A quick trip, but a lot to see: Rome, Bernini, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio

The Bernini, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio course during the Fall 2024 semester at SRISA has led my art history class to Rome.

Santa Maria della Vittoria

Our first stop was the impressive church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. During our lectures we learned about the controversial sculpture ‘Ecstasy of St. Theresa,’ but seeing it in real life made it even more special, and the art surrounding the piece that we had focused so intensely on in class was only emphasized by the artwork encircling it—the sculpture was just below a cherub lining a stained glass window, surrounded by a fresco of clouds.

Church Santa Maria delgi Angeli

My first thoughts upon entering Santa Maria delgi Angeli, was its overwhelming size given its layout with the structure of the church shaped like a cross (known as transepts). Our class explored the large marble structure and examined the details of this church during mass. The service created an atmosphere that was illuminated by the lighting and the whiteness of the marble creating a scene of intimacy in the vast space.

We paused for a yummy brunch at popular Mexican restaurant that offered a wide choice of food, including vegetarian. Fun with food tip: we got to make our own tacos and burritos.

Now, time to get back to the task at hand! Next stop …

San Luigi de’ Francesi

The church was dripping in gold. The very effective lighting illuminated an exquisite fresco. We broke for a short but very informative talk by Professor Tiziana Landra, where she discussed Caravaggio, examining his life and self reflection by painting himself into his work.

We briefly visited the Piazza Navona. Unfortunately, due to it being under restoration, we were not able to see the artwork however we did get to see the restores at work, which was an interesting juxtaposition from learning about the conditions of how certain pieces of artworks are created to hundreds of years later witnessing how it is preserved.

Ponte Sant’Angelo was also under restoration, so we were not able to see the angels on the Ponte degli Angeli. This gave us a little extra time to observe the enormous Tiber river with the spectacular panoramic view of the eternal city. Behind us was the colossal Castel Sant’Angelo.

The Vatican

Our last stop was the Vatican Museums. Upon entering, we met with our tour guide, who explained that the Vatican is its own independent state! We toured around the museums exploring the beautiful architecture, dynamic gardens and breathtaking sculptures. I was particularly taken with the hall of maps, but my favorite part of the visit was seeing Rafael’s astonishing tapestries depicting important time stamps of life in Italy during the Renaissance.

Written by Fall 2024 Student Florence Hayal