Deborah just hasn’t been able to shake her cold so we’ve been taking is easy these past few days. For two days we just sat around in the apartment. Never fear, we still have a few recent things to report on.
Saturday, November 25
We went to the Museo Corsini last week. Those tickets entitled us to go to the Palazzo Barberini within 10 days. Since the tickets were about to expire we decided to venture out and see what they had to offer.
The museum is housed in what was the Barberini mansion. Most of the artwork was from the Barberini collection which contains a great many Byzantine and 1500s era Flemish paintings – that’s an unusual combination that you don’t see everyday.
(Henry VIII by Hans Holbein)
In one gallery we were shocked to see a famous portrait of Henry VIII. The artist, Hans Holbein, had been Henry’s official portrait artist. We assumed this painting would be hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in London and couldn’t imagine how it got to be on permanent display in Rome. It turns out that the original was destroyed by fire. During Henry’s lifetime several copies were made by various artists – including Holbein. There is strong evidence that this copy was made by Holbein himself.
(Narcissus by Caravaggio)
We managed to find one Caravaggio that wasn’t sent to the Milan exhibit. There are a number of Caravaggios in churches around Rome; those are never loaned out.
On the way home from the museum we just couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit The Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. This church is perched high on top of the Capitoline Hill and is accessed by a very long set of marble stairs. The front of the church commands an excellent view of the entire city.
In the fourth century B.C. the site was occupied by the temple of Juno Moneta. The foundations of the present day church were laid in the 5th century A.D.
The church is notable for many reasons. It contains relics of Saint Helena, who was Constantine’s mother, and many other holy items. Perhaps the most famous item in the church is the Holy Child of Aracoeli.
(The Holy Child of Aracoeli)
According to tradition a friar in Israel carved the statue out of a single piece of olive wood from the Garden of Gethsemane. The friar was unable to finish painting the statue because he ran out of money. One night an angel appeared and completed the statue.
The friar then boarded a ship in order to bring the statue to Rome. During the voyage the ship encountered a storm and the statute was lost overboard. When the ship finally arrived in Italy the statue was found laying next to the ship. Subsequently the statue was placed in the church and has been venerated ever since.