Roman Quarantine – Day 29

Coronavirus

Tweet In January, on a whim, I went on a midweek jaunt. I wanted to catch an exhibition about Raphael’s circle in his home town, Urbino, before it closed and that seemed a good excuse for a road trip during the quietest period for tourism in Rome (insert hollow laugh...

Roman Quarantine – Day 28

Coronavirus, High Renaissance, popes, Rome

Tweet Today is the twenty-eighth day of the Roman quarantine. Exactly four weeks have passed since the extraordinary announcement of the shutdown. When I started writing these posts we here in Italy were in an anomalous situation. Now most of you are in a very similar...

Roman Quarantine – Day 27

Coronavirus, Uncategorized

Tweet This morning I woke to the sounds of bells ringing for Palm Sunday, announcing a mass no one would go to. In accordance with the measures currently in place in Italy to contain the spread of COVID-19 – measures fully supported by the Pope who is, I think we can...

Roman Quarantine – Day 26

Coronavirus

Tweet The sun shone, and I sat on our newly pristine terrace and reread The Secret History (Donna Tartt, not Procopius) because a) I love it though I probably haven’t read it since I arrived in Rome, and b) I can’t concentrate on anything more worthy at the moment....

Roman Quarantine – Day 25

Coronavirus

Tweet Back in the distant haze of early March, today was the date given as the end of the emergency shutdown, but of course we’re nowhere near the end. At present, current measures – leaving the house only for necessity (food shopping, taking out rubbish, medical...

Roman Quarantine – Day 24

Coronavirus, Roman Forum, Roman Painting, Rome

Tweet palimpsest, n. and a.(ˈpælɪmpsɛst) [ad. L. palimpsēstus n., a. Gr. παλίµψηστος scraped again, παλίµψηστον a parchment whence writing has been erased, f. πάλιν again + ψηστός, from ψάω, ψῆν to rub smooth.] Oxford English Dictionary...