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Searching For Bernini

~ Musings on the Ecstasy of Italian Art and Culture

Searching For Bernini

Tag Archives: architecture

Rome for Cat Lovers

13 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by SearchingForBernini in Fun Facts, History, Italian History, Italian Life, Rome, Things I Love, travel

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architecture, Cat Shelters, Cats, History, Italian History, Italy, Rome, secrets of rome, Travel

This kitty howled his hello!

This kitty howled his hello!

“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.” —Leonardo da Vinci

 

As an avowed (some would say obsessed) cat-lover living in Italy for a year without my beloved Bella, a Siamese with a wicked purr and sharp blue eyes, I’ve had to find cat love where I can.

My Bella

My Bella

Fortunately, in Rome, cats are everywhere you look. In the Colosseum…

Colosseum cat

Guarding their owners’ cars…

Car cat

Even in bathrooms in Trastevere bars, and on benches in the Jewish ghetto….

Art in a bar bathroom in Trastevere

Art in a bar bathroom in Trastevere

Ghetto bench

Ghetto bench

But many cats have taken up residence in some of the Eternal City’s most historic spots, so you can be a tourist and a cat-lover at the same time.

According to the latest animal census commissioned by the Italian office of animal rights, there are about 300,000 cats in Rome, 120,000 of them live in cat colonies or are feral on the streets.

Cats are so popular in Rome that a local law stipulates that a group of more than five cats in a natural, urban habitat constitutes a protected cat colony, where the furry felines are entitled to food and shelter. Volunteers—in the past they were usually women known as “gattare”—see that the cats are cared for. There are approximately 4000 cat colonies in Rome today, but three of the most accessible are smack in the center of history.

Cats of Piramide

Piramide cat colony

Piramide cat colony

Cats in ancient Egypt were considered sacred, so it’s fitting that Rome’s most scenic cat sanctuary sits in the shadow of the imposing pyramid that looks down over the Protestant cemetery of Rome, on a quiet street in the Testaccio neighborhood. A beautiful oasis from the chaos of the city, the cemetery is the resting ground for many of Italy’s most famous ex-pats, including John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Cemetery cat

Cemetery cat

With its narrow aisles, colorful flowers, and sculptured tombs, it’s an ideal playground for cats. One tiger-striped kitty named Miccio certainly looked happy as a volunteer named Giulia gave him a neck rub and prepared to feed some of the other 40-plus cats that call the site home.

Giulia, a volunteer at Piramide's cat sanctuary

Giulia, a volunteer at Piramide’s cat sanctuary

Giulia told me that for centuries cats have enjoyed romping through the cemetery and curling up in the shade of the 118-foot-high ancient pyramid, built around 18 BC by Roman magistrate, Gaius Cestius, as a monumental tomb for his family. Adding to the scenic history, in the 3rd century, the Aurelian Walls were erected right around it.

The current cat sanctuary began in 1984 with one volunteer, Matilde. Horrified by how many cats around the pyramid were sick and mistreated, she lobbied to set up a true shelter on the grounds. Despite initial reluctance by local officials, the colony’s growing number of volunteers continued to feed the cats and strove to find vets to treat and sterilize them. The Villa Andreina, a pet boarding organization, eventually helped out with food and medical care and even donated little wooden houses as shelter.

Aurelian Walls flank the pyramid

Aurelian Walls flank the pyramid

Now the colony, run by a volunteer association for the protection and care of cats in Rome, is thriving and participates regularly in adoption events. Cat lovers can visit Miccio and his friends daily between 2 and 4 p.m. and donations are accepted on the website.

A kitten among the cat shelters

A kitten among the cat shelters

Via del Campo Boario, 1, near Piazzale Ostiense

Cats of Piazza Vittorio

Piazza Vittorio Emanuelle

Piazza Vittorio Emanuelle

The site of the cat colony at Piazza Vittorio Emanuelle II in Rome, in the Esquilino neighborhood behind Termini train station, feels a lot like the surrounding streets—gritty, diverse, a little rundown, and fiercely independent.

Lazy cats

Lazy cats

The cats laze around the Trofei di Mario, the ruins of a monumental fountain dating from 226 BC, in a corner of the park behind a fence that also protects the “Porta Magica” or Magic Gate (behind the lamppost above), the only remaining piece of the grand Villa Palombara that once stood on the site.

The park is best visited during the day and if you arrive in mid-afternoon, around the time schools let out, you might be lucky enough to see one of the colony’s most dedicated volunteers—a boy named Sammi.

A boy named Sammi feeds the cats

A boy feeds the cats

As I snapped photos of the cats, I heard someone whistling. And then I saw a boy of about 14, with a backpack and wearing a Roma football jersey, walk up to the fence, still whistling. The cats came running from all directions. The boy pulled a bag of cat food from his backpack, shooed away the pigeons that came flying in and put little mounds of cat food down, petting the cats and protectively watching over them as they ate.

A dedicated volunteer

A dedicated volunteer

A hungry cat

A hungry cat

Sammi shyly said he comes every day to feed the cats, of which there are 40 or 50, but unlike the Piramide cats, they’re mostly abandoned and their care isn’t officially organized. Still, Sammi clearly loves them—he said his family has cats at home that he first met in the park.

After the cats on one side of the enclosure ate their fill, Sammi walked around the fence, still whistling, and went to greet the felines on the other side.

Trofei di Mario, Piazza Vittorio Emanuelle II, northwest corner; for information on visiting the Trofei di Mario tel. +39-060608.

Largo di Torre Argentina

Welcome to the Argentina sanctuary!

Welcome to the Argentina sanctuary!

The Torre Argentina Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter, is easily the most organized in Rome. Here, up to 120 cats loll on the marble slabs and chunks of broken walls of the one of the most ancient temples in Rome—the site where on the Ides of March Julius Caesar was brutally stabbed.

Cats in the ruins

Cats in the ruins

Italian actress Anna Magnani used to feed the cats of Argentina

Italian actress Anna Magnani

Cats took up residence here beginning in 1929, while excavations were underway.

The Gattare fed the cats, including Italian film star Anna Magnani, who would visit her furry friends on breaks from working at the nearby Teatro Argentina.

Now, down a set of metal stairs, you’ll find a couple of rooms with low ceilings where the volunteers of this sanctuary care for the cats, and where many of their furry friends sleep in cozy beds, play with toys and greet visitors with a loud meow.

Cats inside the Argentina shelter make themselves at home.

Cats inside the Argentina shelter make themselves at home.

Recently, I had the privilege of meeting Silvia Viviana, the president of the Torre association that has been caring for the cats since 1993. A former opera singer who still exudes the gravitas—with her sweep of silver hair and long black dress—that she no doubt projected from the stage, Silvia told me that 25 years ago she used to walk by the area and watch the cats frolicking in the ruins.

She assumed they were being cared for. But one day she discovered that a lone, elderly lady was feeding the furry beasts and she decided to help. “Well, I offered to come and open the cans,” she said, especially after the older lady broke her leg and couldn’t feed them any more.

Cats on the stairs of Largo Argentina

Cats on the stairs of Largo Argentina

Like the cats at Piramide and elsewhere, many were sick, pregnant, and needed vet care. Silvia took action. She convinced vets to offer their services for free. Since then, it’s been her mission—along with a slew of volunteers—to feed, care for and find homes, when possible, for the Argentina cats. “No cat leaves here who isn’t spayed or neutered,” she said emphatically. In 2015 alone, the Argentina shelter saw that 4,852 cats were sterilized and 142 cats found good homes.

DSCN0300

If you want to adopt a Roman cat, this is a good place to look. But you have to pass Silvia’s inspection—the volunteers always try to make sure the cats go to a good, caring home—Silvia has two of her own from the shelter. While some cats have been adopted by foreign visitors, she says countries like America have so many needy animals of their own, that they don’t actively encourage foreign adoption. But the Torre sanctuary does encourage donations, which can be made on their website (romancats.com).

Laura has been volunteering at the shelter for years

Laura has been volunteering at the shelter for years

The shelter is supported only by donations and volunteers, like seven-year veteran Laura, who greets visitors with a smile and any information you might want on the cats who wander freely through the shelter, up the stairs and out into the ruins, delighting tourists when they stop to say hello.

Virgola as a kitten

Virgola as a kitten

My personal favorite—a little guy I was tempted to adopt!—is named Virgola, which means “comma” in Italian. I first met him a few months ago when he was a kitten. These days he’s almost fully grown, and while he hasn’t been adopted yet, he seems pretty happy to snooze away under the watchful eyes of his dedicated and loving caretakers.

Via Florida & via di Torre Argentina; open noon-6 p.m. daily; Ph: +39-06-68805611

Virgola in June, all grown up but soooo sleepy!

Virgola in June, all grown up but soooo sleepy!

 

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My Sketchy Date with Bernini

25 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by SearchingForBernini in Art, Art History, Bernini, Italian History, Rome

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

architecture, art history, Baroque, Bernini, Borromini, Francesco Borromini, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Gianlorenzo Bernini

Bernini self-portrat, completed when he was in his twenties.

Bernini self-portrait, completed when he was in his twenties.

“You must be in heaven!” my friend Toni messaged me. And she was right. She’d written in response to this photo (below) I’d posted of Gian Lorenzo Bernini‘s lion, a model for part of his Four Rivers fountain that’s just one of the exhibits in Il Laboratorio del Genio: Bernini Disegnatore, which is currently showing at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, until May 24.

Clay model by Bernini of the lion for la fontana Quattro Fiumi

Clay model by Bernini of the lion for la fontana Quattro Fiumi

I fell in love with Bernini and his genius years ago at the Galleria Borghese where his incredible sculptures of Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Proserpine and his masterful (and super studly) David are all on magnificent display. Having read a lot about my 400-year-old boyfriend, I knew he’d also earned a reputation as a painter but until I visited this Barberini exhibit I hadn’t had many opportunities to see his drawings—to witness the Cavaliere’s genius in progress.

The exhibit, which brings together sketches from museums all over the world, is divided into several sections, including portraits; ancient designs; St. Peter’s and the Vatican; and fountains, obelisks and statues.

It begins with several self-portraits by Bernini. He greets you in all his intensity right at the door.

Self-portrait of a young Bernini

Self-portrait of a young Bernini

And all the portraits, whether of himself or others, have a similar intensity in the eyes. No doubt his own keen observation of the world around him, and his ability to translate the inherent emotion onto the page or into marble, helped bring out his genius. Continue reading →

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Secrets of Piazza di Spagna—Part II

07 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by SearchingForBernini in Art, Art History, Bernini, Italian Life, Politics, Uncategorized

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architecture, Baroque, Bernini, Borromini, Food, Francesco Borromini, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Italy, Paolo, Piazza di Spagna, Piazza Navona, Roman, Rome, Spanish Steps, Travel

When to eat, what toilets to visit…and Bernini’s biggest rivalry revealed in stone!

Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps

I love to eat. Who doesn’t? And I’ve been fortunate, here in Rome, to meet all kinds of real food and restaurant experts who’ve shared tips and information about cuisine and restaurants in Rome and the wider world as a whole. (If you’re interested in learning more about them, I’ve added links to their blogs and sites at the end of this post.)

On Paolo’s tour of the Piazza di Spagna area, we learned a little bit about dining in Rome, and then we got to the real meat (for me) of the tour: a delicious discussion of my 400-year-old boyfriend, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and his bitter rivalry with another artist and architect, Francesco Borromini. But first, food….

Aperitivo time!

Aperitivo time!

1. Avoid eating like a tourist. The Romans, Paolo tells us, dine at fairly specific times. True Italians eat lunch between 1 and 2:30 p.m., have their aperitivi (beverages and small snacks, like olives, potato chips, formaggio) around 5:30-6 p.m., and dinner around 8:30-9:30 p.m. So, all the people sitting at cafés at three in the afternoon on the quaint, cobblestone streets around Piazza di Spagna are almost certainly tourists.

What’s more, at the off-times, the food is different—and not as high quality—as that served during the Roman lunch or dinner hour, when the restaurants whip up their best meals. For those tourists sitting down for a late lunch at 3 p.m. (of which I’ve been one, many times—guilty!), the food is often second-tier. Oops.

Otello alla Concordia

Otello alla Concordia

For a good, traditional Roman meal, Paolo directed us to Trattoria Otella alla Concordia, which lies beyond the madding crowd. This is a real Roman restaurant—the kind of place the locals frequent, and when we walked by, at around 3 p.m., it was deserted. The restaurant has been family run for 70 years, but goes back as far as the 1700s, when it was an inn that hosted artists, novelists and poets. I went back a few days later for a delicious lunch of rigatoni all’amatriciana. Buonissimo!

Rigatoni all'amatriciana at Trattoria Otello alla Concordia. You can check out their menu here.

Rigatoni all’amatriciana at Trattoria Otello alla Concordia. You can check out their menu here.

Via dei Condotti

Via dei Condotti

2. How Via dei Condotti got its name: Condotti means “channels” or “ducts” in Italiano, and underneath Via dei Condotti are pipes that carried the water to the Baths of Agrippa. Today, there are still pipes beneath the street that carry water to parts of Rome, like Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori.

Antico Caffé Greco

Antico Caffé Greco

3. Rome’s oldest coffee bar is Caffé Greco, operating since 1760, at Via dei Condotti, 86. Artists and writers like Stendhal, Keats, Shelly and Casanova enjoyed a coffee here. One tip from Paolo: Order a coffee at the bar inside to the right of the front door (if you can make it through the crowd), and then walk back through the café to use the toilets—it’s a good way to see the place without paying the exorbitant prices charged at the tables (although your coffee will be served in white-gloved fashion by elegant waiters, if you choose to pay).

Bernini, self portrait

Bernini, self portrait

4. Bernini vs. Borromini, the big rivalry, summed up in one building. Now, the really good stuff! Pope Gregory XV founded the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, or the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (how’s that for a mouthful?) in 1622 as a center where the Church arranged missionary work. It was, and still is, based in Palazzo Ferratini. Pope Urban VIII developed the site into the Collegio di Propaganda Fide, for training missionaries, and in 1634 he commissioned Bernini to build a chapel and spruce up the palazzo.

Palazzo di Propaganda: Bernini's facade

Palazzo di Propaganda: Bernini’s facade

Bernini got started, and the façade is a Baroque design that is more restrained than might be expected; with classical lines, it stands with quiet dignity along Via di Propaganda and looks out over the edge of the Piazza. But Bernini really wanted the commission to work on St. Peter’s, and when that finally came through, he abandoned the Propaganda building and left it to his rival, Francesco Borromini, to finish.

Paolo, a fount of information on Bernini, walked us around to the side of the building where you can see visible evidence of how the two men’s perspectives on the Baroque, and their philosophies regarding life and politics, diverge. Bernini, as I wrote in an earlier post, was a consummate politician and courtier—earning the respect (and commissions) of popes and keeping them happy by always saying the right thing (or sometimes saying nothing, which turned out to be the right thing!). Borromini, on the other hand, was more emotional, could be histrionic, and ultimately committed suicide. He had the stereotypical artistic temperament.

Bernini vs. Borromini, written in stone

Bernini vs. Borromini, written in stone

Here, you see where Bernini’s work ends and Borromini’s begins. Bernini believed art should express reality—his sculptures reveal this, especially—they are so lifelike the marble looks as soft as human flesh. In his architecture, in this case, Bernini opted for a celebration of rationalism—organized, restrained, where every line makes logical sense. His philosophy of religion (and, perhaps, life), said Paolo, was, “If I follow the rules, I’ll go to heaven.” Full stop.

Borromini

Borromini

Borromini, on the other hand, was more of a mystic. His emotional philosophy tended more toward, “Please save me! Hey, I’ll try this with my building! Do you like it?” His eventual arrival in Heaven was not, for him, destined merely by following “the rules.” Salvation had to be earned, and was not determined by a clear path.

Borromini’s part of this palazzo, therefore, looks like a separate building. Not only did he use different materials, he also created round windows, and added pilasters and architectural flourishes that are nowhere to be seen in Bernini’s design. As much as I love my boyfriend, Borromini’s part of the palace is more fun to look at, I think!

5. Palazzos can move—literally! The final “secret” Paolo shared with us is this: When Via Nazionale, a main street that connects the main train station, Termini, with the city center, was built at the end of the 19th century, the street passed through parts of Rome where numerous palazzos sat. So what did they do? They moved them out of the way! It must have been quite the enterprise, but instead of destroying the structures to make way for modernity, the palazzos were lifted and moved back, to make room for the street. What a feat of engineering! Ciao!

Here is the list of Foodies I promised:

Katie Parla, an American who’s been in Rome for 10 years, she’s a restaurant critic and writer who contributes regularly to the New York Times and works with other women in Rome to produce The Rome Digest, an online magazine about food, wine and happenings in Rome. She has an app: Katie Parla’s Rome, which I’m finding invaluable (available on iTunes).

Rachel Roddy, a British writer, blogs about food from Rome. Her recipes are irresistible and they’re helping me (a non-starter in the kitchen) improve my cooking! Check out her blog.

Hande Leimer, a Turkish sommelier, hosts wine tasting events through her company, Vino Roma. She’s incredibly knowledgeable and experienced and her tastings are not to be missed! She works with Katie Parla on The Rome Digest.

Elizabeth Minchilli, an American who’s lived in Rome for years, writes about food for numerous publications and on her website, Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome. She also has an app: Eat Rome.

Simran Sethi, an American who’s in Rome researching a book on the biodiversity of seeds is one of the most impressive women I’ve met here. She’s an expert in her field and if you want to learn more about her work, check out her website.

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