Rome — Cultured travelers

Rome - The Eternal City

Antico Romano - Ancient Rome

Rome offers an understanding of life. Suddenly seeing oneself up against the millennia. A sensation enters.

“Me, in this place.” Life is changed forever! -Anthony Emmolo

“Oh Rome! my country! city of the soul!”-Lord Byron, English Poet

“Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.”
-Giotto di Bondone, Renaissance painter

Dancing Satyr in Capitolini, photo by Xp8888, Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City - The Art of the Italian Renaissance

Vatican City is its own country nestled inside of Rome, the capital city of Italy. Besides being the home of the Pope and the Catholic Church, the Holy See also possesses some of the most beautiful buildings and works of art in the world. Here are some of the most important Renaissance paintings to see while visiting the Vatican.

aristotle-and-plato-detail-of-school-of-athens-raffaello-sanzio-of-urbino_web.jpg — Detail of *School of Athens, Plato and Aristotle, Raphael Santi, Stanza della Signatura, Vatican City, Rome*

*School of Athens,* Raphael Santi, Stanza della Signatura, Vatican City, Rome

Detail *School of Athens,* Raphael Santi, Stanza della Signatura, Vatican City, Rome - It is said that this is a portrait of Michelangelo as Heraclitus, the a pre-Socratic Ionian Greek philosopher.

*The Birth of Adam Detail of Sistine Chapel Ceiling*

wikiart.org_the-prophet-joel-1509_web.jpg — *Prophet, Joel Detail Sistine Ceiling, Michelangelo*

*Jonah, Detail Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Michelangelo*

“I’m not a painter. I’m a sculptor!” This was Michelangelo’s response to being forced to paint the Sistine Chapel. Then, he went on the paint his masterpieces on the ceiling and the wall.

Last_Judgement_wikimedia_commons_USpublic-domain_web_2.jpg — *Last Judgment, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome*

Michelangelo,_giudizio_universale,_dettagli_23_san_lorenzo_web.jpg — *Detail St. Lawrence, The Last Judgment*

Michelangelo,_Giudizio_Universale_300_web.jpg — Detail *St. Bartholomew -* *The Last Judgement* - Gaze up at the master’s self-portrait as the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew, hanging over Hell. Michelangelo didn’t know if he’d be saved or dropped at his own divine judgement.

The Art of the Baroque

*Detail, Apollo and Daphne, Gian Lorenzo Bernini*

*Detail, The Rape of Proserpina,* Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Galleria Borghese, Rome

“I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.”
-Augustus, Roman emperor

*The Rape of Proserpina, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Galleria Borghese, Rome*