Marbleized Paper

A lovely sheet of paper

In Rome, down a narrow little street leading to the Trevi Fountain, Ann, Sheila and I ran across a small store called Il Papiro. They sold paper. And all kinds of items made of and for paper. The seals and sealing wax so popular when I was a teenager in the 60s were on display. Greeting cards, blank books for sketching and writing, boxes and jewelry made with marbleized paper, picture frames, even pens and pencils covered in paper as decoration were for sale. And drawers filled with sheets of paper created with the marbling technique lined the back room. The sales woman gave us a quick demonstration of how marbleizing is done, and a card for the "mother" store in Florence, which somehow got lost in transition.

So I was delighted to be walking down a rainy street in Florence, hood over my head, looking down, when a sideways glance revealed Il Papiro on the other side of the dark street. We popped in, shook off like a couple of dogs, and discovered a treasure of Florentine paper art.

Fine papers have always lined the insides of bound books. In Madrid, in the Royal Palace, I had the fortune of seeing an exhibit, on its last day, of the royal bindings. (Previous blog post: RoyalPalace) Some of those books even had marbleized edges.

The saleswoman in Rome said we should ask to see the same demonstration by the people in Florence as they are so much more skilled. I asked the young lady to show Derek how it was done. She was much better and produced a lovely sheet of paper, uniform, with brighter more consistent colors.

Basically, there is a vat of wallpaper paste a bit larger than the sheet of paper. In olden times, they used a gel made from a type of sphagnum moss grown in Ireland, which now is too expensive. Today that moss is used to create binding gels for food, like ice cream. That's why commercial ice cream remains so smooth even if it melts and is refrozen. Refrozen home-made ice cream forms sharp crystals, ruining its texture (but not the much better flavor!)

The board has pins at regular intervals,
allowing the paint to be "cut" into a lightning
bolt pattern. With a stick, she drew curves
making a flowered pattern in the other half. 

She sprinkled droplets of acrylic paint onto the paste by tapping a loaded paintbrush over the container. Then using various tools she blended the colors creating curvy designs. The paint had a tendency to "melt" into the paste so she had to work fast. It's also possible to use oil paints over water in the same method. Carefully she laid a sheet of absorbent paper over the paste, pressed lightly so all the paint would be picked up, then slid a wooden rod under the paper to squeegee off the paste, and instantly, a sheet of marbleized paper was drooping from her hand.

Like Pietre Dure, mentioned in the previous post, marbleizing paper is an art practiced in Florence and northern Italy by the world's best artists. With the advent of polychrome printing, the art of creating marbled papers by hand was almost lost.  Il Papiro is a company with a workshop employing excellent craftsmen, and it has small stores in several cities in Italy plus more scattered around the world. Their website,  IlPapiro, is worth a visit, and if you live near on of their stores, treat yourself to a demonstration!

Pietre Dure, a Florentine Art Form

Flowers of stone, ready to be fitted into a background.

Florence, Italy, is known as the center of the Renaissance. With French influences, the residence of great artists like Michelangelo and the patronage of the Medici Family, probably the richest family of the time, it was able to build a glorious city and reputation. To this day, long after its time as capital of Italy and the Renaissance, it hosts the world's best artists working in inlaid stone.

Derek and I spent a rainy afternoon at the Palazzo Pitti, the grand home of the Medici family. It is now a museum that should require two full days for the average tourist, more for those who have a true interest in art. Inside are, of course, vast collections of sculptures and paintings. In addition, the Medici family had inlaid stone table tops, floors, furniture and jewelry. Each piece of a stone inlay was carefully selected to provide the impression of whatever it was intended to portray. Azure stone with sweeps of white create wide blue skies, malachite with wavy patterns makes for a perfect hedge, smooth swaths of cream and brown stones create roads, walls of houses or the chestnut hair around a baby's face. The "paintings" created from these inlaid stones were so impressive that we consequently visited a studio where a well known artist, trained by his famous father, is still working in this medium.

Leonardo Scarpelli gave us a demonstration of Pietre Dure (hard stone) -  how he plans a piece, creates small paper patterns, finds the perfect section of stone from many drawers full of thin sheets, all cut to the same thickness, and finally cuts out the section to fit perfectly with the hundreds of others in any given work. His assistant then showed how the finished piece is polished to perfection, mounted on a board and framed. Their shop, Le Pietre nell'Arte, is filled with pietre dure pieces for sale by both father and son, as well as a book filled with projects they've done such as a 15 foot long tabletop for wealthy Americans that took four years to complete. The Medici family started a workshop to develop this art form in 1588, and it exists to this day as the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Museum. 

Leonardo cutting a sheet of stone with a superfine
blade fitted on a bow.

A "painting" in progress

The pieces fit together perfectly,
without any gaps in the seam.

For a wonderful video on this process, click on this link:  

PietreDureDemo

The Vatican & Its Treasures

Hall of Maps, the maps are painted
on the walls, the ceiling is one long
series of beautiful framed paintings. 

Just around the corner from the Pantheon is another Basilica, the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, easily distinguished by the statue of an elephant with an obelisk emerging from its back. Inside are many works of famous artists including Michelangelo and Bernini. It is almost as impressive as St. Peter's but much smaller. Many of the wealthiest families in Rome's history have "owned" a chapel or two along the edges of the basilica that they decorated, furnished, and dedicated to a particular saint. Many of those chapels are exquisite and filled with treasures, guarded by a locked gate. A large number of priests and other members of the hierarchy are entombed in beautiful sarcophagi, stacked up the high walls with painted ceilings, and surrounded by carved marble angels.

Unusual stained glass Madonna and child,
both gaze directly out from the portrait,
in the Vatican Museum

The Vatican owns vast property in Rome, and contributed to  works of public art such as fountains, and the angel sculptures that line the bridges crossing the Tevere (Tiber) into the Vatican. Some buildings are literally priceless and irreplaceable like St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Pantheon. Not only do they contain irreplaceable artworks, the building interiors are covered with frescos, sculpted plaster and wood, and in some cases the walls are covered with handwoven tapestries or embroidered scenes on cloth. The Pantheon is a Roman building with a technically innovative roof design that has been in constant use as a temple or a church for over 2000 years.

The ceiling in one of the Vatican hallways

Brilliant painting of an angel showing heavenly
rewards to a virtuous and hard working man.

Ann (with the blue jacket) and I
in front of the Pantheon in Rome

Inside the Pantheon, now a Catholic Basilica,
but with many sculptures and crypts of famous
people like Rafael and the two kings of Italy.

My friend Derek with Egyptian ruler,
in the Vatican Museum

Enormous basin carved from a single block
of stone on a carved base, above mosaic floor
 with Roman mythical characters. Vatican Museum

Idyllic farm, one of many, owned by the church,
sits on top of the amazing catacombs where
thousands of Christians
were buried in miles of passages.
Photos inside the catacombs were not permitted. 

Recent art acquisitions by the church,
looks like it could be a Star Trek Borg Ship:
 Arnaldo Pomodoro's Sphere Within a Sphere.

The exit from the Vatican Museum, a work
of art staircase, built in the 1930s.

Photo of the inlaid floor of the Sistine Chapel, seconds
before a guard told me NO PHOTOS. 

Roman noblewoman's portrait in
a hall of several thousand busts and statues.

In the Uffizi Museum in Florence, there is a copy of this piece, complete with arms and hands. The original is in the Vatican. It's called Laocoön and His Sons  and is one of the most important works of art that was found during excavations of the old Roman city. (For a detailed account of the interesting Greek story behind it, see: Wiki_Laocoon)

It was known to have existed thanks to the writings of Pliny the Elder so it was instantly recognized and brought to the Vatican around 1500AD. Not only did it have historical value, but it also deeply influenced the path of sculptors and artists far into the future with it's perfection of human beauty and idealism. 

Laocoon Group, Vatican Museum

Egypt in Rome

In the Vatican Museum

Thanks to some far niche in my brain, the high school history storage unit, I knew that Rome had dominated all of the Mediterranean during the height of it's empire. Even so, it just never occurred to me to expect so much Egyptian art to be present and in incredibly good shape in Rome. There are Egyptian obelisks all over the place. An enormous one in front of St. Peter's Basilica, another mounted on top of an elephant sculpture in front of the Sta. Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica, and several others within the Vatican. In addition the Vatican has devoted a large amount of space to Egyptian art. And the museum that sits atop Augustus' Palace on Palatine Hill also has a large collection.

The Romans loved to collect the best art available in the countries they conquered. Much of the loot came to Rome and has subsequently come back to the light during excavations. Some of it never was abandoned in the first place, it always had a adoring audience.

Clearly the Roman artists were influenced by what they saw and studied of other cultures. Here are some statues of Egyptian women predating a Roman woman, the similarities are striking:

In the Vatican Museum

In the Augustus museum

The many obelisks brought from Egypt have ended up incorporated into sculptures, fountains, and the centerpieces of many piazzas. Here are some examples. 

Sits atop the Four Rivers Fountain 

Sta. Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica,
elephant with obelisk.

Piazza del Popolo

In addition, there is a pyramid! It was the tomb of Gaius Cestius, and was built in 12BC. Incorporated into the city walls, it is an impressive edifice, but has no signage or information. Plundered in antiquity, there is no body inside, and very little trace of frescoes either. All the information I got is from the Internet, it's not open, though there appears to be much excavation and archaeological work going on behind it and the Roman wall it is incorporated into. 

The Egyptian part of the Vatican museum has a mummy and many beautiful pieces of funerary art. It's an impressive collection, but a bit off the beaten path as most people probably follow the route that leads directly to the Sistine Chapel. 

Several sarcophagi in the collection

And yet more fountains

The public works of Rome, many of which date back to 1300-1600 and financed by the Catholic church, are some of the most impressive in the world. In searching for the famous fountains like the Trevi, my friends and I came across many others. Some are hidden like the organic fountain inside the Vatican, visible only with a museum ticket. Others are obscure like the one near the Colosseum, a sheet of rock with ridges, colored by algae and glistening in the setting sunlight. Many are dwarfed by the fabulous attraction they sit next to, and therefore aren't really "seen" by tourists, like the interesting fountain in front of the Pantheon. And one, atop Palatine Hill was once part of Augustus' palace courtyard, and is now filled, not with water, but with flowers.

So here are a few more of the wonderful fountains in Rome:

Very modern fountain near Ponte Cavour

Two Mermen in front of a Roman Temple
along Via della Greca

Ancient 2000 year old fountain pond
in the palace of Augustus.

This boat-like fountain sits at the
bottom of the Spanish Steps

Garibaldi Fountain with
porphyry columns

Organic growth in the middle of
a pond in the Vatican. The constant
drizzle of water keeps the plants
hydrated, eternally.

Small fountain in a garden somewhere....

The marvelous weird fountain
in front of the Pantheon.

The Romans in Rome

At the Colosseo, our guide joked that the ancient Romans were military geniuses, organized, on time and very motivated, not like Italians today. The Colosseo was built in just 8 years with the "help" of tousands of Jewish slaves brought from the middle east. With so many entrances, 50,000 people with wooden "tickets", pouring in from all round, could fill the entire stadium in 15 minutes.

Going on a guided tour is often a mixed blessing. Sometimes a lot is learned and other times a lot of money is spent for very little.  At the ruins we joined a  tour group to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, walked up Palatine Hill and saw the Arch of Constantine. The guide inside the Colosseo was excellent. He explained how the building got its name. A colossus is an enormous statue, and there was one in ancient times, a 30 meter high bronze sculpture of the emperor Nero, which was modified into the Sun God, Sol Evictus, as soon as Nero was in his grave. The amphitheater known today as the Colosseum was actually the Flavian Amphitheater and got the name Colosseum due to its proximity to the colossus statue. The circular "playing field" inside was a wooden platform with a maze of pathways and trapdoors underneath for the emergence of combatants and animals. It was covered with sand, called 'arena' in both Latin and Spanish. The sand made for easy removal of blood and body parts, more sand was added for the next performance.

An archeological mix: ancient Roman Forum ruins
in the foreground, less ancient Christian churches (left)
and the modern monument to Vittorio Emanuel II, the
first king of Italy (white building) 

Palatine hill is where the she-wolf supposedly raised Romulus and Remus. It was also the site of many royal palaces and stately homes for the cream of Roman society. At the bottom of the hill, the center of Rome, the Forum, was the economic and religious center for the city which at one time reached a population of over 1 million people. Excavated ruins occupy several square kilometers and represent a long period of time. In addition to homes and shops, there are temples to Roman gods and goddesses, as well as Christian churches which sprung up or took over existing temples when Constantine became a Christian. Around the excavated ruins, which are about 6 meters lower than the surrounding city, there are many more ruins buried beneath the city. The view across the ruins clearly shows how they extend under modern buildings.

The guide explained that after the Roman Empire began to fall apart, the population of the city dropped to under 20,000 people, and much of the city was abandoned. Regular silty floods of the Tevere eventually deposited 3-5 meters of mud preserving the ruins, but also providing fertile, relatively flat land for farms and eventually new buildings. On the higher land north and east, some buildings like the Pantheon continued to be used as a temple and then a church for two thousand years. Today it is a Basilica of the Catholic Church. The technically innovative and enormous dome is still intact, with a large hole in the top and drainage in the floor where the rain pours in. It was designed this way to reduce the weight the roof must support. Inside are the crypts of various popes and the artist Rafael, as well as impressive sculptures and paintings.

Further to the north and east, there are other large and impressive ruins. One exposed section is the Largo de Torre Argentina, mentioned in an earlier post as the no-kill sanctuary for Cats.  Most of these smaller sites are not on the average tourist's radar, but things we tend to stumble across while walking or riding the public transport.

In addition, there are large areas south of the Colosseo and Forum that are full of catacombs and ancient baths. Most of the Roman settlement was on the east side of the Tevere, the Vatican occupies much of the western side along the river. Vatican City was much larger in earlier time, with a surrounding wall, a section of which can still be seen in the Trastevere neighborhood. Compared to the Roman walls and aqueduct systems, it is thin and not very defensible, an athletic teenager could climb right over it.

Long section of Roman wall that kept out
invaders and the river at one time. 

Inside the amphitheater, with a small section of platform
indicating the "floor" of the arena. Look closely for stairs
that once led up to trap doors on the arena's floor.

View of the Forum, from the Colosseum

A structure called The Basilica, for which all Basilica
Churches are named. This is only one side, it once
had a domed ceiling reaching across to an identical
structure opposite which is now gone.

The Arch of Constantine (and me) 

Overpowering emotions

St. Peter's Basilica, seen from one of the
bridges crossing the river,

I am definitely not the sentimental type, easily given over to emotions or tears. People like me have strong emotions, we are just more adept at keeping them to ourselves.  Once in a while, we surprise ourselves with an overwhelming emotional reaction to something we never dreamed we could shed a tear over.

One of dozens of large sculptures
that line both sides of the bridges
that cross the Tevere River headed
into the Vatican area.

Sheila, Ann, and I spent our first full day in Rome on Sunday. They are Methodists and knew of a Methodist church near the Vatican, so while they attended the church service I hiked the streets along the Tiber (Tevere) River that separates the old Roman city (the Roman Forum) from Vatican City.  That was the day we discovered the cat sanctuary (see the previous post), looked for the best pizza in Rome (which was never open, even days later), and saw numerous fountains that were on my "must-see" list.

It was nightfall. Being unfamiliar with the city, we weren't sure what bus to take that might get us back into our neighborhood, Trastevere. (Tras = across, Trastevere = across the Tevere) At the far end of the street we could see the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. Sheila got very excited and said, "It doesn't look that far, let's just go see what it looks like outside". We were all tired and our feet hurt, but we decided to do it.

A woman begging in front
of an angel on the bridge.

The Basilica was lit up but not brightly. St. Peter and St. Paul's statues flanked the front facade and we could see a Swiss Guard standing ramrod stiff and perfectly still guarding an open arched entrance. Other security types told us we were at the exit and needed to go way back out almost to the street and around the many barricades designed to herd people into the Basilica. The whole scene reminded me of standing in line at Disney World, where you creep forward in a snake pattern getting ever closer to the ride entrance, only to find, once inside, the line extends in the air-conditioning an equally long distance. The big difference in this scene: it was night and there wasn't a single person in the line. We quietly moved aside some barricades and crossed over into the entrance.

Statue of St. Peter in front of the Basilica.

There was no entry fee, and once inside, my jaw simply dropped open. Off to the right was Michelangelo's Pieta, carved when he was only 23 years old. Designed to be seen from some distance, the body of Jesus, a grown man, is smaller than it should be in real life, but the composition works beautifully. The emotion of that one sculpture alone can bring tears to the hardest of souls, and that was just the beginning.

A choir was singing, music filled the air till is seemed angels flew over our heads. We gestured to the security men that we would like to join the mass and sat on folding chairs at the back. Everywhere, on every wall, covering every inch of floor, there was exhibited the pinnacle of human artistic endeavor, devoted entirely to the human ideal and idea of God. In the soft light, sculptures and paintings by Bernini, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, and hundreds of others, the best artists of the last two thousand years, sat in niches and formed parts of the nave, the ceiling, the canopy and St. Peter's tomb in the center of the enormous room. High overhead the domes were painted with scenes, the woodwork gilded; they were works of art entirely unto themselves. I had never been inside such an intense concentration of the world's best talent, in any place so profoundly religious, reflecting the desire of human beings for more than this life can provide, the desire for an eternal existence.

It was beautiful and so powerful, it was overwhelming. Tears ran.