Threads of Roman History

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 17:48:15 +0200

At the top of a small stone stairway climbing the Janiculum hill is a curious church revealing important threads of Roman history.

The cloister of Sant’Onofrio (Humphrey) is now the Casa Generale of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, a small religious community headquartered in Garrison, NY. It was founded about 100 years ago in the Episcopal Church, and was the first Order ever to be corporately received into Roman Catholic Communion. Founded and continuing to actively work for Christian Unity in inter-religious dialogue, ecumenical affairs, and other contemporary ministries, the community has a colorful and interesting history, and their unity mission is uncompromised by now being in a complex named for one of history’s most famous loners.
Saint Onofrio’s life-alone in the wilderness could be a tale full of blanks, but you wouldn’t know it from the cloister. Painted in every lunette under the cloister arches is another chapter in the story of this hirsute hermit, wandering all his life with only his abundant hair as protection from the elements. Just so you don’t miss the thread of the story, each lunette is labeled in Latin and Italian.

The Renaissance poet, Torquato Tasso, chose to live in this hilltop sanctuary shortly after it was built. Tasso had had early success with his historical romance, “Jerusalem Delivered”, and wrote its long-awaited sequel under the cloister’s oak tree (now dry and encased in cement), with the melancholy sounds of the Saint Onofrio church bell in the background.

Tasso’s literary contribution is such an important part of Italy’s history that the great Italian hero and patriot Garibaldi spared only this lone brass bell from the smelters during decades of war which ultimately resulted in a unified Italy in the 19th century. The bell still hangs between lunettes depicting the King denying that Onofrio is his son, and Baby Onofrio remaining miraculously unharmed in the middle of a bonfire.

Tasso was ultimately honored in the Roman capital for his life’s work, but on the very day he was to receive the poet’s laurel, he died in his room over the cloister. He is buried in the small church in a grand style. His tomb features a visually accurate, life-size funerary statue (made from his death mask which is still kept upstairs in his old bedroom) The statue’s sartorial splendor is in ironic contrast to the story of the quirky nudist or the plain-clothed Franciscans.

Tasso’s statue towers over a carved stone sarcophagus, which is the real star of the chapel. On it is carved a frieze of his funeral procession. This fashion parade in sculpted profiles -- Rome’s rich and famous of 1595 in best-dress -- is also considered to be accurate. All the Renaissance big names are here (labeled underneath, of course!).

You can visit both the church and the cloister Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 AM to 12:30 PM. Please offer a donation in the slot for the garden’s upkeep.

Big Sky Umbria

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:03:05 +0200

Italy is not commonly associated with the “big sky” look of unlimited vistas, so the Grande Piano of the Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini between Norcia and Castelluccio, in eastern Umbria, is legendary. This ancient lake, at almost 1500 meters above sea level, is a cool Mecca for nature lovers throughout the summer. In spring and early summer, this natural basin--- 20sq.kilometers, blazes with colorful knee high wildflowers which a millennium ago replaced the sacred beech tree grove (faggietta) so that the local farmers and monastic communities (St. Bernard was born here) had forage for their famous pigs during the winter.

Few bushes interrupt the flower carpet of some of the most competitive plants in nature’s kingdom. Crocus, campanula (bellflower), ranuculus bulbosa (buttercup), cardus nutans (thistle), filipendula, linium (flax), salvia pratensis (a member of the mint family), sinapis arvenseis (mustard), papaver rhoeos (poppy), and echuim vulgara (bugloss) crowd the salvia pratensis (a member of the mint family, with the telltale “square” stem) and polygonum, aptly nicknamed “smart weed.” Beautiful as these blooms are, you do not want them growing in a carefully manicured home garden!

The soil in this mountain bowl, under some of the tallest peaks in the Apennine mountain range, is usually waterlogged until the middle of May and then drains slowly to feed the Nera River, which cuts a 40-kilometer canyon, called the Valnerina. In its course, the river is directed over waterfalls, through commercial fish ponds, and Italy’s most productive hydroelectric plants, all of which are visible from the Valnerina river road. In fact, the tallest waterfall in Europe, the Cascata delle Marmore, a waterfall-on-demand engineered by Romans in the year 271 BC, is on the route.

If you like clean air, beautiful scenery, 22-degree temperatures and lentils (the culinary speciality of Castelluccia), saddle your horse (also available to rent in the valley) or horse-power and visit before the visitors pick all this years blooms!

Friends of Rome Gardens

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:30:36 +0200

In the ‘Thinking globally, acting locally’ vein, my friends and I recently formed a cultural association, Amici dei Giardini di Roma, which we will also incorporate as a 501c3 in the U.S., as “Friends of Rome Gardens.” It is a “numbers count” strategy, since we want to apply for grants for projects to benefit the historic gardens and green spaces here in ancient center of the civilized world.

Here’s one of the reports that got us ramped up:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_R_global29.3ddb5dd.html

In a nutshell, the melting of the polar caps is releasing methane gas (a hydrocarbon formed just like petroleum under terra firma) into the environment. This gas will rapidly increase the temperature of the earth and, in so doing, will accelerate the process of global warming. Pretty grim, right?

Like you, we drive as little as we can (record gas prices are a pretty compelling dis-incentive), turn off lights which aren’t necessary, and keep heat down. We don’t use air conditioning at all. We compost, use only organic solutions on our farms, and support political initiatives that support sustainable practices. But, even with millions of people doing exactly what we are doing, the problems we face now need amplified effort, and no one wants to be singing the Joni Mitchel refrain “You don’t know what you got until it’s gone,” from our rockers.

In Rome, the most verdant capital in Europe, the gardens and plantings are listed in the first tier of strategies to meet the mandates of the Kyoto Protocol, which Italy adopted in 1997, and which requires that Italy reduce its aggregate amount of greenhouse gases emitted by 17% over current levels by 2012.

That Italians have the second longest life expectancy of any civilized country means that they have been doing many things right when it comes to public health issues. Rome’s half million trees each absorbs 154 kilograms/year (339 pounds) of pollution from air. Thus, almost 170,000,000 lbs of pollutants are removed each year from the air over a city that has been continuously inhabited over 2,500 years.

It’s not a question of being patriotic to help maintain these plants and the land that supports them ---- attention to the landscape has a direct benefit for all of us who need air!

On public lands in Rome, there are fewer than 40% of the professionals in environmental services that there were 30 years ago. Technological and mechanical advancement have helped increased productivity, true, but since 1990 more green space has been annexed to the city, and landscape resources are stretched. Amici/Friends are grassroots resources which will be important to finding solutions.

We are heartened by the likeminded friends who joined Amici this week at an evening tour and cocktail at the Roseto Comunale, braving the uncharacteristic June rain (most precipitation in 200 years) and the traffic caused by President Bush’s motorcade on his farewell tour to Rome. A bit of rain, yes, but then a rainbow. Antonello Santelli, the director of Rome’s Rose Garden, told rose stories (each of the 1200 roses has its own!) and recounted the history of the garden.

If you would like to learn more about Amici dei Giardini di Roma, go to www.RomeGardens.org

Memorial Day

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:08:27 +0200

This year, I took a group to the U.S. Memorial Day commemoration at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, south of Rome. It was an extraordinary day, in extraordinary company.

Only a mile from Anzio, the beachhead of the Allies’ landing on Jan. 22, 1944, this memorial is dedicated to the nearly 11,000 Americans who died in the campaign to successfully liberate Rome, the capital city of Italy, from the Germans in WWII.

This meticulously maintained cemetery contains the graves of nearly 8000 American soldiers, including 23 sets of brothers. On Memorial Day, all of the graves – Christian crosses,Stars of David and six other religious icons -- fly the American flag as well as the Italian flag, which is a dramatic background for the day’s memorial events.

We had arranged for Dawn Rochow Seymour, 90, of Lake Canandiagua, NY, and her family, to be invited by the American Battlefields Monument Commission (ABMC) to the May 26, 2008 ceremony, and to be recognized for her WWII services in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).

Ms. Seymour was met, guided and seated in the front row by military escort. She sat with honored guests which included Admiral Mark Fitzgerald ( the Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Commander, Allied Joint Force Command, Naples). The Honorable Mary Ann Glendon, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, delivered a moving address during the 45-minute ceremony.

We also arranged for Ms. Seymour's sister and travel companion, Dorothy, 94, to be recognized for her 50-year career as a nurse. Seventeen women, including nurses, are buried at the Memorial.

After the ceremony, we were invited to one of the park’s beautiful gardens where Ms. Seymour described her career as a pilot of the B-17 aircraft. Especially captivated were the students of the American Overseas School of Rome, headed by Dr. Beth Pfannl. (Dawn’s 30-year effort to raise national awareness of the contribution of these brave women soldiers in the war effort. also includes establishing the WASP educational outreach program in 1979. This woman is unflagible.)

Other guests included Barbara Sistilli, a first-time visitor to Italy. We shared an amazing day with Barbara as she visited her father's grave for the first time. Her father was in the first wave of soldiers who landed on the beachhead, only to be killed six days before Rome’s liberation on June 4, 1944. Barbara was born three months later.

Barbara came on the Memorial Day trip with her husband and her step-son, Anthony Sistilli. Anthony is one of 22 delegates from Democrats Abroad to the 2008 convention in Denver. The civic education of generations to come was tangible that day.

All of us making the trip that day were inspired by courageous and serious women who teach the lessons they learned from extraordinary acts of patriotism, and travel the country that was, through their sacrifices, made free.

U.S,Ambassador Glendon's Memorial Day Commemoration speech:
http://vatican.usembassy.gov/viewer/article.asp?article=/file2008_05/alia/a8052305.htm

American Monuments Battlefield Commission, http://www.abmc.gov/home.php

Sicily-Rome American Memorial Cemetery, and history of the battle,
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/sr.php

Cold Comfort Oil

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:35:07 +0100

Our neighbor has an organic farm and makes cold-pressed olive oil the old-fashioned way, making sure that no heat is transmitted to the fruit in the process. Believe it or not, it makes a difference. The process is very time-consuming, but the oil that is produced is out of this world.

First, the olives are ground (pits and all) using huge solid granite wheels, four-feet high. An electric motor has been gerryrigged to the fulcrum which, in the olden days, was probably powered by a little mule.

Once it becomes paste, about a gallon of it is spread on a 1 meter-wide sisal disk. This pour gets covered with another sisal disk. More paste is poured, and so on --times thirty. This block of paste and sisal is put in the compressor and voila' --- fresh, green cold-stone virgin olive oil.

An added bonus for us, the pressing takes so long and they have almost 500 trees that we can visit any day for the next two weeks. Here’s their website for those of you who read Italian www.fattorialucciano.com. They have been selling organically raised beef, cheese and of course cold-pressed olive oil for over 22 years. I’ll include some photos taken by Laura Wilkerson so you get a better idea of the process. Ciao for now!

She Seems Like Such a Nice Girl

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:00:43 +0100

Daughter Marin had her first movie debut today. "Il Nascondiglio", or The Hiding Place, is the classic tale of a noviate nun (Marin) turned slasher, who “offs” Mother Superior. She even made the trailer and is being well-reviewed in the Italian press, but not by name so far!

The above painting is Marin as a Yemen princess, done by friend Pat Smith. It may help you to pick her out in all the excitement and commotion of the trailer. (clue: blood scene). Here’s a link to all of Pat’s work.

If you see the movie, or hear of where it may be showing near you, please add it under “comments” so we can all know!

And...Action!

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:56:20 +0100

Yesterday was a beautiful, crisp, clear fall day and Tim and Laura and I had the Lazio gardens to ourselves. Well, almost. We had to share the Farnese Palace with a film crew making a movie, entitled "The Fifth Commandment" which, with the help of our palace escort, we finally agreed was "Don’t tell lies". So we didn't tell anyone --- one way or the other --- that I snapped this picture of the map of the world, ala' 1562, which is frescoed on the palace walls.

This map, of the four known continents at the time, qualifies as one of the most interesting historical frescoes that I have seen. The Farnese didn’t need to scramble for an atlas when they were plotting their next moves.

In the Chips

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:50:36 +0100

Today we visited the mosaic studio at the Vatican. The ten working mosaic masters (some are vetrans of forty years) are responsible for making all the gifts the Pope gives out to heads of State (think: President Clinton), and for repair work on the (get this!) 10,000 square meters of mosaics in St. Peter's Basilica.

The artists at the Vatican work with over 36,000 colors of marbles cataloged in drawers within their studios. They also work with solid glass “tiles” that they melt to get the exact color desired, working off of proprietary formulas from hundreds of years ago. We got to see mosaic works in progress in their laboratory -- even micro mosaics.. One of the artisans had a 16th century original oil on his easel. When I asked him about it he nonchalantly said, “I like to work from the originals because the colors are true -- and the copies aren’t.”

On the tour today were Marlo and Cathy Bartels. Marlo is a terrific mosaic artist ( www.marlobartels.com ). He brought pictures of his public art installed all over the US, and even the Vatican guys and gals were impressed.

Marlo and Cathy design their vacations to follow the Italian mosaic tradition, which started in Republic Rome, went to Constantinople and then back to its Italian “subsidiary”, Ravenna, in the 5th century, split off to Africa, then to Spain, and back again to Rome in the Renaissance. The styles and lessons then got diffused through Europe and the New World, and finally to Marlo’s ceramic studio in Laguna Beach, CA. Theirs are some well-stamped passports.

No Pulp Fiction

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:27:13 +0100

Rome and central Italy has many wonderful artistic traditions from the Renaissance. Chief among them is superb paper production which came originally from the Egyptians, but was lost in Europe until the Byzantines brought it back to Italy in the 7th century. The monks copying the precious books of the ancient world in their Medieval cloisters were an immediate market, and paper production has continued to be refined in Italy ever since. Most visitors to Italy are familiar with the amazing hand-marbled papers produced for centuries here.

And this paper, then as now, is built to last. On a recent visit to the Vatican archives where all the correspondence regarding the construction of St. Peter's is kept (including Michelangelo and Bernini's bills, to mention two), the archivist noted that the 500-year old records hold up much better than the computer records from 1982.

Beautiful papers were first produced by Florentine and Venetian artisans for the families made wealthy from Crusades business -- transport, food, tourism, armament production --- just like fortunes are made today!  The Italian renaissance artisans began to combine marbled paper and leather into luxurious products such as albums and boxes, to archive the paper invitations to the fabulous parties, no doubt. Fabriano is just one of the famous makers still in business today, and their shingle says that they were established in 1208. Among the other brand names artists will instantly recognize are Magnani, and Tiziano.

There are less expensive papers readily available here, and which are wonderfully graphic and reasonably priced. Often the paper is printed repeating elegant floral or nostalgic patterns on a plain or white ground.

Our friend Alison makes fabulous notebooks starting with some of these papers as a baseline to her print work. Her notebooks are then hand-sewn together (with perfect stitch-length and knots). If you are looking for a gift idea, see them HERE HERE or HERE.

Book and collage artists everywhere appreciate these papers and make wonderful products out of them.  One U.S. bulk supplier of Italian papers is PaperSource. Italy also supplies artists around the world with paper used for printmaking, watercolor, pastels, and drawing, in a fantastic array of surfaces, weights and colors. This Made in Italy quality continues to spur a thriving art paper market --- and probably a few poets! Elisabeth Barrett Browning's poetry books are beautiful, both in form and content!

For any paper fans coming to Rome, we urge you to include a trip to Vertecchi on the Via della Croce in your Rome itinerary!

Better than a Toro

Mon, 5 Nov 2007 12:38:03 +0100

These are the sheep that help keep the grass down in our front lawn. A month ago, there were six, and we are now up to eight, with one expected for Christmas. They should lamb again in the spring, and so we can expect sheep cheese until summer of 2008 arrives.

Ricotta, which is the whey which remains from the cheese processing (more or less), is widely used in Italy as a pasta dressing, spread, filling for a pie, or, with honey, as a desert. Here is a simple recipe for a good dessert:

1 cup sheep ricotta
2 tablespoons of honey
Grated zest of one full lemon
a few drops of maple or nut extract

Blend well (you can use a fork or a machine), refrigerate for 1 hour and serve over or under or layered with fresh fruit. It is best if the fruit is small enough that you could fit at least three fruit chunks on each spoon so the ricotta dressing is well integrated with it.

We are always looking for simple ricotta recipes so please send any you have!

Secret Garden Wales

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:40:10 +0100

On a recent trip to Llandeilo, in southern Wales, I had a chance to visit this knock-out garden, Aberglasney. It is the result of a careful collaboration between the family, the town, public and private foundation money, and individuals.

They have a garden structure which I have never seen in any other place. They call it a Nympherium, which is beautifully designed and functional. My friend Helen had a hand in the design of it and of this Orto Semplice (above) which is one of the 12 garden installations on this site. For more info and to see the nympherium, check out www.aberglasney.org.

How secret can an amphitheater be?

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:53:49 +0100

Travelers to Rome flock to the Roman Colosseum, but did you know there were other amphitheaters in ancient Rome? One amphitheater that still survives is the Castrense Amphitheater, camouflaged into the Aurelian Wall, ‘hidden’ in the urban landscape of the Eternal City. The amphitheater, grand as it is, is only part of an interesting monastic garden complex.

Meticulously restored as an orto medico (also called a ‘simple’) under the guidance of famous Turinese architect Paolo Pejrone, this medieval monastic garden is intensely planted and is curated by the Cistercian monks who sell its harvest abundance on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings in front, during the growing seasons. Salads and herbs of every description are available throughout the year, but lucky (and early) shoppers can also buy passionfruit, pizzutella grapes, and citrus in season.

This garden renovation was underwritten by the ‘Adopt a Garden’ campaign of the Association of the Friends of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Hopefully, more of Rome's historic gardens will benefit from citizens' interest in preserving them.

"This article was excerpted for a story that we published in GoItaly http://goitaly.about.com/b/2007/11/25/castrense-amphitheater-and-gardens-in-rome-italy.htm

Wood Works

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Opera Bosco is a team-building sculpture workshop that advocates the use (and reuse) of natural forest materials in sculptures using non-mechanized means. The projects are beautiful, curious, and very provocative. It was founded by Anne Demijttenaere, a friendly French expat who speaks Italian and English, and is in its second decade. All you artists should think of applying for a grant to attend --- or give --- one of the frequent workshops. Who knows? You may also be tempted to join other alumni of Opera Bosco who continue to live in and around the forest, which is itself a study in community-building. Here’s their web address: www.operabosco.com .

I sometimes write clues for secret gardens in a daily newsletter run by my friend GB. Here is the LINK to the full Opera Bosco entry.

Hard Rock Soho

Mon, 8 Oct 2007 09:32:58 +0200

There is a small borg near our farm which has a singular modern history. Rising from a bedrock like the phoenix rising from its ashes, medieval Calcata attracted its current 100 or so residents from all over the world only thirty years ago by (then) young artists who made homes in the underground grottoes. The caves have been "rehabbed" over the years --- some even beyond current "creature comfort" norms. Visitors wandering this mountain top town are often informally invited by the residents to "come on in" and see the art, cave carvings, and mosaics. Also, If you like to take photographs, there is no bad angle here. I wrote about this for ItalianNotebook.com. Click here to read it.

For the full, quirky rundown on this town and its history (and much better photos!), see this NYT article by David Farley.

Fresh Fresco, 2000 Years Later

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 10:42:34 +0200

Here is a secret Rome garden that we like to visit during the winter. Livia's dining room was built in the year 0 (!) in a cave under her husband, Augustus Caesar's, imperial villa. Being deep underground, it was so climate-controlled that the frescoes she had painted on the cave walls are miraculously well preserved, with color and detail intact, even after two millennia. The secret of youth may just be to stay at a constant 58 degrees Fahrenheit, winter and summer.

The frescoed walls of the room -- depicting the early Empire flora and landscape -- show an idealized night view of her other garden above ground – but with everything in bloom simultaneously! A gardener after my own heart. For the full scoop, see my story HERE.

Rockbuster

Tue, 2 Oct 2007 08:36:59 +0200

It's movie season and the blockbuster looks like it will be Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf" which came out on Friday. The few stories that made it into the 'popular culture' in the Middle Ages are special because they are so, so rare. And there really was no ‘popular’ to the culture! No one in the knew how to write anything but Latin -- and the story of this pagan northern superman certainly wasn't preserved by Latin-speaking monks. Think, too, that it was preserved verbally for centuries when life spans were only about 30 years.

Apropos of primordial horror , many of the statues from the Garden of the Monsters are really evocative I am not sure that Beowulf was on the recommended reading list in 1500, but the last Orsini was quirky. He had all kind of apocalyptical monsters sculpted out in his garden bedrock by the artist who was to succeed Michaelangelo as head of the Papal Construction team. Imagine what the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel would have looked like, if Pirro Ligorio had had to finish it!

A Palace Fit for a King?

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 21:48:00 +0200

From its imperial beginnings, Rome has never been the pole-bearer of self restraint and moderation. Villa Torlonia is no exception. A magnificent example of neo-Classical architecture it is, commissioned by Giovanni Torlonia to display his wealth and power as immodestly as possible.

The villa was built in 1806 by the architect Giuseppe Valadier, already known for his major projects like Piazza del Popolo and Fiumicino, the first planned suburb of Rome. But it was Alessandro, the youngest son of Giovanni, who took the villa to its current splendor by commissioning the landscaping of the grounds and acquiring major works of art. It was one of the earliest examples of the naturalistic garden in Rome and a stroll around the grounds reveals a major part of the family's collection of statuary.

The villa is enhanced by a series of themed rooms, each one representing a particular architectural or decorative style ranging from Gothic to Egyptian, bringing the art of trompe l'oeil to eccentric levels. Of particular note is the bathroom of Alessandro's wife, princess Teresa Colonna, beautifully done in the "grotesque" style reminiscent of the Domus Aurea, as well as the Etruscan tomb, exact in every detail, used for Alessandro's secret masonic gatherings. In the 1920s it became Mussolini's home and, during this period, an underground bomb shelter was built where the original kitchens were located. Visiting this bunker makes the house tour a surreal experience.

Villa Torlonia is now a public park still in the process of restoration but the degree of perfection with which the main villa and a major part of the grounds have been brought back to life makes Villa Torlonia a must-see today.

A Tale of Two Gardens

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:49:49 +0200

Friend Joyce Lyon is an artist and professor of art at University of Minnesota who spends her sabbaticals and breaks in Otricoli, Umbria, where we live. The view from her window is the wildly romantic and overgrown part of a garden owned by one of two sisters -- the town's nobility.

The garden has an interesting history and a dynamic present, but even the view from Joyce's room is inspiring. Above is the Contessa’s garden view from her room. Others are HERE.

I am waiting for Joyce to return so she can arrange for a garden visit to Signora Germani, another townswoman. That garden's story, and Joyce's paintings of it, are HERE.

Drawing and Painting by Joyce Lyon