was scaffolding in front of Mo', it was still very impressive.
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Highlights |
| |
My favorite part of the day was the octagonal room in the Domus Aurea. While nobody really knows what it was for, our guide (or whoever wrote her script) had some interesting ideas. My favorite was the one about the moving floor. Apparently, Nero may have had a wooden or ivory floor that would rotate, and deliver you to whichever side of the octagon you would like to be at.
I was also very impressed with the Moses. It's absolutely incredible how lifelike it is. Everything about the posture and arm position, as well as the muscle tension, is incredibly real.
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Images |
| |
| |
|
|
| Michelangelo's Moses |
| Moses being restored |
| |
|
Unfortunately, when we got to the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli, Moses was being restored. The scaffolding definitely takes away from the overall effect of what Michelangelo himself considered one of his greatest works.
Anyways, for me, the most interesting part of the statue is that Moses has horns. The most commonly accepted explanation for the horns is that Michelangelo relied on a version of the Old Testament with a mistranslation of 'rays of light' to be 'horns'.
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
