Art History Blog #5

I spent my first free days in Rome doing all the expected stuff.

There was a little of this:

Some of that:

And way too much of this and this:

We attempted to head to the Modern Art Museum because, although Rome is not particularly well known for modern art, it would have been pretty cool to see some works by the Italian Futurists up close. Alas, in typical Italian fashion, half the museum was closed leaving only a number of depressing 19^th century war paintings and some seriously creepy sculptures available for viewing. Epic fail.

On Monday, we were given a tour of Roman public transportation. For those of you that know me from home, I abhor public transportation. I suffer from severe motion sickness on all moving vehicles (busses, cars, boats, roller skates, scooters, elephants, etcetera). Now imagine me on the short bus speeding at 40mph through the winding alleyways of Rome. Just image the look on my face.

After the dreaded 116 ride, we boarded the metro. After the metro we got on another bus where the grumpy Italian woman sitting next to me proceeded to pop arm zits (if you don’t know what an arm zit is, I will not bother to explain). Luckily, I was able to rest for about an hour and wake to find myself in the charming town of Tivoli, outside of Rome. We waited by a lovely fountain spewing crystal clear water while a number of teenage couples groped each other and we took photos (of the fountain/town, not the gropers). We then got on another bus and raced through the streets of Tivoli. After disembarking from this final bus, we walked to the entrance to Hadrian’s Villa, a miraculously preserved ancient site which offered an opportunity to get up close and personal with the ruins in ways the Forum and Palatine could not.

Hadrian was emperor of Rome from 117-138 CE and was well known for his interest in Egyptian art and revival of Classical Greek styles. Desiring a retreat outside of Rome, Hadrian had a villa built in Tiber (modern day Tivoli) where he could indulge in learned, scholarly relaxation outside of the city as well as exhibit art collected from his travels to Egypt, Greece and the Near East.

Based on miniature reconstructions of the complex, the site include a number of residential buildings as well as reflection pools, baths and meeting places. Much like the Palatine ruins, the sheer scale of the buildings included in the complex demonstrate Roman ingenuity and the importance of the Roman invention of concrete, despite the influence of Greek architecture. While very few of the original sculptures remain (although a few are preserved in a small museum on site which are heavily guarded by one very intense-looking Italian woman), the copies of Roman originals include a number of larger-than-life Egyptian-style statues lining the refection pool of the Otium as well as a few very flattering portraits of Hadrian’s lover, a youth by the name of Antinous. Although Antinous died at a very young age, it is clear Hadrian loved him deeply as he had him deified and immortalized in the sculptures kept at his villa.

In comparison to the other ancient sites we have visited, the experience of visiting Hadrian’s villa very much reflected the leisurely yet academic reflection for which this villa was intended. Not only was it devoid of the usual tourist hoards, but we were able to wander in and out of the ruins as if we were retracing Hadrian’s footsteps. Aside from the ancient works kept in the gallery, Hadrian’s villa is open to aimless wandering. Of course, being the overly imaginative type, I like to pretend we are all wearing Greek-style togas the way Hadrian would have liked (rather than wearing sweating clothes and being covered in dust) leisurely walking the corridors of the Otium or enjoying the cool baths and discussing the merits of Classical Greek sculpture (which we are actually doing) and eating delicious fruit (rather than mushy Nutella and banana sandwiches).

Viewing this site also gives us a good introduction to villa life, a lifestyle imitated during the High Renaissance amongst the wealthiest Italians wherein the emulation of Classical symmetry and perspective are seen in the secular retreats of Rome’s religious elite.