When in Rome… : A Visit to the Mausoleum of Augustus

Archeology, Art History, Augustus, Empire, Rome, Underground Rome

Tweet Last month saw a momentous anniversary of the sort that doesn’t happen often; on the 19 August it was 2000 years exactly since the death of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor. Much hand-wringing was employed over Rome’s lack of festivities, and it...

Hippopotamuses and Lotus flowers: The Nile mosaic at Palestrina

Archeology, Architecture, Art History, Egypt, Empire, Out of Town, Palestrina, Roman Art

Tweet Last week a visiting friend and I braved the torrential rain to run an errand in Zagarolo. Our mission accomplished, we stopped for a spot of lunch before meandering to Palestrina. Snaking our way through the medieval streets, in a car as wide as the roads, we...

From Virgil to Vitruvius: some thoughts on the House of Augustus.

Aeneas, Aeneid, Archeology, Architecture, Art History, Augustus, Empire, Legend, Origins, Palatine Hill, Roman Art, Roman Painting, Rome, Virgil

Tweet This year is a big anniversary for all things Augustus; the two thousandth anniversary of the death of the first Emperor of Rome. The exploitation of art, religion, legend, history, poetry, dodgy family trees, you name it, in the relentlessly sophisticated...

The Donation of Constantine

Art History, Caelian, Churches, Counter Reformation, Empire, Fresco, High Renaissance, Late Medieval, Late Medieval Art, Medieval Art, Vatican

Tweet In the mid 8th century, a beleaguered Pope named Stephen “found” a document of inestimable value. Purporting to have been written over three centuries earlier, in it the Emperor Constantine handed over complete power of the city of Rome, amongst...

Paradise regained: the painted garden of Livia at Palazzo Massimo

Archeology, Art History, Augustus, Empire, Esquiline, Fresco, National Roman Museum, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Roman Art, Roman Painting, Rome

Tweet In a city filled with extraordinary works of ancient art, perhaps one of the most breathtaking is one of the least visited and one of my favourites. After visiting the “Monsters” exhibition (excellent, go) at Palazzo Massimo today I went to the top...

Rus in urbe – a bucolic stroll across the Palatine

Aeneas, Aeneid, Archeology, Architecture, Art History, Augustus, Empire, Legend, Origins, Palatine Hill, Roman Art, Roman Forum, Roman Painting, Rome

Tweet This year December is treating Rome very well indeed. It has been largely dry, as warm as one can hope for, and the rich blue sky sets everything off wonderfully.   On Monday I took myself off to the Palatine Hill for a wander amid the ruins in the winter...