Stanford Student Letters and Memoirs

Feb 3rd 7 AM

Here we go again- still in Rome and quite interesting to hear about we think. By today, Sunday Feb. 14th, George is back at the Burg and probably doing a bit of studying to get ready for this week.

We had one major change in circumstances yesterday - spring and sunshine left and the rains came. When we left the hotel after breakfast for our tour of Vatican Museum, it was grey and foreboding overhead and by noon it was raining.

The Vatican Museum was quite different from others you might see. There are very few displays of relics etc or of old documents though these are kept here. Rather, it was sort of a study of the history of the papal residence, the expansion and modification of the building over the centuries. The Museum is the seat of some of the finest Renaissance art - not so much pictures as painted (frescoed really) walls and rooms -- The Cistine chapel being most famous. During the years 1450-1550 the Popes brought to the Vatican a series of particulary fine artists lwd by Raphael and Michelangelo to execute particular comissions (decorate papal apartments or paint certain events such as the creation of the papal library) and then toward the end of the time under Julius II, just to remain in residence as permanent artists of the Vatican. We saw yesterday several of these papal apartments, most especially those painted by Raphael. It is hard to describe these except to say they are large - covering whole walls, and thus free, spacious and very beautiful in form and color. With the help of our guide, also an assistant at the Academy of Arts and also an expert in the relevant field of history and art we noted the revolution of Raphael's style, the particular significance of each of the pictures and a lot about art and history in general. This was true of the whole fascinating morning. After seeing some of the finest papal apartments we went to the Cistine chapel. Here again I am at a loss for words of description. The ceiling of Michelangelo is magnificent even beyond my expectations. The figures are large, bold and so alive looking, that they seem literally to lean out of the wall at you. One could spend hours enjoying the beauty of that ceiling which Michelangelo spent four years on his back painting! From here we stopped briefly to see a lovely little chapel and them moved on [to?] the art gallery built quite recently- 1928 I think - to see some of the fine original oil paintings looking primarily at the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Many famous names here. We finally left the Vatican about 1:30 and walked through the rain to a nearby restaurant for lunch and then on to the hotel to change clothes and get dry ones. Then Mary Ann Campbell and I obtained a guide book and the directions for reaching Ostia Antica. This is a small town about 5 miles south of Rome which contains the ruins of the old Roman seaport town. Sort of like Pompeii, but in much better preservation. The buildings stand in fine condition, mostly foundations, but many walls and even second stories are still up. The amphitheatre was in almost perfect condition. Found one house in which the oven and mosaic floors and bath were perfectly preserved and out the front doorway a small patio courtyard with trees growing up between the tiles to offer shade. Back to Rome and after dinner I spent the night walking about Rome. We had hoped to find a horse drawn carriage to ride around in and take up to the Borghese Gardens for a view of the city by night. But they were not to be found it being supposedly too cold for the horses - actually a beautiful night and quite comfortable. So instead we just walked around going first to the fountain of Trevi (from Three Coins in a Fountain fame). I threw in my 3 - Fate, Love, and a good return to Rome - and tried some time exposures with my camera. Then a 45 min walk back to hotel.