Friday July 6.

Due to a transit strike today our schedule has changed. Rather that go to the Villa Borhgese as planned, we will go to St Maria Minerva, and then the Villa Farnesina. Up until this point, we have focused primarily on the monuments and churches and the role that the artwork and architecture had in Roman life. The imagery and iconography found in the Empirical monuments was designed to reinforce the strength of a particular leader, to gain favor of the people, or to boast of victory's on the battlefields. The artwork of the churches, throughout the centuries that we have studied, is produced to help the citizens of Rome to understand the political or religious climate in that time. Throughout each of the classical textbook art history stages, these themes remain true. Today we will have a chance to look at the art of Rome from a different perspective, art in a secular setting.

But first, we will stop at Santa Maria Minerva. Minerva is a 13^th century Dominican church built on the ruins of the Temple of Minerva. The early Renaissance church has elements of Gothic design, such as vaults. However it was restored in the 19^th century so there have been many changes. The church is dedicated to the patron saint Catherine of Sienna, known as the saint to give dowries to young women.

This church is home to one of Michelangelo's early commissions, Risen Christ. The sculpture stands at the base of the alter. It was created between the years of 1514-21 in Florence and transported to the church. The sculpture originally was created to be nude, but the Dominican church covered the genitals with a bronze leaf. Although art critics of today consider this to be one of Michelangelo's lesser works, it was highly praised in its time. Sebastiano Del Piombo said at the time, “the knees of that figure are worth all of Rome.” The sculpture has elements that all Michelangelo figures have, an idealized muscular male body, proportions skewed for dramatic emphasis, a classical contrapasto pose. All of these can be found in many of Michelangelo's works. The King of France ordered a bronze copy of this sculpture, however, it is often left out of catalog listings of Michelangelo's works. As a side personal note, I GOT TO TOUCH IT!!!!!!

Our next stop is the Villa Farnesina. Located in the Trasevere side of the Tiber, the Villa was the country home of the Roman banker Agostino Cigi. Cigi was a patron to Raphael and hired him to decorate the villa. Cardinal Farnese took over the villa in 1580, thus it's current name. The Villa gives us a chance to see Roman life at a more personal level. These rooms were not decorated to inform the public, they were designed for the enjoyment of the owner and his guests. Many pagan scenes can be found here. Painting designed to initiate conversations, to provoke emotions, and for pure whimsy. The most notable of the frescoes here are Raphael's “Galatea” from 1512, and the Loggia of “Cupid and Psyche,” done by Raphael and his assistants in 1518-19. When Raphael painted Galatea, the nymph goddess, she was purely from his imagined ideal of beauty. His color palette is inspired by ancient Roman art. 

The garden entrance is home to the ceiling frescoes depicting mythical scenes from Cupid and Psyche. Included in these provocative scenes is the Nuptial Banquet, Kiss Between Cupid and Jupiter, and Mercury accompanying Psyche to Olympus. The story, originally written in Apuleius' The Golden Ass, is quite a departure from the works that we have seen so far. We are moving into Renaissance art... my favorite art period!