The Hunt for Bernini

First off I'd really like to thank everyone for reading my blog... I have over 450 hits since I began. So, thanks Ma for obsessively checking this to make sure that I'm alive!

So I haven't been writing much lately because my life has been a bit boring... I know, boring in Rome? But in my defense I am finishing a whole quarter's worth of Italian in 3 weeks and my final is in 2 days. So I'm busy in a very boring way.

Today I decided to change that up and head out to find some of the less obvious Bernini pieces in the city. (Yes, I know I'm obsessed.... but the way this man makes marble look fluid and alive is just... I don't think 'amazing' can cover it.) So I left my flat and began the long trek to Santa Maria della Vittoria. 

Before I even got close I accidentally walked past Sant'Ignazio de Loyola and had to go in to take some better photos. (I covered this church here) So I had to take some good pics of the 'dome.' Because the building's ceiling is flat Andrea Pozzo painted a dome that is really a trompe l'oiel - french for a trick of the eye.

The painted dome by Pozzo

The illusion from the wrong angle

So now I'm just going to give you all of my pictures of Sant'Ignazio de Loyola...

I love how they entomb and display holy bodies!

Soon I was on my way to find Santa Maria della Vittoria. I had checked my map before I left my flat so I wouldn't have to look like an ignorant tourist while hunting for Bernini and getting lost. But let's be honest here... I ended up at two of the churches mentioned in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I was bound to get a bit confused. Also, Via del Corso, the massive shopping street that runs through the center of Rome, can be a bit chaotic. So when I reached the Piazza di Spagna I knew I had gone too far. Santa Maria della Vittoria managed to be ridiculously far and up a rather large hill. But I found it! 

Santa Maria della Vittoria

It was rather small and unassuming, but inside was one of the world's greatest treasures (at least in my eyes): Bernini's L'Estasi di Santa Teresa - the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. St. Teresa had visions and believed that a seraph had come to her and repeatedly stabbed her in the heart with an arrow of flames that was painful yet beautiful which helped her to understand the true nature of sin. Sure, the story sounds a tad bit extreme, but no one can deny the beauty of Bernini's sculpture. Honestly, I am constantly awestruck by what he can do with marble. You can feel the arrow just by looking at her face and the way that her toes curl. My mind cannot comprehend how Bernini executed such amazing works of art and so many!

L'Estasi di Santa Teresa

After succeeding in my quest I headed over to the much easier to reach, but equally as far Santa Maria del Popolo. I was looking for the Chigi Chapel which was designed by Raphael and holds Bernini's Habakkuk and the Angel and David and the Lion. Unfortunately, my luck would have it that only that specific chapel was undergoing restorations.

Chigi Chapel

I did get some great pictures of some of the other works of the church which include frescoes by Pinturicchio and paintings by Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio: The Conversion on the Way to Damascus (Paul falling off of a horse when the Holy Spirit descends upon him) and Crucifixion of St. Peter. More bad luck... no photos were allowed to be taken of the chapel that held the Caravaggio works. I tried! But I did have a whole conversation in Italian with one of the guys who worked there (and was being rather uppity about the 'no photos' rule) and he informed me that he believed Chigi Chapel to be opening in October.... possibly. But that's Italy for you. Schedules are simply suggestions, as are traffic signals!

Santa Maria del Popolo nave

Pinturicchio

Piazza del Popolo

On my way back to my flat I saw a really cool line of Ferraris driving down the street. It was like a sort of car show was rolling into town or they were just having a Ferrari parade. I have no idea. But there were at least 30 cars in a row with a police escort. So I took pictures! Here's a special 'Ciao from Roma' for my little brother and car aficionado, Erik!

 

My closing thought... I loathe tourists. Walking anywhere in this city is unnecessarily obnoxious. They all walk so slowly and stop in the middle of the sidewalks impeding anyone and everything. My advice: look at your map before you go out, if you get lost stop somewhere like a piazza and then use your map (not the middle of a street), get lost because you never know what you'll discover, and don't join one of those tour groups created to make tourists look like idiots that swarm upon monuments like locusts. Be a traveller! Experience the culture, don't just observe it.