Pic o' the Day #1329- Intermission

Still coping with a major computer meltdown that took out both my desktop Mac AND the peripheral drive that I had my pictures backed up on at the same time! Fortunately I have my pics spread around, so I'm not completely image free.

Here's one that caught my eye today, a detail of a Roman era fresco at the Museo Barracco, over near the Campo dei Fiori. It's a good lesson on how to paint greenery fast, a prerequisite for painting in fresco, where the plaster is constantly drying as one paints.

First off, notice how the overall shape is roughed in with a neutral brown color that relates closely to the background color, and also sets off the greens (which in Roman times were not very vibrant.) Secondly, see how the the bush is rendered as a sphere, with the light coming from the right side, so that the deepest shadow colors fall on the left side and the brightest colors are on the upper right side. Lastly, notice how the colors are separate and distinct from each other, and that even though they don't really fall the way they would on a realistic portrayal, they give a good impression of the tree that reads dimensionally and coloristically. 

Pic o' the day #1325- It's the little things that count

In some of the later wall paintings of Pompeii and Herculaneum you'll find a whole wall painted just one color, with some kind of small image in the center of it. Could be an Eros, or a dancer, or just some birds, eating fruit. From the House of the Grand Portal in Herculaneum.

pic o' the day #1323- Grand Illusions!

One of my very favorite wall paintings anywhere in the Bay of Naples is in the House of the Great Portal in Herculaneum. Not a very large or fancy house in general, but the quality of this work sets it apart. The restrained color is elegant yet dramatic; it's too bad the lower parts of the walls are all gone!

Only bummer about the room is how most of the lower walls are gone. I'd love to see what the pedestals looked like!

The upper area consists of a continuous frieze band and a background of blue architectural elements.

Frieze of curtains, masks, and trophies seems to refer to the theater.

Above the curtained frieze is this monochrome gray/blue architectural fantasy, typical of the mature 4th style (ca 60-70 AD)

Detail of the curtain and architectural elements. Awesome brevity and economy of color.

Pic o' the Day #1312- Refreshing change at Stabia

After a frustrating day of multiple closures at Pompeii, we took a train down to the sleepy little town of Castellammare di Stabia to see two villas that are open to visitors there. You can read about the whole day on my earlier post. It was such a pleasure to see this villa, one of the earliest digs (starting in 1750) in the Bay of Naples. Being in the earliest days of exploration, it was pilfered, with the finest paintings and furnishings removed for the pleasure of the Bourbon king who ruled the area at the time, and then reburied, only to be re-excavated more gently in the 1950's. We were the only visitors at that time, and had free rein to wander and click to my heart's content. Here's a couple of shots showing the level of skill and detail that went into this sumptuous seaside palace.

Lower wall area of the atrium of the Villa San Marco at Stabia shows a creature with horses forelegs and a fishy tail, representing some type of water deity.  

Corner of a room in the Villa San Marco at Stabia

Pic o' the Day #1303- Pompeii revisited

Those of you who were reading the blog last year (http://artworks2000.blogspot.com/2014/01/day-28-poopei-or-is-it-pompoop.html) as I was taking these shots know that I was pretty bitter the day we visited Pompeii, because of all the closures. I guess the lack of funding has finally reached a crisis point where they have just decided to lock up huge areas, including whole streets, from viewing.

Nevertheless there were some choice bits that were still on view, like this detail of a gryphon from the Stabian Baths. I'd be curious to hear from anyone who's going (or has already been) there this summer as to how it's looking and how much of it is closed.

Fresco of a gryphon in the Stabian Bath at Pompeii

Day 31-Manly MAN.

(originally posted on facebook July 12, 2013)

Ok- this is it! We're only going to stay one more week. I promise. 

The MAN I'm referring to above is the Museo Archeologico di Napoli, where all the choicest bits of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabia, Boscoreale, Boscotrecase, and several other Roman era sites from the Bay of Naples ended up. Just like us. Seriously though, this is one major collection of antique art, including sculptures, mosaics, frescoes, and bits of architecture. I had to limit myself to the frescoes and mosaics or we would have been there a whole other day! As it was I took 600 photos, including a shot of every piece of fresco that was on display (a few weren't- just to make sure I come back next time. There's also a ton of architectural fragments I'd like to shoot some day.)

Entry to the MAN is in the traditional combination of red stucco and gray tufa stone ornament. You see this combo all over Napoli.

Our last minute train station hotel was actually rather nice (and cheap- 60 Euros- Thanks Rick Steves!) (I'm planning to do a wrap up report with all the travel details so I don't forget, and so others can use the info too.) Used the metro system to go up the hill and went up to the museum for the second time on this trip- the first time the fresco collection was closed and we left in a huff.

Don't know who he is, but I like his attitude!

We first went to the hall of mosaics, culled from many famous houses of the area- the House of the Faun in Pompeii has a whole room to itself. The fineness of these pieces is incredible! The Alexander the Great Battle scene, which was on the floor in the House of the Faun, is about 8 feet tall and maybe 16 feet across, and it's done with tiles that are no larger that 1/4 inch, if that! Some of the other large pieces verge on micro-mosaic technique. The coolest thing about mosaic is how the colors don't change over time, and they can be cleaned very well, so you get an "as new" impression except for where the tesserae are missing. It also informs ones view of how good the painting must have been then.

Mosaic from Pompeii

Tucked behind the mosaic collection is the infamous "Gabinetto Segreto" the (formerly) secret room full of erotic art that until the 1960s was only viewable by special appointment, and only to men- no women or children. The presence of phalli and other erotica is now open to all, and the meaning and mythology is pretty well explained by numerous placards in Italian and English. Good stuff!

"Is that really how you feel?"

Enough with the antipasti, it's time for the main course. Had a minor moment of panic when we went through the hall of objects to where I had gone in to the frescoes last time, only to find a barricade and people doing some kind of photo work behind it. Before I completely melted on the floor, a nice museum docent explained that the bulk of the frescos were open- just go in a different door! Whew!

Even the hallways in between the galleries are pretty spectacular!

I'm not sure whether it was better to have visited the sites first and finished up with dessert or to have had this in mind as we looked at all the more weathered bits; in any case it was a treat to see all these well preserved and well documented fragments in one place. Again the fineness of the work is astonishing- there are faces that look as if they were painted with a five-ought brush, and the range of treatments from highly ornamental to accomplished figurative and landscape painting, tragic to comic, shows a complete mastery of technique and rhetoric. 

Look at how finely painted this is- it only measures about 5 inches across!

I literally took at least one photo of every piece in the frescoes section- sometimes 5 or 6! Not only is it technically very interesting, it's also work that has been highly influential throughout the history of art until this century, when most artists seem to have deliberately forgotten it. You know what they say about forgetting history, don't you?

I love the frieze supported by figures motif. I hope to use it at the Villa Tramonto if it gets back on track.

After fine tooth combing that section we perused more leisurely through the hall with household objects. This is the other aspect of Pompeii and Vesuvius' other victims. There are so many pristine 2,000 year old objects here- it really shows the level of sophistication the Romans had gotten to. All kinds of kitchen utensils and tools, drawing instruments, ceramics and glassware of incredible variety, bathroom things, they even have a couple of specula for giving gynecological exams- they look remarkably like their modern counterparts. 

Bowls of powdered pigments found at Pompeii and Herculaneum, in some cases right next to the frescos that were being worked on.

Finished up there with a spin through the wing devoted to nothing but things gleaned from the Villa dei Papiri- the mansion on the edge of Herculaneum that was copied more or less for the Getty Villa in Los Angeles. Besides the trove of papyrus scrolls that it is named for (and which they think may soon be decipherable through modern technological means without unrolling) there is a huge assortment of sculptures both marble and bronze. 

There are several rooms that have nothing but items from the Villa di Papiri in Herculaneum. It must have been a veritable museum itself.

We've now made it back to Rome and have found a wonderful replacement for the Casa Stinky; a very nice apartment in Trastevere with a real kitchen, a washing machine, and a good internet connection. We're all set for one more week of adventures!

Day 29- Stabia in the back, Pompeii (Say it out loud, you'll get it)

(Originally posted on facebook July 10, 2013)

After our disappointing day at the mostly shuttered ruins of Pompeii yesterday, we headed out to unknown quarters, the recommended but remote ruins of Stabia Castellamare, sort of the Malibu of Pompeii, where wealthy people built their palatial retreats on a bluff overlooking the sea. Just as at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the sea is now a good half mile further out due to volcanic and river deposits etc., but it is still very clearly seen from the yards of the two villas we were able to visit there. In fact, there is a great view of the whole Bay of Naples from the houses, which are nestled up against the hills that continue out to the Sorrentine Peninsula. 

delicious looking gardens abound in the area of Castellamare

The overall feeling there today was very tropical, from the warm air and afternoon rain, to the loud and warm people, who seemed to be more comfortable in the heat, unlike their northern neighbors, who run for shade during the middle of the day. As we got off the train in town, we sat down to peruse the computer map I had saved from earlier. A short, very friendly woman asked us some mostly unintelligible questions and then kept beckoning us to follow her. I could tell she had some kind of speech impediment, but it wasn't till later that I realized that she was deaf, which explained her touching us to get us to look at her so she could lip read. It was feeling a bit strange, and I could understand about one word in ten, but she lead us straight to the water fountain by the stadium, which was on the way to the Villa site, and then she turned off with some friends after friendly kisses and hugs. 

So we kept on through the thronged streets, passing lovely fish stalls and fresh fruit markets, on out to the edge of the small town, then up the street with a small sign for the site. Houses all had amazing gardens, and as we got further up the street, they turned to orchards with gardens interspersed, all full to bursting with produce: tomatoes everywhere, long purple eggplants, flowering zucchini, plums, peaches, and all kinds of citrus, including the local giant lemons, which are the size of footballs. There were a couple of tiny fruitstands where we bought some delicious peaches- I'm lamenting that my picture taking seems to be so focused on art only- these stands were so classic.

Approach to the Villa San Marco leaves you scratching your head saying, "did I read that sign correctly?"

After about 20 minutes on the road, we spotted the entry to the Villa San Marco, walking down a dirt road that led past a field of produce to a funky little assembly of shacks and farmhouses, four or five lazy dogs lying around, and a small, barely visible sign pointing to the entrance. A nice lady came out to ask us to sign the guest book (they didn't want out tickets at all) and she pointed us down the hill to the entrance.

After you pass the ramshackle entrance area, you walk down the entry of the Villa. 

This house was LARGE! And residential feeling. Unlike most of Pompeii, the house's walls have been completed back to their original height and roofed, which gives you a much better feeling for what the spaces were like, and it protects the walls (and us) from (some) of the damaging effects of exposure. We were the only ones at the site, which was also very nice. An employee came and monitored us for about 5 minutes, then she disappeared. We were free to roam anywhere that wasn't cordoned off, which was very nice. You really get a sense of how nice this house must have been, with pleasant sea breezes and a very large central swimming pool surrounded by trees (about which they know exactly how big and placement by the plaster replacement technique I mentioned yesterday). There was an outrageously nice bath area that had Marianne really pining for a spa day, which we have not managed to figure out here.

Pool area of the Villa San Marco, where we sat and ate lunch with nobody but the ghosts of 2,000 year old residents.

After about an hour here, we headed out for the other site, the Villa Arianna, about twenty more minutes down the road. They have located and mapped about 6 large villas in the area, but these two are the only ones open to the public at present. The entry to Arianna was similar to San Marco (ie- subtle!) and the house was too. Very large rooms with spectacular views. Not quite as homey feeling as San Marco, but really special. Both houses were decorated mostly with fourth style decorations, which are somewhat sparser, but the feeling overall is quite rich and varied. 

Part of the bath complex at the Villa San Marco.

Unfortunately they were also both part of the earliest explorations of the area under the Bourbon rulers in the 18th century, who had the rude habit of removing fresco bits for display elsewhere- most are now in the Archeological Museum in Naples. They have replaced the missing bits in many of the spaces with photo reproductions, which while not as good as the real thing, are certainly better than nothing at all. 

Awesome "wallpapered" room at the Villa Adriana. The panel at bottom was removed to the Archeological Museum in Naples, but at least you get some idea of the look from the copy placed there.

Still, there's plenty to see, and the lack of crowds and barriers made it really pleasant. As we were exploring Arianna, the daily rainstorm with lightning was clearly visible to the east of Mt Vesuvius, and we contemplated hanging around the villa for it, but decided instead to hoof it for the train. Fortunately, the road we were on makes a loop, so we came back into town from a different side, and since the rain wasn't really coming down hard, we decided to find the beach area. Wound through the town, which is very plain jane, and ended up on the "beach", an esplanade area with a wide, trash strewn bit of dirt and grass leading to the waters edge. Don't know why it's so unkempt- it's a pretty bay in general, and the water looks relatively clean and very calm, but nobody seems to care for it at all. Further south you can see Sorrento perched on the hill, to the north you can see Naples and the islands of Procida and Ischia. It looks like there was once a street car along the esplanade, but it is obviously dead for some time. On the way back to the train station spotted an overgrown Stile Liberty mansion with butterfly capitals and beautiful wrought iron balconies. These art nouveau houses just seem to pop up in strange places like little bits of frosting on the cake!

Detail of Stile Liberty balcony of a house we stumbled upon in the town of Castellamare.

Came back on the train and picked up our usual eat-in groceries: a bag of arugula, tomatoes, beets (cooked ones in a pouch- we both love beets), some kind of roasted veggies to put in the salad, some cheese for me, some beans, bread, and a bit of dark chocolate with hazelnuts (yum!) Later we'll still manage to stuff in a gelato somehow.

Back for the passegiata in Pompeii. I think he's thinking "maybe if I wear camouflage, no one will recognize me!"

Struggling tonight with figuring out where we're going to stay when we get back to Rome tomorrow- it's hard because we're really on a tight budget and we've been waiting til the last minute because of schedule details. My band was supposed to play a gig on Thursday night, but because the standby flight we were going to try for looks too full to get on, we backed out of it, so now I think we're trying to stay here one more week to get in those last details in Roma and the surrounding area.

Day 14! 

Florence gave us a big day today! Started with a walk in near Santa Maria Novella where we immediately ran into a pretty nice Stile Liberty building, followed by a church and an unexpected cloister with a very old fresco by Ghirlandaio that had been damaged by the floods of 1966. What was cool about it was that in the process of restoring it from the flood, they were able to separate the top layer and preserve it where it had been originally, while they removed and displayed the underdrawing (called the "sinopia") on the adjacent wall. So you could compare the drawing with the finished mural and see what the artist had changed in the process. Very interesting!

"Do these pantaloons make my butt look big?"

We then threaded through the chaotic street markets down to the Medici chapel, which was actually a mausoleum, though in reality it's a gigantic jewel box. It is finished entirely in exotic marbles, with a side chapel that was designed by Michelangelo which has several of his sculptures in it. I love marble, so it was very hard not to photograph there, but I held back. Now I wish I hadn't. At least a few.

"Are you talking to me?"

After that we went to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, where they allow you to photo (thank God!) After that to the Central Market, where you can pick up just about any cut (or species) of meat you might like, but in our case, we just bought some killer mushrooms, bread, and bits for a picnic lunch, which we ate in the Botanical Garden nearby.

Who knew Nick Nolte was Italian? From the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.

We then stopped by the incredible Four Seasons Hotel, which is built around the  restored Palazzo Gherardesca, where you can sit and sip tea (free!) on green velvet sofas in the courtyard, surrounded by 16th-century frescos by Flemish mannerist Jan van der Straet, also known as Giovanni Stradano. Really cool spot, and it had no attitude problem at all.

Walked back over to the center of town and looked at the Duomo interior (yawn!) and the Baptistery interior (OMG!) and then ran into a parade for the town's patron John the Baptist, complete with Renaissance costumes, marching bands and flag twirlers, all men. I'll post some video in a bit. 

After that we went into one of the newer museums in town, the Palazzo Strozzi, which had a very cool show placing classical art (ie- Roman era and earlier) next to the Renaissance art it had inspired. Lots of Donatello, Brunelleschi, and other superstars of the Renaissance art world with the pieces they might have seen at the time. While we were there, a thunderstorm started outside and by the time we emerged, it was coming down! Fortunately, there was someone selling cheap umbrellas in the courtyard, so we ran back up to our spot and cooked up a yummy dinner with the big yellow mushrooms we bought at the market earlier. 

Our market selections today. Those orange mushrooms were soooo good!

Thinking we were done for the day, we settled in to internetting and sorting photos, only to discover that fireworks were on the way to celebrate the patron's day. So we went out and grabbed a gelato to wait on the bridge with a whole bunch of locals and tourists and watched a pretty great show of fireworks. Now back home again catching up before starting out again tomorrow. 

Fireworks over the Arno

How's that for an itinerary? Oh yeah, we also booked our rooms for Orvieto and Rome after we came back.