Jonah, the lynchpin of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Jonah, the lynchpin of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Tweet 500 years ago today, Michelangelo was finishing work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. One of the most visited, discussed, celebrated, and indeed largest paintings in the history of art. An anniversary is always a good excuse for a blog post, and given that,...
Rickety lifts and hidden frescoes.

Rickety lifts and hidden frescoes.

Tweet In my post about the Bessarion ChapeI I mentioned my fondness for exploring hidden corners of churches in return for a handful of small change. Well here’s another of my favourites. The church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, with its verdant courtyard,...
The Auditorium of Maecenas.

The Auditorium of Maecenas.

Tweet I was delighted to be asked to lead the first in Context Travel’s Rome series of “Tours in the Public Interest” last month at the Auditorium of Maecenas. It embodies the idea behind Context’s initiave which seeks to draw under-visited sites to public attention....
Rickety lifts and hidden frescoes.

Smoke and Mirrors.

Tweet In February I wrote a couple of posts about the church of the Gesù, and how the Baroque made bombastic use of dramatic “special effects” to wow the faithful (here and here). In the 1600s art was one of the many tools used in drawing them ever closer to the Roman...