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Santa Prassede |
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written
by joelnish / 10.24.2005 |
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Assignment |
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3: Would you please pass the bok choy?
2: So, what did you guys think about today?
1: Well you know, after Saint Peter’s it was all kind of anticlimactic.
2: Really?
1: Well yeah, I mean there is a reason why all those people were there.
2: Ugh, Tourists, I think that’s why I couldn’t stand it.
1: So what about the Pantheon?
2: Hmm, what about the Pantheon?
1: You liked the Pantheon and there were tourists there.
2: It’s more like: I liked the Pantheon despite the tourists. I guess when it comes to churches I prefer something more like that smaller one we just visited… you know that one with those sisters.
3: Santa Prassede
2: Yeah that one. It was so personal and warm.
1: You liked that little church more than Saint Peter’s Basilica?
2: Yeah.
3: Would…
1: Yes?
3: Would you pass the beef?
1: So what was it exactly that you liked so much about that Santa Prassede?
2: I don’t know—it really felt personal.
3: You already said that.
1: Okay… I liked how it felt like a small community church, with
2: Do you really think people still go to that church? Because I didn’t see many Romans.
2: I don’t know, but that’s how it felt. It felt like a small personal little church where people could actually sit down and commune with God. Saint Peters seemed too big for that.
1: But what about all that cheesy decoration, and that… what do you call it when they paint in fake marble ledges and things?
3: Being poor.
2: I don’t know what it is, but I found the faux marble at Santa Prassede charming. It’s so imaginative.
1: How is painting fake pillars and ledges more imaginative than the real pillars and carvings of Saint Peters?
3: The pork please.
2: Which one?
3: The sweet and sour.
1: Don’t you think that if they had the means they would have made Santa Pressede big and grand like Peter’s?
2: But I don’t really think that’s the point. There’s something about the struggle and the growth in Santa Pressede that I really like. I mean that church feels like it was built by people, slowly over generations.
1: Yeah, you can tell. Nothing matches, not the pillars nor the frescos, and look at how you enter the church—from the side. What’s so bad about good design? I like how Peter’s is built up from a single idea. When I walk in I’m overwhelmed by the size, the effort, the complete grandeur. Where else can you see this?
3: Speaking of the pillars I’m not sure I can forgive the ransacking of ancient ruins.
2: Yah, but all these churches are built from stolen marble.
1: At least Peter’s is ashamed enough to hide it though.
2: You’ve been pretty quiet so far, which is your favorite?
3: Church? Oh, being hell bound and all I can’t stand them.
1: Why the heck did you come to Rome then?
3: For the Chinese—Clearly.
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