Admissions

A long walk today, the Doria Pamphili park, a dip into Palazzo Spada to see Borromini’s perspective gallery, and piazza Venezia with a mix of dark clouds and strong sun. Nice city. #romeinstituteofliberalarts

A few pictures of the life around Palazzo Barberini. #romeinstituteofliberalarts

More from the Caravaggio preview we got this afternoon. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #caravaggio

I have never seen so much Caravaggio in one place! The Galleria Borghese took us for an amazing preview of the Caravaggio show opening at Palazzo Barberini. One man wandered past me muttering “Che maraviglia, che meraviglia!” My sentiments exactly. The show is well-organised and wonderfully lit. Details that were hard to see in bright museums are clearer in this perfectly darkened space, much like Caravaggio’s painting. My photos can’t do it justice. I look forward to going back, and to taking students there this summer. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #caravaggio2025

The original inhabitants of Palazzo Spada were cardinals interested in astronomy. One of the paintings that suggested this was this one by Niccolò Tornioli, with Copernicus who Aristotle grabs by the hand and attempts to block (with Ptolemy nearby). To the right is a figure aiming a telescope at the celestial sphere, suggesting the fresh dispute and recent condemnation of Galileo, only ten years earlier. The female figure is an allegory for astronomy itself. Fraught moment in history and remarkable to choose to paint it practically as it was happening in Rome. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #galleriaspada #Galileo

The Galleria Borghese took a group of us on a tour through its little sister, the Galleria Spada. Borromini’s perspective gallery, fascinating baroque painting, and an amazing building in which it is all housed. Great thanks to our guide. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #galleriaspada

Wanted to share some pictures of extra curricular activities: on their free weekend students went to Barcelona, Paris, central Italy and Rome. They organized a pasta bar night, a gondola ride, visited the grave of Joseph Brodsky, went to soccer games in Venice and Milan, a basketball game in Mestre (where they met an American player), battled to the death in the colosseum, and got a great shot of Venice from the air on the trip home. #romeonstituteofliberalarts #smcjanterm2025