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091004: A Bit o' Bernini & A Slice of Sicilian Mafia. |
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written
by odis / 09.13.2004 |
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Itinerary |
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| Villa Borghese |
| We arrive at the famed villa and the Museo di Villa Borghese. |
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| Buon Appetite |
| Giacomo, Keli, Kara and Amanda at Pizza Ré. |
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| Look at that Bernini! |
| Alexis elightens us on Bernini's Four River's Fountain. |
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| http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/members/profile.phtml?lecturer_code=varesef |
| Professor Varese |
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Friday, the 10th of September, 2004 began a skoche earlier than most of our scheduled days. With a strictly-enforced meeting time of 8:45 a.m. in front of the Villa Borghese in Northern Rome, we hefted ourselves out of bed and began the trek by catching the bus. We discovered that just as Italians have very small cars, they also have very small buses; we packed upwards of twenty of us (plus a few native Romans) into the number 116 and rode to our first stop, the Museo di Villa Borghese.
It was here that we received an intriguing presentation from the expert herself, Professoressa Lisa, who informed us of the various masterpieces that call the Villa Borghese home, most notably the Baroque statues of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. Following Lisa’s presentation, we were free to wander around the museum and the villa grounds for about an hour. Many of us split off to check out the gardens and fountains of the expansive park. We met back at Piazza Popolo in the early afternoon and headed to Pizza Ré for a group lunch, where we were each ordered our own full-size pizzas. The mood following was captured well by Shane’s exclamation, “Dude, my gut is stuffed to the maximus!”
A little time and a short walk later, we arrived at the elephant obelisk at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, where we took our group photo and Alexis began enlightening us on Bernini’s architecture. The meat of her presentation, though, really took place at the Four River’s Fountain in Piazza Navona. One of Bernini’s most public and well-known works, this fountain represents well the unique skill he employed in portraying movement in his sculptures. Its sheer size and magnificence- with an Egyptian obelisk resting above four figures at its base that represented the known continents- functioned as an indication of the power of the papacy under Innocent X and the triumph of the church over paganism. (For further reading, please see Alexis’s paper, “Bernini’s Four River’s Fountain”, under “Student Presentations”).
In the evening, our sociology class was fortunate enough to have guest lecturer Federico Varese, one of the world’s leading experts on the Sicilian Mafia, talk to us about such things as the group’s rise, its function within Italian society, its social organization, and how you might try to join up if the Italian American Mafia just isn’t doing it for you. (Actually, the American Mafia would not likely accept you unless you were Italian American and willing to commit a murder before you joined; the requirements for “application” in the Sicilian Mafia are much less brutal: you just need to be a man). Following that particularly appealing lecture, we gave Professor Varese a hearty round of applause and headed our own separate ways to find dinner and social engagement.
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Highlights |
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| Bernini's David |
| How H-O-T is this guy? |
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Of the astounding amount of art and architecture that we have had the pleasure to see on this trip, Bernini’s sculptures rank as some of my personal favorites (and not just because his beautiful statue of David resembles yours truly). As you might perceive from looking at the picture of David to the right, any one particular angle seems insufficient at portraying all that the piece represents. Only when one circles the statue can the mastery of all of its elements be taken in. I really enjoyed this aspect of Bernini’s work, and I know many of my classmates were equally impressed.
Another impressive occurrence from today’s schedule was Professor Varese’s lecture on the Mafia. I found him an enjoyable speaker and his presentation intellectually engaging. Much of the time was taken up by the dialogue that was a product of our inquiries, so enthralled were we all.
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Images |
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| Lunch |
| "Dude. I am H-U-N-G-R-Y."
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| Heads |
| An intriguing post-lunch discovery, no? |
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| Elephant |
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| Four River's |
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More worthwhile photos from the day.
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