2019 Spring in Rome: February 2019

Dear Family, Friends and Readers,
We have been here 12 days and have adjusted to the seven hour time difference from Chicago. Every time we look at the American Midwest's weather reports, we are especially glad to be here, and hope your weather improves soon.
(A reminder, sometimes smaller screens don't show the full length of my blog entries, which can be accessed through a tiny "MORE" tab. The end is marked as such. If you tire of the blather, it is possible to view just the photos by clicking on one of them.)
There are advantages to being retired, the main ones for us are being able to visit Rome for more than the traditional two weeks' annual vacation of the still-employed and being able to come in the off-off season, when travel and accommodation prices are lower.
So what have we been doing?
We've not been sitting at a cafe on the Via Veneto waiting for the movie stars to stroll by as one could back in the 1950's. Early on we hauled in groceries (mainly from a nice supermarket across the street) and other supplies, and we have been slowly wandering around some favorite sites.
I thought you might enjoy some of my favorite sunny-day photos, taken in previous years.

The Tiber, the bridge to Castle Sant' Angelo with
only one corner of its fortifications showing,
and the dome of St. Peter's.

The Castle Sant' Angelo, originally the family tomb of the Emperor Hadrian, later a papal fortress, with the dome of St. Peter's in the background. The angel atop the castle commemorates the vision of the angel sheathing his sword to signal the end of an early plague in Rome.

View from the Vittoriano (typewriter) monument over some of the Imperial Forums. The better preserved half of the Colosseum is hard to miss. To its right is a side view of the large basilica of Maxentius (completed by his conqueror in an early 300's civil war, Constantine, who became the Emperor of Rome).

The Forum Boarium, or site along the Tiber of the ancient cattle market. The church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin and its 12th century bell tower. At the right is part of the round temple to Hercules, later a small church.

The Aventine Hill, with flowering trees in spring.

A very quiet, small piazza in the medieval part of the Trastevere neighborhood.

San Paolo fuori le mure/St. Paul outside the walls

This idyllic scene of St. Paul Outside the Walls and its monastery was painted by Van Wittel in the later 1600's. The main differences between this view and now are the then-inhabited areas of Rome were a couple miles away. The flood-restraining walls on the Tiber are a couple centuries in the future.

view of St. Paul from a Tiber bridge 2010. The modern built up area isn't obvious in this shot.

The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls was built over the burial site of St. Paul, outside ancient Rome's city walls (but now well within the expanded city).

These maps show the difference a couple of centuries can make. The built up part of Rome now extends for miles past the basilica (red circle).

It is less than 3 miles from the Pantheon, with a subway stop nearby, but many tourists miss this treat.

(I've shown you this photo before, looking towards St. Paul from the subway stop. Alas, yes, that is a famous American burger outlet on the near corner.)

Right, a view of the basilica's mid 1800's bell tower, intended to look like an ancient light house. The outer walls were built to fortify the basilica and monastery from pirate raids in the 9th century.

This is an earlier view of the Basilica and monastery from a luxurious 17th century cabinet

The real treats are behind those plain outer walls. Below is the forecourt that was redone in the later 1800's, with granite columns from Lake Maggiore (near Swiss border). The 150 columns were polished in Milan, sent by barge down the Po River to the Adriatic Sea, then shipped all the way around Italy to the Tiber, then put in shallower draught boats and ferried upriver to this spot.

The four sided quadriportico is
70 meters or 230 feet long.

The inside of the basilica has FIVE aisles. If you squint, you might see a small dark blob, partially blocking the lit-up display in front of the altar--that's a person.

This is one of the four side aisles. Overall, the basilica is 490 feet long, 260 feet wide, main nave is 98 feet wide and the height of the main nave is 240 feet (73 meters)

This is one of the windows above the main nave, done to resemble the ancient panes of thin sheets of alabaster.

Moving further down the nave, the mosaics in the bowl-shaped apse and the structure over the main altar (the baldacchino) are easier to see.

Yes, the basilica's staff has the thankless task of setting up and then storing away

endless rows of chairs as needed.

These mosaics were done by
Venetian master mosaicists
in the early 1200's, with Christ in the center,
as Pantocrator or Omnipotent,
flanked by Saints Luke, Paul, Peter and Andrew.
For a full description of all the saints
and the banners they hold, go to http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/
san_paolo/en/basilica/oro_basilica.htm

Catholics will note the unusual hand gesture

of Christ's blessing, which is in the Byzantine style. The tiny white blob to the left of Christ's foot is a representation of Pope Honorius III (1216-1227), who had the work on these

mosaics finished. It is hard to see, but there

is water flowing from Christ's throne,

nurturing the lush growth and animals along

this band of the mosaics.

The second row of mosaics show several apostles, each with a banner quoting Scripture. The two angels are flanking items from

Christ's crucifixion.

The Baldacchino and

the Easter Candlestick

Even though we have visited St. Paul's

many times, I realized I didn't know much

about the altar covering Baldacchino and

the large Easter Candlestick,
so this time I looked more closely.
It is very easy to be overwhelmed by

the mosaics and the general sensation of being in an ancient Roman basilica when in the nave.

The apse is to the left, the main part of

the nave would be to the right. The fenced

area before the baldacchino protects a "confessio" or lower area with

very important relics or items.

Inside the confessio. The faithful believe

the chain in the blue lit box is part of those

used on St. Paul in his captivity

before his beheading.

The grill on the right is the same one from

the previous photo. This photo was taken

from the basilica's floor, looking down

into the confessio.

The glass panel protects remains of the 4th century, original Constantinian basilica's apse. I've read that first church had two apses, this

one here, and the other one under the modern apse, which would have been a comparatively small building. It was replaced with one less

than a half century later with the much larger basilica, dedicated in 395 AD, because of the throngs of the faithful who came to worship

at what they believed to be the tomb of

St. Paul. This basilica was larger than the original St. Peter's, also built by Constantine.

It was in the early 1500's that the massive

work began on the modern St. Peter's which surpasses St. Paul's in size.

The grill on the right allows a glimpse

towards an ancient wall protecting the burial

site of St. Paul, the entire reason for this basilica's existence. There were pagan burial grounds in this general area, followed by centuries of Christian burials. (Some 2,000

of the fragments of those burial slabs, tombs, altars and sarcophagi are artfully displayed

in the cloister.)

High up on a wall of the museum is a plaster

cast of what is believed to be the original slab over St. Paul's burial. The holes were made

for pilgrims to dip a strip of cloth into and

then to take away as a healing relic.
{We enlightened moderns may sniff at such beliefs, but have you ever heard what fans

can do to a movie star, tearing off bits of a

jacket their idol is wearing?}

The Baldacchino over the main altar

The baldacchino,
looking towards the rear of the basilica.

Finished in 1285, this incorporates elements of the French Gothic (especially the three lobed arches and spires). The four supporting columns are porphyry, used by the ancients only for royalty.

The reliefs on the Baldacchino's front, facing the congregation, show the abbot Bartolommeo, who commissioned this altar canopy in the 1280's from the sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, better known for his work in Florence.

He is shown presenting it to St. Paul, and to Constantine and Theodosius, the founders of the original basilica. St. Paul with his sword is on the left corner, St. Peter with his keys is on the right.

This view of one side of the baldacchino shows
the Fall of Eve and Adam. It is hard to see,
(I didn't bring my telephoto lens with me),
but Eve has already bitten the apple,
for she is partially covering herself
due to her new sense of shame, and she is
about to take another bite from the apple
offered by the infamous snake.

Adam, on the right has also eaten of
the forbidden fruit, and is shameful while interacting with God, who is shown in a small circle.
The larger statue on the right corner is St. Paul;
St. Peter is on another corner. The other
two corner pieces may be St. Timothy and maybe possibly be St. Benedict, (this was and still is a Benedictine establishment). However, the Vatican's website says the fourth corner figure is Bartholomew, Abbot when the baldacchino was finished in 1285.

The spandrels above the arch on the third side
show the offerings to God of Abel (left) and Cain.

This enlargement may help to show the

details of Able's sacrifice of an animal

(perhaps a lamb or a calf) receiving a

blessing from the hand of God

that appears from the clouds.

Cain's sacrifice of grain sheafs

receives no such blessing,

and Cain's unhappy scowl forebodes

the hatred for his brother

that will drive him to commit

the first murder.

I don't find much reassurance that jealousy

and hatred go back in humans to our

very roots, far longer than the tales of

these two brothers,

the first generation of Adam and Eve.

I've read a thoughtful paper

proposing the inclusion

of these last two Biblical subjects

were there to reassure the congregants

that although humans fail,

there is hope for all.

The fourth side of the baldacchino

is dismissed by scholars, as it was added

in the mid 1800's,

and no one can find references

to what had originally been there.

I think it still is worth looking at,

showing King David and Solomon,

who the Christians saw as prophets of

the coming of the Messiah.

General view of the baldacchino,

main altar, the apse with its mosaics,

and the Easter Candlestick.

The Easter (Paschal) Candelstick.

This oversized candlestick is for the display

of a candle lit during a special service during

the night before Easter Sunday. To Christians, this represents Christ as the tree of life and

the light of the world, and his bringing light

into a world of darkness.

The images carved into this one recount

the tale of Christ's Passion

for the mostly illiterate faithful.

At the bottom, the female figures are

thought to have represented

"The Whore of Babylon",

as a symbol of evil in the world.

I'm still looking for an explanation of this band of intertwined animals and vines.

This 1200's candlestick is 5.5 meters,

or 18 feet high.

Another side of the candlestick shows

Christ being questioned by Caiaphas.

The above photo shows Christ

being mocked by the soldiers' feigning worshipful obedience.

Here is Pontius Pilate,

the Roman administrator, symbolically

and literally washing his hands

of the entire affair.

Above, Christ's crucifixion between

two condemned criminals.

Above, the second tier left shows the

risen Christ in an almond shaped oval

that represents an opening between

the spiritual world of Heaven and earth.

It is on the side facing the mass' participants,

not towards the faithful in the nave.

A large statue of St. Paul is in the background.

More twisted vines and animals

at the top of the candlestick.

What happened in 1823?

You may have noticed I've been referring

to parts of this basilica that date back

only to the mid or late 1800's.

In 1823, during some renovations,

there was a devastating fire that destroyed

the roof, nearly all the pillars in the nave, partially melted the heavy bronze doors,

but fortunately the apse and its mosaics,

as well as the Easter candlestick,

the Apostle's tomb and the cloister

were largely spared. During the long reconstruction process,

several archeological finds of other tombs

and burials were revealed.

Photo of a wall-sized reproduction of an engraving done immediately after the fire, looking towards the triumphal arch and

the main altar area.

Painting done in 1823, looking from under the apse towards the rear of the basilica.

This portico on the north end of the transept
was added to use some of the few nave columns
that survived the 1823 fire.

It was decided to rebuild the basilica

as close to what it may have looked like originally.