Student Life

Taddeo Zuccari’s room of the Farnese deeds at Caprarola. We breezed past a lot of the history in the villa because there’s just so much, and it’s not all of existential importance. But the painting is fantastic and the Farnese are fascinating. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #sjc #uta

Fun in Caprarola, we had a long day, first in Orvieto and then on to the out of the way gem of mannerist architecture and painting. The gardens were such a pleasure that even though everyone was completely exhausted I saw many smiles at the end of the day. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #uta #sjc

So much this week: we went to some ancient churches in Rome (Santa Costanza, Santa Maria Maggiore, and Santa Prassede), and took a trip to the countryside to Orvieto. Lunch not pictured here, but was pretty good. 😁💪 #romeinstituteofliberalarts #sjc #uta

More of the Ovid show opening tonight at the Galleria Borghese with the fantastic chorus singing Monteverdi around the museum (Cappella Musicale Villa Medici). Sorry that the videos are imperfect, the singing was perfect and right at home in the show. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #sjc #uta #galleriaborghese

Tonight at the opening of the Ovid show at Galleria Borghese. The chorus (Cappella musicale Villa Medici) was unbelievably beautiful. They moved from room to room singing Monteverdi madrigals in front of Titian, Bernini, Rubens and so on. My videos can’t capture it, but they were truly excellent singers. To hear them up close, and with the acoustic in some of the rooms (plus the settings) made it overwhelming. 🙏🏼 The show itself is perfect for the Borghese, the Ovidian scenes fit right into the permanent collection. And some astonishing pieces, like the Rodin Pygmalion. And the permanent collection was such a pleasure: have you ever seen the Caravaggio room completely empty? #romeinstituteofliberalarts #uta #sjc #galleriaborghese #monteverdi

We got to go through some back room type places in the Vatican museums but also had to brave the crowds. We were prepared by a lecture on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and another on Raphael’s Stanze. In seminars students were reading either Dante or Vergil which both seemed to fit in here. Our fearless students powered through a long day here without complaining, for which I am grateful. 🙏🏼 #romeinstituteofliberalarts #uta #sjc

Students were meditative at a couple of our stops on our Constantine focused excursion. These pictures are from Santi Quattro Coronati and the Lateran. The compound at Santi Quattro feels like being outside the city, and the requirement of being silent there makes the experience different from other places in Rome. The Lateran is a much bigger and more of a public space, but the vastness of it creates a quiet atmosphere there too. Beautiful places to stop and reflect. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #sjc #uta

Most of the RILA group on the roof of the Capitoline, smiling through the heat. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #sjc #uta

Capitoline museums today, students are now very comfortable with ancient art after the lectures and a bunch of museums, and were making connections with some of the readings they did (Livy in one group, Apuleius in the other). #romeinstituteofliberalarts #sjc #uta