Rome Hints and Tips

Phidias exhibition at Villa Caffarelli. Capitoline Museums. Till May 5th. Main sponsor Bulgari, inaugurating a cycle of five exhibitions dedicated to Greek sculpture. The art of Phidias and other Greek artists survived through the precious Roman copies of original masterpieces mostly lost.

On the 170th anniversary of his birth the exhibit in Rome at palazzo Bonaparte covers all the stages of van Gogh's career. On loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum (Otterlo), the second-largest collection in the world, after Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It follows a chronological order from his monochrome realistic portraits to his stay in Paris in 1886 when the palette becomes vibrant and the dull brown changes into his typical yellow and blue. In 1888 Van Gogh moves to Arles and his masterpieces are imbued with the Mediterranean sun. The last masterpieces were painted between 1889 and 1890 when the artist, in an altered mental state, spent his last months between the the psychiatric hospital in St. Rémy and the home of Doctor Gachet. Till April 26th

Fragments of mosaics of the first basilica of St. Peter’s which decorated the apse and the façade. XIII century. On display at Palazzo Braschi. The exhibit on Medieval Rome has been extended till April 16th.

The exhibit will last till Febr. 26th. Paintings, ceramics, textile designs. Impressionists, Matisse, Cezanne, Cubism exerted a great influence on him.

‘There’s reality and then there’s what we see’. Raoul Dufy. Till Febr. 26th. #Dufy #romeexhibition

In Rome the feast of St. John on June 24th used to mean snails, easily harvested in the vineyards that until the beginning of last century occupied the area. Still today it’s possible to taste them in one of the osterias in the neighborhood of San Giovanni in Laterano. The best are those with striped white shells (vignarole: of the vineyards). ‘Lumache alla Romana’ are cooked with tomatoes and chile. Till the end of 19th century people arrived at the feast with sorghum in the buttonholes, garlic in their pockets and rang a cowbell to keep the witches away. They believed they came to Rome on broomsticks to honor St. John, their patron. The snails’ horns represented negativity and by eating them worries were supposedly eliminated for the year.

A handful of visitors.

The ever changing sky over Rome this afternoon.

The Colosseum and the Forum almost by myself this afternoon!

Il Thermopolium di Ostia Antica. Un breve tour virtuale alla scoperta di un'antica tavola calda romana. Sapete cosa era il silfio?

Il Thermopolium di Ostia Antica. Breve tour virtuale alla scoperta di un'antica tavola calda romana. Un viaggio a ritroso nel tempo. Sapete cosa era il silfio?

On the 500th anniversary of his death first ever exhibit to explore ’s brief and prolific career. Some close-ups of his paintings and sketches. Security distance maintained 😷 At Scuderie del Quirinale til June 2nd.