Caravaggio at the Scuderie

Josh and I rode our bikes to Piazza Quirinale to meet up with the Nancy group for a viewing of the Caravaggio show. Thankfully, we purchased our tickets ahead of time -- the crowds were thick. Nancy had all of us sit in one of the ante-rooms by the coat check and she went over all the salient details of Caravaggio's artistic development, his painting style, and his life. Once inside the exhibit, it was difficult to convene as a group, and even more difficult to appreciate all the paintings without some jostling. Josh and I were already well-versed in Caravaggio -- it's hard to live in Rome and not know a lot about the man and his life. His body of work is not large -- only 64 known works. There are many copies and these days the technology is available to determine which are real and which are fakes. Several important paintings from Caravaggio are in a handful of churches around Rome -- in San Luigi dei Francese (these are the paintings which really launched his career), in Santa Maria del Popolo, and in Sant'Agostino. As such, the exhibit (as all exhibits in the Scuderie) was not very large...maybe 20 or so paintings over two floors. My favorites were Giuditta che taglia la testa a Oloferme (Judith cutting off Holeferme's head), San Giovanni (St. John the Baptist) and, of course Davide con la testa di Golia (David with the head of Goliath) where the head of Goliath is a self-portrait. With the exception of St. John the Baptist who is enshrouded in a red cloth, I seem to be drawn to the more gruesome paintings with blood (red) and portraying fear on the subject's faces. Caravaggio was very good with the facial expressions.

Nancy spoke to the group again after everyone had a chance to walk through the first level -- at the mid-point, as it were -- and then again at the end of the exhibit. It was an atypical tour because it was so crowded and therefore the narrative was necessarily a bit disjointed. Josh dashed out at the conclusion; he had to address a computer issue at home. I walked through the exhibit a second time before heading outside to a beautiful, sunny day.

I really enjoyed riding through the streets of Rome, taking in the views from the Trinita dei Monte and riding around Villa Borghese and the gardens of the Gallerie Borghese on my way home. Fortunately, Josh solved his computer issue and we were able to enjoy lunch outside in our garden.

I then recalled that I had spent all day yesterday looking for a mailbox, and I never found one. (I am sending my first letter --document, really -- from from Italy so we'll see how long it takes to arrive in the States?). So after lunch, I hopped back on my bike and rode to the local post office where I knew I must find a mailbox -- which I did. At least they don't make you wait in line to MAIL a stamped letter. Of course, if I did have any postal business to conduct, it would have been too late anyway -- the post office closes at 2pm!

After dinner tonight, while Charlotte was at swim practice, we took Olivia and Avery (by request) to the Trevi Fountain. Of course the outing would not be complete without gelato. It was a cool evening and the piazza was full of tourists but not completely over-run.