We'd kicked off this second day in Rome with a run and an Underground Rome tour, and it was still only lunchtime. We were determined to make it a full day of sightseeing, so at the end of our tour, we grabbed some unremarkable gelato from Il Gelato di San Crispino (storefront near the Trevi Fountain, I believe). This was the gelateria featured in the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" - but to be honest, there is much better gelato to be had in Rome. We found the servers diffident, the prices high, and the gelato decent, but not amazing. But, you never know until you try! And with that, we headed for the Musei Capitolini.
I insisted on spending a few minutes soaking up the sun appreciating the organic nature and unity of the Piazza del Compidoglio, which was designed in the 1500s by Michelangelo. Apparently, the buildings have been modified somewhat since then, but this look pretty much like what we saw:
 |
| [Picture from: http://en.museicapitolini.org/sede/piazza_e_palazzi] |
The long building on the right was built in the Middle Ages as the Palazzo dei Conservatori (Palace of the Conservators), and Michelangelo designed the one on the left as a mirror image. Today, both are part of the Musei Capitolini. The building straight ahead was the Palazzo Senatorio (Senatorial Palace), and today this is home to the Roman city hall.
Due to the Piazza's unusual positioning on the uneven ground at the top of a hill, the courtyard is actually a trapezoid, rather than a perfect rectangle. As a result, the travertine design on the ground is actually egg-shaped, not oval. In the center of the Piazza, you can see Michelangelo's bronze statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. A closer view:
 | |||
| [Photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marco_Aurelio_Campidoglio_front_2.jpg] |
Actually, this is only a replica of the original statue, which has undergone extensive preservation and is on display inside the museum, where it can be properly protected from the elements.
We took some of our own photos of the Piazza, and of us basking in the sun, but they are the one and only set of photos from our trip that got electronically misplaced. So, you'll have to settle for these borrowed photos instead. Thankfully, the Piazza photos are really the only ones that got misplaced, since we were required to leave our cameras in a locker before actually entering the museum anyway.
We went into the museum around 2 PM...and got lost in there until after 7. What an enormous place! We began in the statue courtyard, where there were statues from ancient Rome collected and displayed. Many were complete, others were...random body parts. Greece had prepared us for this (see the end of the this post, for example), though, and we marveled at the enormity and age of...well, of everything, before heading inside.
The first ~15 rooms of exhibits, which would normally house paintings and sculptures, had been taken over by the Lux in Arcana exhibit. To avoid the confusion I experienced, I will start by explaining exactly what the exhibition is. According to the website (link above), the exhibit contains "100 original and priceless documents selected [from] among the treasures preserved and cherished by the Vatican Secret Archives". The exhibit at the Musei Capitolini is the first (and possibly only...!?!?) time these artifacts will be on display for the public.
We were unaware that this special exhibit was going on, but upon our arrival, we received flashy programs (in English) declaring "Lux in Arcana!!!" There were more flashy posters and signage when we arrived at the entrance to the exhibit. The first display that I saw included the proceedings from the trial of Galileo Galilei, and I was intrigued enough to pause to look at the old documents and flip through the touchscreen timeline.
I turned, and saw more exhibits, organized in the same way - a document or artifact under plexiglass, surrounded by digital screens that ran timelines and descriptions relevant to the artifact. However, I was (honestly here) still struggling to figure out how all these pieces fit together. "Lux in Arcana" didn't mean anything to me, and although all the artifact descriptions were available in English, I couldn't find anything that described the totality of what we were seeing.
Finally, I had to ask Kee-Min, "What the heck are we looking at here?!?" He'd been able to figure it out, and so he clued me in - but I'll admit, I was already feeling exasperated with the whole exhibit.
But, I was determined to the entire museum, and like it. So, I sidled up to another artifact's display - something about the invention of paper/papyrus. I tried to use the digital screens that scrolled historical information. They looped ~5 minutes worth of context, a timeline, and elaboration of the events surrounding the artifact described. But they could not be controlled by the viewer, and the lengthy display time of each screen made me impatient. They weren't moving fast enough (for me), so continuity was lost. I quickly grew tired of waiting and moved on, the story only half finished.
Furthermore, there was absolutely no organization (that I could find). Each item had its own display, but taken together, the items were not arranged in any reasonable order: not chronologically, not by continent, and not by subject. Unable to assign any sort of order, I freely admit that the whole thing annoyed the heck out of me, and eventually, I gave myself permission to give up on the whole Lux in Arcana thing. Instead, I started peeking around the temporary displays to see the artwork on the walls and the statues shoved into corners. I was much happier with this approach.
To be fair, I should note that Kee-Min did enjoy the Lux exhibit, finding the artifacts and associated snapshots of history to be fascinating. He lingered far longer in this section of the museum.
But thankfully, the Musei Capitolini offered plenty for those of us who found the Lux exhibit exasperating. After moving past it, I walked through room after room of art and artifacts, lingered in a hallway with more statues, and rested while absorbing the enormous room constructed to house the original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius (originally placed in the courtyard, see above).
After a few hours, when we felt unable to read any more informational placards, we tried to find the coffee shop one floor up. In doing so, we caused a bit of trouble, and learned several important lessons:
1. It is entirely possible that the signs for "Cafe" point in the most counter-intuitive direction, and when you take a leap of faith and try to follow them, they abandon you in the middle of the museum.
2. Just because the map shows stairs, doesn't mean that you, as a museum visitor, are allowed access to the stairs.
3. Some doors will be marked "Not an Exit. Alarm Will Sound!" Some doors will not be marked as such - but they may still be alarmed.
4. If you inadvertently go through such a door, five middle aged Italian women (museum attendants) will move faster than any other Italians you've seen on your trip. They will also be yelling.
5. Eventually, they will give you directions to the Cafe, rolling their eyes all the while at your American stupidity.
But it will all be worth it, when you acquire a delicious espresso and cocoa drink with whipped cream:
Fortified, we returned to the museum for another two hours. Mostly, we wandered through room after room of paintings, dolls, clothes, tables, you name - from Italian artists, ~ 1600 - 1800. Kee-Min was fascinated by some of the mosaic tables on display, and even risked snapping a few photos with the camera on his phone:
The displays themselves weren't that cramped, and most included some English descriptions. But the sheer size of the building meant that there was a lot of artwork on display. By about 7:30, we were exhausted and ready for dinner.
We headed downstairs, collected our stuff, consulted the handy Eat Rome app to search out a dinner spot, and headed out. Stay tuned, because the next post will detail what was probably our favorite meal in Italy!! And I promise - after a few text-heavy posts, there will be *plenty* of food photos!
We were unaware that this special exhibit was going on, but upon our arrival, we received flashy programs (in English) declaring "Lux in Arcana!!!" There were more flashy posters and signage when we arrived at the entrance to the exhibit. The first display that I saw included the proceedings from the trial of Galileo Galilei, and I was intrigued enough to pause to look at the old documents and flip through the touchscreen timeline.
I turned, and saw more exhibits, organized in the same way - a document or artifact under plexiglass, surrounded by digital screens that ran timelines and descriptions relevant to the artifact. However, I was (honestly here) still struggling to figure out how all these pieces fit together. "Lux in Arcana" didn't mean anything to me, and although all the artifact descriptions were available in English, I couldn't find anything that described the totality of what we were seeing.
Finally, I had to ask Kee-Min, "What the heck are we looking at here?!?" He'd been able to figure it out, and so he clued me in - but I'll admit, I was already feeling exasperated with the whole exhibit.
But, I was determined to the entire museum, and like it. So, I sidled up to another artifact's display - something about the invention of paper/papyrus. I tried to use the digital screens that scrolled historical information. They looped ~5 minutes worth of context, a timeline, and elaboration of the events surrounding the artifact described. But they could not be controlled by the viewer, and the lengthy display time of each screen made me impatient. They weren't moving fast enough (for me), so continuity was lost. I quickly grew tired of waiting and moved on, the story only half finished.
Furthermore, there was absolutely no organization (that I could find). Each item had its own display, but taken together, the items were not arranged in any reasonable order: not chronologically, not by continent, and not by subject. Unable to assign any sort of order, I freely admit that the whole thing annoyed the heck out of me, and eventually, I gave myself permission to give up on the whole Lux in Arcana thing. Instead, I started peeking around the temporary displays to see the artwork on the walls and the statues shoved into corners. I was much happier with this approach.
To be fair, I should note that Kee-Min did enjoy the Lux exhibit, finding the artifacts and associated snapshots of history to be fascinating. He lingered far longer in this section of the museum.
But thankfully, the Musei Capitolini offered plenty for those of us who found the Lux exhibit exasperating. After moving past it, I walked through room after room of art and artifacts, lingered in a hallway with more statues, and rested while absorbing the enormous room constructed to house the original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius (originally placed in the courtyard, see above).
After a few hours, when we felt unable to read any more informational placards, we tried to find the coffee shop one floor up. In doing so, we caused a bit of trouble, and learned several important lessons:
1. It is entirely possible that the signs for "Cafe" point in the most counter-intuitive direction, and when you take a leap of faith and try to follow them, they abandon you in the middle of the museum.
2. Just because the map shows stairs, doesn't mean that you, as a museum visitor, are allowed access to the stairs.
3. Some doors will be marked "Not an Exit. Alarm Will Sound!" Some doors will not be marked as such - but they may still be alarmed.
4. If you inadvertently go through such a door, five middle aged Italian women (museum attendants) will move faster than any other Italians you've seen on your trip. They will also be yelling.
5. Eventually, they will give you directions to the Cafe, rolling their eyes all the while at your American stupidity.
But it will all be worth it, when you acquire a delicious espresso and cocoa drink with whipped cream:
 |
| If you go, order it. It's called "Capitolini something-or-other". The details don't matter. Just order it!! |
 |
| Mosaic tabletop. |
 |
| Another tabletop, up close! |
The displays themselves weren't that cramped, and most included some English descriptions. But the sheer size of the building meant that there was a lot of artwork on display. By about 7:30, we were exhausted and ready for dinner.
We headed downstairs, collected our stuff, consulted the handy Eat Rome app to search out a dinner spot, and headed out. Stay tuned, because the next post will detail what was probably our favorite meal in Italy!! And I promise - after a few text-heavy posts, there will be *plenty* of food photos!
No comments:
Post a Comment