While in Prague Castle complex, I checked out St George’s basilica. It’s very simple and I found the little chapel off to the side really cosy. The frescoes on the ceiling seemed so close (although not as close as the Raphael rooms at the Vatican).
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St George’s Basilica
Monday, December 5th, 2011Sant Ignazio di Loyola
Friday, October 28th, 2011I revisited Sant Ignazio di Loyola. I’ve only ever left my lens cap somewhere twice in my photography career. Both times were in this church. I find it’s a sign of being completely immersed in the moment and the photography i.e. I’m having a ball! I just love the fresco and also this trompe l’oeil dome.
Santa Maria Della Vittoria
Thursday, October 27th, 2011Santa Maria Della Vittoria is a wonderfully intimate church full of gilt and stucco and all the baroque things I love. This church is famous for the Bernini sculpture of the Ecstasy of Mary. It’s incredible but you can’t get very close to the work in the church. That’s where Galleria Borghese is excellent. You can get within a metre of the exhibits. I really liked the church though.
I got talking to a family who are living in northern Italy because the husband works for the US military. I’ve run into quite a few in Rome. Apparently the US uses northern Italy as a staging ground. I was quite surprised to find relatively little English spoken amongst the tourists and almost all the accents are American. Not British. However service staff all have enough English to get by so I’ve learnt very little Italian. I do watch TV in the language of the country I’m visiting (no choice usually). It’s quite funny watching Simpsons, Glee or Man from Snowy River in Italian. I always revert back to the previous language I’ve been using. There are heaps of French people here and I do subconsciously understand bits of the conversation and can give basic responses. My Italian has a long way to go before I’m even a little bilingual!
I just realised, today was another 12 hour day of walking. And I’m still standing! I’m either improving healthwise or extremely determined. Probably a bit of both. I couldn’t cope with one 12 hour day in Paris and I’ve done multiple in Rome so that’s a good sign.
St Ignazio di Loyola
Saturday, October 1st, 2011Saint Ignazio di Loyola is a large Jesuit church near the Pantheon. This is the incredible fresco that shows the light of God coming down via St Ignatius himself and then being broadcast to the four corners of the globe. Only Africa and America are visible in this shot due to the camera position. It’s the trompe l’oeil style that creates the illusion of a dome, statuary and other things that are not real by using 3D frescoes. This is my favourite ceiling in Rome – lovely colours, movement and style.
Il Gesu
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011Il Gesu is the founding church of the Jesuits. They bought into the reformation in a huge way and must have run several gold mines to produce all that gilt. The Gesu also features a prime example of a baroque ceiling with wonderful frescoes, stucco and cherubs roaming into the fresco along with gilt that has been trowelled on (rather than delicately painted with a brush).
Now technically I shouldn’t have any photos from the Gesu. There was a small sign inside the church that said no phtoography. I was devastated so I sat down to enjoy the view. A whole heap of tourists walked in taking photos so I thought I’d be Italian and just ignore the rules (that’s a serious comment. Italians are worse than Northern Territorians for not following the rules). The clergy saw me but seemed quite happy as I was correctty dressed with no flash and tripod. Italians came in in shorts and skimpy tops. When told to leave, they refused to!
The Gesu was also the first church that had a mirror for viewing the ceiling. Fabulous idea. Makes photography so much easier as the subject is put into a single plane for focus. That means you can shoot with a very low Fstop. The mirror shots were taken at F6.3 and the non mirror shots are about F9. That’s the difference between being able to shoot handheld or not. It also made for a great self portrait. I’m committing to taking a self portrait on all my trips (recall the one in the mirror at Palais Garnier in Paris).
