Roman Knockers 2024

 The Romans liked their architecture big and their palaces contained courtyards

with doors large enough to allow a horse and rider

or a coach to enter.

The doors often sported enormous door knockers.

With time the knockers became 

more decorative.

Animals appeared

with the knocker handles in their mouths.

Human faces appeared

and human hands.

I like this reference to Egypt.

John and I are partial to this popular wild man motif.

We also love these fantasy animals

especially these frightening creatues biting the bar.

This wild man seems a bit tipsy.

These erotic nymphs swirling beneath a Baroque shell make me want to knock on the door.

The Wabi-Sabis in Rome 2024

In Rome a few years ago Bill and I noticed this art installation made out of Scrabble letters

We got Italia, Bacio and Amore, but I wrote to the artists about Licita. They said, "The word is actually Felicità [happiness], looks like the F and E are missing."

Last year we were in Rome again and found this message in the maze of streets west of Campo dei Fiori. One of the tiles contained the artist's name: "words by wabisabi".

We also found Love, Free, Help, Yourself in a side street off Via Coronari.

Imagine our delight when we discovered the artists themselves installing a new piece on a wall by the door of the reliable Da Tonino,

a restaurant on Via Governo Vechio, near Piazza Navona. 

Romantica, Amore, Bella Vita, Pasta. Yes!

The artists introduced themselves as Mrs Wabi and Mr Sabi. Do you know the term wabi-sabi? OED: "a Japanese aesthetic...characterized by finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, or simplicity."

The piece was commissioned by Francesa and Roni, who together run Da Tonino. Clever them! 

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Mr Wabi and Mrs Sabi make their home in Paris. Find more of their work on Instagram.

At the Baths of Caracalla

John and I got to the Baths on a regular Rome city bus.

If you want to "get small in Rome" this is a great place to do it. The 3rd century AD complex is enormous.
The Farnese Hercules is now in the Archeological Museum in Naples. The site's curators have put a life-sized photograph where the statue once stood.

The curators have also put out fragments of the gorgeous mosaics that once adorned the floors of the libraries, gymnasiums, saunas and pools..

The Baths could once accommodate 1600 Romans at a time and would have seen 6000-8000 visitors a day.

The sheer height of the remaining walls is breathtaking

and the remaining mosaic floors are beautiful.

The ruins are also famous for inspiring modern sites like the original Pennsylvania Station in New York City and Chicago's Union Station.

Buried beneath the baths,        

excavators have uncovered the remains of an opulent Roman home from around 134-138 AD.

The dining room has some beautiful frescoes.

Only a small part of the original Baths remains, yet John and I were stunned by it's size and magnitude.

This worker was cleaning the floor of a swimming pool as we passed.

so the glory of the original mosaic patterns is not concealed by debris.

We couldn't help but feel in touch with the ancient, individual bathers

who would have passed time playing on this game board carved into the marble poolside.

Nothing builds an appetite like exploring the glories of yesteryear. The app on John's phone directed us to the bus stop that would take us back downtown and to lunch.

In the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina

Bill and I came to Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina for the coffee at Teichner but we stayed for the Basilica.

There was a Lucina, a Roman Christian, living on this site in the 4th century AD.

A romanesque lion at the door of an Italian church is always a sign of wonders within.

When we enter a church we always stand for a moment at the very back to take it all in.

Here is a Holy Water font we won't soon forget. I suppose the skull is reminding us we must die.

The back wall of this church has unusual and evocative memorials incised into stone slabs. 

Albert August Androt: nice portrait.

Another fine portrait. I could not decipher the name.

Your guess will no doubt be better than mine on the significance of this one.

This lion is a very striking individual!

Maybe you can tell me about the iconography of a crowned bird with a vase of flowers.

This nice pulpet is halfway down the nave on the left

The last chapel on the left has this interesting sculpture.

The group of figures, under their arch, bid us approach.

for a closer look.

I always like to sit in a pew for a while, look around, and let the atmosphere of the church come to me.

The mid-17th century altarpiece is by Guido Reni. How interesting that it is not framed. Gives it a modern look.