Travel form

At the Mario Praz Museum today, and watched a storm clear on the walk home. Mario Praz was a great reader of decadent literature, but he also wrote a “Philosophy of Furniture” about the relationship between a home’s decor and its owner, and he collected bizarre, fascinating 18th/19th c. objects, like the wax sculptures and shown here. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #rome #museomariopraz #romeintherain #thehouseoflife

Animals seen near the Pantheon today. A giraffe, an elephant, ancient and renaissance dolphins, and some local birds who came to take it all in. They just cleaned and restored the fountain by Giacomo Della Porta in front of the Pantheon last week, and again you can see the blue veined marble statues (recalling water) and the black Egyptian marble basin. The birds dig it. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #rome #animalsinrome

More from Painting and Poetry in the 17th century, the exhibition opening last night at the Galleria Borghese. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #rome #galleriaborghese

Painting and Poetry exhibition opening at the Galleria Borghese last night. A series of artful poems about paintings by the 17th century poet Giambattista Marino (from his collection “The Gallery”) are paired with their subjects. An exhibition for a reflection on art itself. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #rome #galleriaborghese #paintingandpoetry

Grateful for the autumn light in Rome, and for the city itself. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #rome

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is the only gothic church in Rome. This gothic church is a kind of jewelry box for displaying art of later periods. It is a Dominican church, hence the large chapel dedicated to Thomas Aquinas with paintings by Filipino Lippi. The chapel has a sotto-in-su view of the Virgin and a chorus of angels, relatively novel at the time. (I am puzzled by the figure labeled “Manicheus”…his face is sometimes taken to be Lorenzo dei Medici, but also looks a lot like Dante…) Also here is Michelangelo’s sculpture of the risen Christ and Bernini’s monument to Maria Raggi. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #santamariasopraminerva #michelangelo #aquinas

Pietro Canonica’s sculpture used Donatello’s stiacciato or “flattening” technique for making backgrounds for his relief sculptures, giving him vast spaces for battles or natural scenes. Often he uses his art for monumental sculptures that have a cinematographic feel. In the Borghese park, a free, but little visited house museum for the artist contains most of his work, as well as ancient sculpture found around the park grounds. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #pietrocanonica

Borromini’s reconstruction of the Lateran basilica often focused on perspective, using the portals as frames for chapels or for other intermediary frames behind them, often echoing or juxtaposing their shapes. Alternating straight entablatures and curved arches create rhythms as the eye ascends vertically and at the same time in terms of lessening distance from the viewer. Similarly he restores medieval tombs in the Lateran by inserting pieces of them within architectural features as if in elaborate frames with their own perspectival games. #romeinstituteofliberalarts #borromini #rome #laterano

We are happy to announce that we are now accepting applications for RILA’s 2025 summer programs! Please visit the website for details: www.rilarts.org/summer-program/ #rome #romeinstituteofliberalarts #rila2025