I just read my first blog and all I have to say is I was an idiot. I don't know if I thought I was too stubborn and set to change much or if I just didn't know how to or didn't want to say it in a blog the first week we were here. ha this experience has done so much more for me than make me miss taco bell. All the history and culture I absorbed in the last 2 months is irreplaceable and irreplicable. I learned so much that I could never have gotten from sititng in a classroom, "learning" from a book I refused to pay $200 for, in Ohio no less. I LIVED in Italy for 2 months and if not for being here I may have not been able to go all the other places I went as well. I have wanted to go to Auschwitz since I was in 4th grade and first learned about the Holocaust. Thanks to this trip I am a well traveled person!
I learned that I love mojitos and there are a lot of people who hate fish haha
I learned so much about myself that I never thought possible. I never wanted to be one of those "I found faith in Italy" type people, or better yet I never, ever thought I would hear myself say that or even think it. But I really did. Though my thoughs and beleifs may still be off the beaten path, I actually know what I believe now and I think it took being here now with these specific people to do that for me. I don't believe for a second that it is coincidence that we are all here because we all have so much to offer each other specifically. We fit together like lattice tilings!! haha Of course we all know The Shack helped pave my path to my new understanding and I still insist you all read it. We will pass it around!
As important as all that is, I think it's most important that I learned so mcuh about so many amazing people. I'm not tryin to get all mushy gushy in a blog, but you are all amazing people with so much to offer the world and I am going to miss every single one of you verrrrrry much. It really isn't about what you know, it's all about who you know. We are always saying "we know Danilo!" and that obviouisly gets us pretty far here. But I think you can know everything there is to know about everything, but without someone to share it with, it's nothing. <3
Friday, October 9, 2009
the final final...
A lot of math goes into a lot of things that we see or do every day without us having any idea. I was surprised when I learned about the flower petals being in Fibonacci patters and that music is mathematically composed. However I was intrigued when I realized there is a mathematical sequence behind tiling. The tiles I walk on and see everywhere on a daily basis are arranged according to mathematical law. It seems so simple and it makes sense after all they are composed of geometrical shapes which normally would trigger the math light bulb in my head. For whatever reason it seems tiling escaped that thought process.
Tiling by definition is the covering of an entire plane with non overlapping figures. The key to tiling, as laid out by St. Thomas Aquinas, is symmetry. All that really means is that the proportions of the images you are looking at should be equal or mirrored. This component makes the tiling pleasing to the eyes and allows things to fit together in a way that is orderly and makes sense. Ceramic is the most common material used to create tiles and has been being used by man to create decorative or practical tiles for 4000 years. Decorative tiling can be found in ruins and different buildings all around the world. They were first made by hand and laid out to bake in the sun and remained flat. They could then paint them to make them more appealing. After a while they were able to make a mold out of wood that would help make a consistent size, shape and patter on each tile. The manufacturing and decorating of the tiles was perfected during the Islamic period in Persia.
Now-a-days we have machines to do all the making and painting of the tiles that we use all over the place. The most common patter is monohedral which uses only one shape and size of tile. It’s common to find tiling like this in practical places like many kitchens and bathrooms. These tiles and many others are considered edge-to-edge because they share a side with the next tile as opposed to being a free shape. In the 1970’s Sir Roger Penrose developed the Penrose tiling which is non-periodic, meaning there is not repetition within the pattern. These types of tilings seem to remind me of a flower usually and often take up larger spaces. We see a lot of frieze patterns in the museums and buildings we visit in Italy. This type of tiling is not meant to fill a plane like a floor or a wall, but is instead used as borders to other planes and/or materials. My personal favorite type of tiling was developed by M.C. Escher as a result of his study on the Regular Division of the Plane. It is called lattice tiling and can contain pretty much any pattern you can imagine. When the individual tiles come together at the sides they fit together like a puzzle piece in order to complete their shape. I read in multiple articles that Escher was known for his eye for abstract beauty. My favorite was one that said he “likes to challenge the logic of seeing.” He would sit there and draw random animals and people interlocking in every way possible until he could come up with an infinite pattern with aesthetic value and after 40 years of practice he mastered his obsession.
The first example of complex semi-regular tiling that comes to mind is the tilings we saw in the Vatican museum on the floors. They are from all over the place, brought to the museum not just to cover the floor but to be on display. They were there and we saw them but I don’t know that we were able to appreciate their worldly value. They create a mosaic picture which in some cases which can tell a story just as much as the statues and paintings in the room around it. Not to mention the fantastic colors and patterns created even without a picture. Just about every church and museum we have visited has had a wide variety of tilings on display that I feel often get over looked because we are so focused on looking up. I think from now on I will take a second to look down at the patterns in the floor or on the walls or borders as well as the art in the vicinity.
Tiling by definition is the covering of an entire plane with non overlapping figures. The key to tiling, as laid out by St. Thomas Aquinas, is symmetry. All that really means is that the proportions of the images you are looking at should be equal or mirrored. This component makes the tiling pleasing to the eyes and allows things to fit together in a way that is orderly and makes sense. Ceramic is the most common material used to create tiles and has been being used by man to create decorative or practical tiles for 4000 years. Decorative tiling can be found in ruins and different buildings all around the world. They were first made by hand and laid out to bake in the sun and remained flat. They could then paint them to make them more appealing. After a while they were able to make a mold out of wood that would help make a consistent size, shape and patter on each tile. The manufacturing and decorating of the tiles was perfected during the Islamic period in Persia.
Now-a-days we have machines to do all the making and painting of the tiles that we use all over the place. The most common patter is monohedral which uses only one shape and size of tile. It’s common to find tiling like this in practical places like many kitchens and bathrooms. These tiles and many others are considered edge-to-edge because they share a side with the next tile as opposed to being a free shape. In the 1970’s Sir Roger Penrose developed the Penrose tiling which is non-periodic, meaning there is not repetition within the pattern. These types of tilings seem to remind me of a flower usually and often take up larger spaces. We see a lot of frieze patterns in the museums and buildings we visit in Italy. This type of tiling is not meant to fill a plane like a floor or a wall, but is instead used as borders to other planes and/or materials. My personal favorite type of tiling was developed by M.C. Escher as a result of his study on the Regular Division of the Plane. It is called lattice tiling and can contain pretty much any pattern you can imagine. When the individual tiles come together at the sides they fit together like a puzzle piece in order to complete their shape. I read in multiple articles that Escher was known for his eye for abstract beauty. My favorite was one that said he “likes to challenge the logic of seeing.” He would sit there and draw random animals and people interlocking in every way possible until he could come up with an infinite pattern with aesthetic value and after 40 years of practice he mastered his obsession.
The first example of complex semi-regular tiling that comes to mind is the tilings we saw in the Vatican museum on the floors. They are from all over the place, brought to the museum not just to cover the floor but to be on display. They were there and we saw them but I don’t know that we were able to appreciate their worldly value. They create a mosaic picture which in some cases which can tell a story just as much as the statues and paintings in the room around it. Not to mention the fantastic colors and patterns created even without a picture. Just about every church and museum we have visited has had a wide variety of tilings on display that I feel often get over looked because we are so focused on looking up. I think from now on I will take a second to look down at the patterns in the floor or on the walls or borders as well as the art in the vicinity.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
birth-day-cake! birth-day-cake! =)
There were only a few paintings in the Palazzo Barberini that were off on their linear perspective and even fewer that were obvious or that I was certain about. You basically had to walk in circles, upside down and side ways to see where the malfunction was. However now that I know what to look for I’m always going to be looking for inconsistencies in paintings. The painting I chose is one I would imagine a lot of people did because once you realized the problem, it stuck out like a sore thumb. In Tinoretto’s “Christ and the Adulteress” the linear perspective is all messed up. The first thing that I was able to pin point was the columns. Especially if you stand to the right of the painting you can see that the rows of columns were not straight at all. They are all heading to different places which made me really dizzy if I looked at it for too long trying to figure out where they were going haha. Next the tiles aren’t going in the same direction as the columns, specifically the first row of columns after the vault. This row appears to be pointing in a different direction than the blue and white tiles. This is made even more obvious by the vault which is pointing straight ahead. Have you ever seen a building whose ceiling pattern is straight, the columns pointing in a different direction as well as not uniform and the floor patter pointing another way? Probably not unless you were in a fun house ha. I do have to say that it makes the painting a little fun because it’s all messed up. I actually liked it more once I realized it was all wrong.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Art Final ... yes.. I said FINAL =S
We have seen more art over the last 7 weeks than I would be willing to almost guarantee I have seen in the previous 20 years combined. We have seen works from all the big, world renowned artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Donatello (the Turtles I call them) to works by artists that were unknown and will remain that way. One statue that keeps coming to the surface of my pool of thoughts about artwork is The Belvedere Torso which we saw in the Vatican Museum. The date it was originally discovered is unknown, well uncertain; however knowledge of it began to surface in the 1430’s. By 1500 it was a well known construction of interest. Originally it was believed to be an original sculpture from the 1st century BC, but now is believed to be a recreation of an older construction from approximately the 2nd century BC. Although there are many theories as to where or why the sculpture originated one thing that is apparently certain is the sculptor himself. He made it a point to blatantly sign his work ‘Apollonius, son of Nestor, Athenian’ but nothing is actually known about him or the purpose of his work. Some scholars believe that his signature can be found on other works from the same projected time, however I have found that of all that believe this, just as many scholars disagree.
Just as Leonardo said in our tour of the Vatican Museum, one of the most popular candidates for the whole of the original statue is Hercules due to its proportion and muscularity. It was thought that it was intended to be Hercules sitting on the skin of the Nemean Lion but after further research it was found that if it is indeed an animal hide then it’s consistent of panther, not lion. It was always just sort of assumed that it was the mighty Hercules, but if the skin is of a panther then it doesn’t really make any sense for it to be Hercules. The newer theories are that it may be Polyphemus or Marsyas or even still Hercules, but we can never really know who or what Apollonius, son of Nestor intended. For all we know he could have made it the way it appears today as a joke. How hilarious would that be?
It is also important to note that ‘The Torso’, as it has come to be known, can be seen rather obviously in Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Torso was inspiration for many artists who attempted to recreate or sketch it. I can relate to this because my imagination is inspired when I look at this sculpture. Not knowing exactly who or what it is makes my little brain just go crazy. I try to picture the completed statue in so many different ways. I have seen it with a head and arms that bear a striking resemblance to my Papaw then a minute later I imagine a goat head and something like monkey arms or duck feet. As outrageous as that sounds, it’s not completely impossible and I have an outrageously vivid imagination so I can actually picture it like that. I am always looking for reasons why and explanations for those things that can’t be or haven’t been explained no matter how nonsensical my fabricated explanations may be. I assume that is why I am so drawn to The Torso, because it lets my imagination go wild instead of having a concrete (or marble in this case) story or explanation. It’s mysterious and powerful because no person can say they know everything about it. It more or less can’t be beaten by even the most knowledgeable human on earth and to me that is absolutely beautiful.
Just as Leonardo said in our tour of the Vatican Museum, one of the most popular candidates for the whole of the original statue is Hercules due to its proportion and muscularity. It was thought that it was intended to be Hercules sitting on the skin of the Nemean Lion but after further research it was found that if it is indeed an animal hide then it’s consistent of panther, not lion. It was always just sort of assumed that it was the mighty Hercules, but if the skin is of a panther then it doesn’t really make any sense for it to be Hercules. The newer theories are that it may be Polyphemus or Marsyas or even still Hercules, but we can never really know who or what Apollonius, son of Nestor intended. For all we know he could have made it the way it appears today as a joke. How hilarious would that be?
It is also important to note that ‘The Torso’, as it has come to be known, can be seen rather obviously in Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Torso was inspiration for many artists who attempted to recreate or sketch it. I can relate to this because my imagination is inspired when I look at this sculpture. Not knowing exactly who or what it is makes my little brain just go crazy. I try to picture the completed statue in so many different ways. I have seen it with a head and arms that bear a striking resemblance to my Papaw then a minute later I imagine a goat head and something like monkey arms or duck feet. As outrageous as that sounds, it’s not completely impossible and I have an outrageously vivid imagination so I can actually picture it like that. I am always looking for reasons why and explanations for those things that can’t be or haven’t been explained no matter how nonsensical my fabricated explanations may be. I assume that is why I am so drawn to The Torso, because it lets my imagination go wild instead of having a concrete (or marble in this case) story or explanation. It’s mysterious and powerful because no person can say they know everything about it. It more or less can’t be beaten by even the most knowledgeable human on earth and to me that is absolutely beautiful.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Your peeps aren't Caths?
Out of all the structures we saw by Bernini on our walking tour, I chose the “Fountain of the Rivers” located in the center of Piazza Navona to investigate further. It was commissioned by Pope Innocent X whose crest can be recognized between what I believe to be the Ganges and Danube rivers and the Papal family Pamphilj in 1648. It’s constructed of marble and travertine. The purpose projected by the Pamphilj family was to demonstrate the church’s influence and power about the four existing regions of the world, thus demonstrating the universal nature of the church. Each river is identified by a person who was never a real figure. This person is a personification of one of the then known four continents which is associated with each particular river. The rivers are The Danube (Europe), The Ganges (Asia), The Rio della Plata which is personifies the riches of the Americas with coins and a black man. The most interesting to me is the depiction of the Nile because it is depicted by a man with a covered head because at this time Europeans didn’t know where the Nile came from, so they had no way to personify something they didn’t know anything about.
There are some interesting symbolic factors to this fountain as well that I would never have noticed or recognized without digging deeper. For example, there is a bronze pigeon at the top of the fountain that represents the transcendental peace of the church over the whole world or the world as they knew it. It is not a secret that Bernini and Borromini were not on good terms. There are theories that suggest that the rivers of Rio della Plata and the Nile were placed facing the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone which was by Borromini. The hand of the personification of the Rio della Plata has a hand raised at the church supposedly to shield himself from the collapse of the church suggesting instability and faulty work by Borromini. It is also suggested that the personification of the Nile has his face covered not because they didn’t know where the Nile came from, but because he was refusing to look at the work of Borromini. Which I think is pretty funny ha.
There are some interesting symbolic factors to this fountain as well that I would never have noticed or recognized without digging deeper. For example, there is a bronze pigeon at the top of the fountain that represents the transcendental peace of the church over the whole world or the world as they knew it. It is not a secret that Bernini and Borromini were not on good terms. There are theories that suggest that the rivers of Rio della Plata and the Nile were placed facing the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone which was by Borromini. The hand of the personification of the Rio della Plata has a hand raised at the church supposedly to shield himself from the collapse of the church suggesting instability and faulty work by Borromini. It is also suggested that the personification of the Nile has his face covered not because they didn’t know where the Nile came from, but because he was refusing to look at the work of Borromini. Which I think is pretty funny ha.
Monday, September 28, 2009
No detouring from MY tour!
Italy is known for a wide variety of it's qualities. However, it's safe to say that the food is near the top of that list. Personally the awesome food was one of the things I was looking most forward to on a daily basis so it makes sense that my walking tour is focused on food. It's no secret that I l-o-v-e to eat. Rome is a pretty large and diverse place. There are a lot of places to eat with different scenery and their own qualities but the piazzas jump out at me as a top place to get fill of some good food and good people. You can observe the Italian culture at work in and around most of these places. I'm most intrigued by Piazza Navona and the Campo de Fiori probably because of all the people and variety of everything you can find in these places. The destinations I have chosen circle around the Piazza Navona and the Campo because I consider them to be two of the most awesome homegrown Italian places that we walk through all the time, but always for a purpose, never just to stop and smell the roses or relax.
We begin in the Campo de Fiori...
We begin in the Campo de Fiori...
- "La Carobonara" was opened first in 1912 and provides a unique panorama of all of Campo de Fiori. They feature indoor and outdoor seating for a private, more ellegant dining experience or for some ultimate people watching.
Now we travel out of the Campo towards Corso Vittorio Emanuele II through the Piazza della Cancellerina. (Watch out crossing the C.V.E II! Those Italians and their Vespas..) Pass through the Piazza s. Pantaleo onto Via di Santa Maria dell'Anima where you can find all kinds of restaurants and cafe's, but they are pretty much your standard sit and eat places. None that really jumped out at me. So you take this street all the way to Largo Febo...
- "Ristorante Santa Lucia" is tucked back in a corner with a dining area just above Via di Santa Maria dell'Anima. They have an ellegent outdoor setting until winter and an impressive selection of some rather expensive food. The average cost of just the main course was 28 Euros with the most expensive being around 35 Euros. The dining square is up high enough that you can get a glimpse of Italy at work or leisure while enjoying the authentic Italian cuisine from a comfortable setting.
Now we take a right into Pazza Navona which to me embodies the essence and root of Italian culture. It was important a long time ago as a circus which was an important cultural center and now serves as the classic example of Italian culture. All the restaurants in the Piazza are worth while, but the ones I chose are all tied together by the Piazza and it's activities. Upon entering the Piazza on your left you will find...
- "Domiziano" which is at the head of the Piazza where you can clearly see everything going on all over the place. It would be a great place to just sit and talk or watch the hustle bustle of the people around the Piazza. Another reason I liked this place is because all the people I observed or talked to in this particular restaurant didn't speak much english if any at all. It really reminded me that I'm actually completely emersed in the heart of Italian culture because I'm so used to more or less being able to get my point across in english almost everywhere we go.
Now continue through the Piazza keeping on the left side.On your right you can see an innumerable amout of people selling various products or talents and all kinds of people from all walks of life gathering for whatever reason. All the hardcore classic Italian chitter chatter can be picked up on here. You know, the kind that even some Italians need a translator to understand because of the strong accents and Speedy Gonzalas pace of conversation. On the left near the center...
- "Don Chisciotte" has pretty much everything you could possibly want to eat without completely breaking the bank. It was by no means cheap in the eyes of a college student, but for those looking for a moderately priced meal with a variety of Italian cuisine, this is the place to go. Near the heart of the Piazza, it gives you a front row seat to the events taking place in the Piazza. Another plus to this particular restaurant was that the guy I was talking to pointed out the Alfredo as a favorite before I even got excited about it being on the menu. They weren't pushy or rude like a lot of people can be when they really want you to sit at their restaurant.
Now you keep heading straight out of the Piazza on the left side down Via della Cuccagna after taking in the sights and sounds of the heart of Piazza Navona, it's statues and inhabitants to find...
- "La Piccola Cuccagna dal 1950" which means "the small land of plenty". It was established in 1950 and features a menu for those looking to get a taste of a variety of Italian cuisine in one sitting without the entire meal for 18 Euro. Just outside the Piazza, there is a constant flow of people coming and going, chitting and chatting. It's also a little dark in this small Via at most points of the day, so the Piazza serves as almost a light at the end of the tunnel and can be viewed from the dining area of this "small and of plenty."
We now venture back across Corso Vittorio Emanuele II back into Campo de Fiori. In the far back right corner you will find my favorite of the tour and most odd for the area it's situated in...
- "The Drunken Ship" serves a variety of food from American cuisine to traditional cheese platters found only in Italy. You can experience the best of both worlds, as they really are two completely different worlds in my eyes. Not to mention a front row seat to the show we know as Campo de Fiori and a spicy night life after the market closes down. They convert from a casual dining experience to a hoppin' bar at night where you will discover their slogan is "Get Ship Faced." I'm sure you can imagine I find this utterly amusing.
This concludes my tour of "Eating Rad in Rome" with 5 unique restraunts all tied together by the Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori and the people/activities that make them the cultural centers they have come to be. Not to mention some awwwwwesome food!!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Ahhh Ewwwww!!!!!...what are we 'ewwing'?
Even though the term Catholic means universal, there are some things about the church that I was able to pick out in St. Peter's Basilica that were a direct Roman influence as well as somethings that applied to or were influenced by people all over the world. To begin with the artwork within the church is Roman. If you were to go to Spain or France or anywhere else in the world the artwork and decorations would be slightly different because of the different styles from each region. St. Peter's specifically is hardcore Roman because of it's direct tie to the Vatican and the Vatican's direct tie to Rome. Whenever I think "Vatican" the following thoughts are always "Catholic, Pope and Rome." The way I see it, Rome is one of the oldest cities on earth and the Catholic church is pretty dang old obviously. So these reallllllly old churches like the Pantheon are Roman because they are so old not to mention in the Pantheon's case there are important Roman figures tombs located within it.
I see the universalness (I make up words) in the simple Catholic nature of the churches. Not to mention that no matter what faith you follow, a church is still a gathering place for believers which makes it universally appealing. The statues and paintings of Saints seem universal to me because the Saints aren't just Roman but they are a Catholic thing more or less. I'm having trouble spitting out what I'm trying to say. Basically all the basic religious stuff is universal for anyone because it's all about the life and sacrifice of Jesus. So whether you believe he was a prophet or the Son of God or just a cool dude who spread some good ideas, you still appreciate his having existed whether you live in Rome, Italy or Rome, Ohio.
I see the universalness (I make up words) in the simple Catholic nature of the churches. Not to mention that no matter what faith you follow, a church is still a gathering place for believers which makes it universally appealing. The statues and paintings of Saints seem universal to me because the Saints aren't just Roman but they are a Catholic thing more or less. I'm having trouble spitting out what I'm trying to say. Basically all the basic religious stuff is universal for anyone because it's all about the life and sacrifice of Jesus. So whether you believe he was a prophet or the Son of God or just a cool dude who spread some good ideas, you still appreciate his having existed whether you live in Rome, Italy or Rome, Ohio.
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