If you are passionate about art, Rome is a jewelry box. I love Renaissance history (1400-1500) when Italy was the center of the world. Florence and Rome became beacons of humanist ideals. One of the main features of the Renaissance was the rediscovery by European thinkers of ancient Greek and Roman ideas and texts. The Renaissance in Rome unfolded through the leadership of several different Popes that summoned great artists to build and decorate buildings, churches and squares. Michelangelo arrived in Rome in 1496 at the age of 21. If it is your first time in Rome, you don’t want to miss the Sistine Chapel and The Pietà in the Vatican. I have been so lucky to be able to plan themed long weekends in Rome. One time I took a 7 hrs train and booked myself a small hotel with the mission of following the footsteps of Michelangelo.
First stop was the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli where you can find the Tomb of Pope Giulius II which is a masterpiece of sculpture and architecture. Michelangelo arrived in Rome with marble blocks he had personally chosen from Carrara. The monument has a complicated and long history. It had numerous setbacks, including the artist’s dismissal and re-hiring. In fact, the work never followed the lines of the original design. The most famous of his statues is a large image of Moses sitting and holding the tablets of the Ten Commandments in his one hand. Michelangelo was so proud of his sculpture of Moses that when he was done he hit it on the knee and shouted “now speak” because it looked so lifelike almost like it was real.
Michelangelo, like other great artists, shaped the Rome you admire today. You don’t need to line up or pay any entrance ticket to step back in Renaissance, just walk to Piazza del Campidoglio. It is Michelangelo’s masterpiece as an Architect. The Piazza del Campidoglio (Capitol Square) is in the highest of the seven hills, the Capitoline Hill. Located between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius.
The design was innovative. This was the first project that shaped a space like this. The artist has not simply used an embellishment pavement, but has created a perfect oval with a pavement design consisting of a starry warp of four interconnected triangles, forming a twelve-pointed star. This project and its insistence on the value of the central axis would create trend in the architecture of the time in Italy and abroad. There are many more of Michelangelo’s amazing creations. Write down your list and start discovering!!
