Smoke and Mirrors.

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...
Smoke and Mirrors.

The Borghese Vase.

Tweet I was at the Borghese Gallery with some delightful clients from North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, and the “Museum of the Universe” was looking particularly splendid. I’m usually a little perplexed by the annual exhibition staged at the Borghese; there’s...
Smoke and Mirrors.

Breaking rules and squeezing pediments.

Tweet I have recently been in something of a Baroque phase, as my previous posts on the Gesù, and this piece at arttrav on Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale suggest. Just a stone’s throw from Sant’Andrea, is San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, one of my favourite Roman churches....
Special effects and the Baroque.

Special effects and the Baroque.

Tweet A couple of weeks ago, in my post on the ceiling of the church of the Gesù, I mentioned that I would be taking a school group to the church. And so I did. They arrived from London on the Friday afternoon and ditched their bags at their hotel just off the Campo...
The Bessarion Chapel.

The Bessarion Chapel.

Tweet If I could travel in time there are umpteen periods I’d love to visit. If I could only choose one, I think I’d go for the mid 1400s. The quattrocento has always struck me as an exciting period, an intermingling of strife and elegance. And there were some...