Our Roman Holiday

Our visit to Rome began with one of the best ideas we had on the trip: ditch the rental car and walk everywhere. Because the streets can be narrow and the Italian drivers, while precise, have very little regard for other drivers, we decided to enjoy the city and not stress about having to drive anywhere. So, we turned the car in and put on our walking shoes. Once you get the lay of the land, Rome is an easy city to navigate. That said, we had perfect weather which was much more pleasant than the rain we endured during our last visit.

Rome has so many layers to it, both physically and in the variety of interesting places to see. Unless you have a good week in the city, you need to narrow your focus. We decided on visiting just a few museums and whatever else caught our fancy along the way. 

Of course, Rome's stucco buildings and pockets of flowers and plants also caught my eye!

Purple bougainvillea

Lush ivies

 One thing we did notice was an increase in the amount of graffitti. It was very sad to see. What a waste. 

Hopefully, they'll be able to figure out how to curb it.

Many colorful buildings

Of course, excavations exist and leave lots to the imagination.

This is the courtyard of the Galleria Doria Pamphilj, in the heart of Roma , which houses an incredible collection of art. I am hoping to re-create these columns in a client's new home. This gallery seems to be a hidden gem.

Just a side of a building!

A visit to the Pantheon is a must! I am standing right outside of the entrance. It is also within a few minutes walk to Campo de' Fiori (and great pizza) and just around the corner from the fabulous chocolate shop, Moriondo e Gariglio, also a must visit.

This engineering marvel never ceases to amaze! 

How did they ever do this two thousand years ago?

Trying to shoot this center took many attempts! 

I was glad it wasn't raining as the center is open to the sky.

Not long after we left the Pantheon, we stumbled into a church (I haven't the foggiest idea what its name is) and I felt like it was deja vu.

This church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva,  had an incredible sculpture created out of gilded ebony.

We also visited the Villa Farnesina, just over the Ponte Sisto bridge in the Trastevere section of Rome. It is also a hidden gem, easily accessible and crammed full of spectacular works of art, including stunning frescoes by Raphael and his followers.

 

One of Raphael's famous frescoes- in the Hall of Galathea.

These are in the Room of the Frieze. Talk about good trompe l'oeil!

We also visited the Museo Nazionale Romano, close to the train station. 

To do it proper justice, you need to spend an entire day here.

It contains the sublime fresco of Livia's garden, removed from her villa at Prima Porta.

The museum also contains thousands of remnants of frescoes, plaster, mosaics and sculpture.

This last photo is of my favorite fresco, removed from the House of Farnesina, partially under the Villa Farnesina. If you look at the left side, it gives you a good idea of the smoothness of a lime plaster wall.

I invite you to hop over to the PlumSiena blog to see an amazing copper display in Arezzo and other inspiring images. 

We will now return to our regularly scheduled art, design and nature lineups, with a special emphasis on the upcoming holidays. 

How about a Ball Masque?

French Essence is a joy!

I finally received my copy of Vicki Archer's new book, French Essence. If you haven't ordered it yet, do it now. You will be in for a stunning collection of visual treats that will make you want to schedule your next vacation in Provence. 

Vicki weaves a warm story throughout, giving us little glimpses into the more laid back style of life with the locals. An Australian, Vicki and her family purchased their home, Mas de Berard, in 1999, where they spend a portion of the year; they spend the rest of the year in London. Vicki focuses on ambience: in her own home and in occasional forays into Saint-Remy-de-Provence and Avignon.


Carla Coulson's photos are both stunning and captivating. The book's large size qualifies it to become a coffee table book, but one that will certainly be earmarked with use.




One of Vicki's "exterior" rooms:

 A little vignette:

Lovely objets combine with everyday items:

Le Chocolaterie de Puyricard's chocolates:
 

Christmas is a special celebration in the Archer home.

Gathered here are mercury glass ornaments: 

A commode top in Mas de Berard's dining room:

Scenes from romantic Avignon begin with the
paint boxes in Cezanne's atelier, located nearby:

Shutters on a home in Avignon:

 Vicki describes herself as an "interiors junkie". I am sure many of us can relate!


"As a nation France has chemistry, as individuals the French have spark."

French Essence can be purchased from Vicki Archer here.

Arezzo building closeups

By request, here are some closeup shots of Arezzo's beautiful buildings. The designs and colors are still current, wouldn't you say?

Sorry that the shots are not in the best focus, but they'll certainly give you a good idea.

Left side:

Right side:

More...

For additional photos of excellent quality, see the book The Painted Facades of Florence, written by Eleonora Pecchioli and photographed by Antonio Quattrone. It is full of stunning photographs of Florence's exquisite sgraffito facades. As the book's introduction says: "This phenomenon, particularly in the case of sgraffiti, derived from the late fifteenth century discovery of frescoed underground rooms ('grottoes') in Rome, which were decorated with stuccowork motifs of flora, fauna and monstrous figures mostly dating from the Imperial Age; those found in the Domus Aurea, the splendid palace built for the Emperor Nero in the heart of Rome, attracted particular interest. Fascinated by this innovative vision of polychrome antiquity and by the imagination that it revealed, late fifteenth century artists were quick to imitate it, referring to their own decorative work influenced by those models, as 'grotesques'." (ie: grottesca) I will be posting on this favorite type of art in my upcoming post on our visit to Rome.


Here are a few peeks at the book's photos.

Theresa Cheeks, over at the Art's the Answer blog, just posted about her grottesca class with Carolina D'Ayala Valva, of the Artelier Studio in Rome. The class was held at the San Antonio studio of Leslie and Nicola Vigini. Both Carolina and Nicola are the best of the world class grottesca artists. (Can you tell how much I love it?)

Misc Italia / Tuscany and Umbria

We decided that while we loved seeing the main sights in various cities, what we enjoyed the most on our trip to Italy was to spend time wandering in the smaller towns and interacting with townsfolk. 

After leaving Venice, we drove to Roma via Arezzo, Assisi and Orvieto. The driving in the countryside is decidedly tamer than the cities, especially Rome. I think the Roman drivers are worse than in NYC and Boston!

Now grab your cup of tea, settle in and come with me. (And, again, please forgive the Ipod's not so great photos!)  Shopping? Did you say shopping? 

Hmmm, I'd like to see that architectural scrollwork on the floor and the candlestick in the back, please.

 I also like the shield lampshades.

This is in a woodcarver's Assisi shop. It was so crammed in there that you really had to look slowly. A claw foot here, a bust there, wood everywhere. Would you like a drawer with that?

We finally decided on the acanthus leaf below. It is now in the process of being gilded in my studio. (I know- we were trying to pace ourselves. As I look at the pictures, I would have loved that frame surrounding the acanthus, along with 10 other items!)  

I really like his stacks of boxes and containers.

 (How many can I fit in my suitcase?....)

There were little goodies everywhere.

 Need a cute set of mini steps?

 

Great club chair and angel and scrolls and table and pewter...

OK- back to the sights. 

I thought this building's decorations rivaled those in Florence.

A more modest building, but still beautiful.

A casual peek into a door and this is what we saw!

A closer look at the fresco:

We enjoyed Assisi's beauty, but I honestly thought it was a bit "touristy".  I did not gain any weight (even though we liberally consumed wine and had lots of chocolate), partly because we walked and walked. In Assisi, we walked to the top of the hillside town. What a view! Precisely as we reached the summit, a ferocious wind arrived and did not let up the rest of the visit.

It turned out that a storm was heading our way. Here is Assisi from the highway.

A quick stop in Orvieto:

And we were on our way south. Next week will be the last installment of my Italian series- our visit to Roma.
If you'd like to see more, visit PlumSiena blog here and here and for my favorite, here.