Our day began at 10 am with a brisk walk past the Colosseum and up a hill to one of Shawn’s favorite places the Church of Santi Quattro Coronati, meaning the Church of Four Saints. The church, which is one of the four oldest churches in Rome dating back to 500 AD, contains the city’s oldest bell tower, and functions to this day as a working Augustinian convent whose nuns take a vow of silence.
Upon entering, we walked through a courtyard that whistled into a quiet chapel where Shawn rang a doorbell. A habit-wearing nun, who appeared to be the only one who hadn’t taken the vow, let us into a courtyard where you could hear nothing of the city. A fountain dripped in the center, and for forty minutes we heard nothing but it and the occasional 747 and ambulance siren, the only sounds architects in the 6th century could not design against.
After we left the tranquility of the inner courtyard, we traversed the campus and stepped into the Chapel of San Silvestro where Shawn turned the tables on us and gave us an art history lesson by having us decipher the frescoes documenting the healing and conversion of Constantine.
We reconvened at 3 pm for our actual art history class and kicked off our afternoon with an introduction to the Farnese family by Matthew, Junko, and Christina outside the Palazzo Farnese, which is conveniently located one square away from Campo de’ Fiori. The Palazzo, who’s upper floors where design by Michelangelo, supports the largest coat-of-arms on a Roman building façade. The Farnese coat-of-arms contains the papal crown and corresponding keys, added in honor of the Farnese Pope Paul III, and 6 Fleur-des-Lys. We also recognized some similarities between the Palazzo and the Florentine Medici Palace, such as the large cornice, extensive bench, and exterior rustification.
Upon entering, we walked through a courtyard that whistled into a quiet chapel where Shawn rang a doorbell. A habit-wearing nun, who appeared to be the only one who hadn’t taken the vow, let us into a courtyard where you could hear nothing of the city. A fountain dripped in the center, and for forty minutes we heard nothing but it and the occasional 747 and ambulance siren, the only sounds architects in the 6th century could not design against.
After we left the tranquility of the inner courtyard, we traversed the campus and stepped into the Chapel of San Silvestro where Shawn turned the tables on us and gave us an art history lesson by having us decipher the frescoes documenting the healing and conversion of Constantine.We reconvened at 3 pm for our actual art history class and kicked off our afternoon with an introduction to the Farnese family by Matthew, Junko, and Christina outside the Palazzo Farnese, which is conveniently located one square away from Campo de’ Fiori. The Palazzo, who’s upper floors where design by Michelangelo, supports the largest coat-of-arms on a Roman building façade. The Farnese coat-of-arms contains the papal crown and corresponding keys, added in honor of the Farnese Pope Paul III, and 6 Fleur-des-Lys. We also recognized some similarities between the Palazzo and the Florentine Medici Palace, such as the large cornice, extensive bench, and exterior rustification.
Following this prsentation, we trotted over to Castle San Anelo where Christina presented on the Castle's changing historical role. Apparently, the Castle began as monumental tomb dedicated to Emperor Hadrian and grew to contain not only his tomb, but also the ashes of his successors. It also incorporated some of the ancient burial traditions that we have already discovered, including the technique of circumambulation. Overtime, the mausoleum was transformed into a fortress and eventually taken over by the Papal court. Now a covered passageway connects it to the Vatican. Inside we toured some of the old Papal apartments and the Hall of Justice, and from the pinnacle, we enjoyed the view offer by the Castle’s prime location.
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