Well, this huge crowd of people came through the door a few minutes ago and there were little anthros who snuggled me and played duets on the piano (hey, those kids are GOOD—fame, here they come) and made me feel happy in general because I don’t have a lot to do here without the garden.
Then the whole group went off to see the Pope. Well, maybe not actually see him, but visit his humble abode and gaze at the Sistine ceiling. Now here’s a quandry, especially for mama. She tells me that the ceiling of the chapel was restored some years ago to its natural hues, the actual colors that Michelangelo used in 1512 (lying on his back, for heaven’s sake; so to speak—can you imagine?), and mama was used to seeing it as it aged through time, sort of like anthros do, and she thinks it’s a little like having a face lift—for her, it lost some of its wrinkles and laugh lines and character, but papa loves how it looks now and sees more clearly through the restoration what Michelangelo was really doing, his actual intentions for the ceiling. The effect is dazzling, he says, and so does mama, but she still prefers the oldie but goody.
It will be interesting to hear this group’s reactions—two of them are coming over tomorrow and I can’t wait to know what happened when they saw the ‘new’ ceiling.
I tell you, this town has some real doozies when it comes to art. I’m actually thinking that I could get used to a leash, just to be able to saunter around the corner to the Caravaggios and Berninis and so many others.
Here’s a list of where the Caravaggio paintings can be seen, (and maybe, me, haha) just in case you’re planning a little pilgrimage:
Galleria Borghese (Madonna of the Serpent; Young Bacchus, Ill; David with the Head of Goliath, others)
Santa Maria del Popolo (The Conversion of St. Paul, The Crucifixion of St. Peter)
Vatican Museums – Pinacoteca (Deposition from the Cross)
Capitoline Museums (Gypsy Fortune-Teller, St. John the Baptist)
Sant’Agostino (Madonna del Loreto)
San Luigi dei Francesi (The Calling of St. Matthew, The Martyrdom of St. Matthew, St. Matthew and the Angel)
Palazzo Corsini (St. John the Baptist)
Palazzo Barberini (Narcissus, Judith beheading Holofernes, St. Francis in Meditation)
Galleria Doria Pamphilj (Mary Magdalene, Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Young St. John the Baptist)
People say that there are no cats in his paintings, but actually, Caravaggio DID paint cats—you can’t see them in his paintings because they bugged out before the painting was finished; no kitty is going to sit still for weeks on end.
But you can easily see that the card player in the middle is looking at something to his right and what he is seeing is a really snappy kitty who is about to jump on the table and join the game. Card-kitties, they called them. And here’s another by Lucy Demar—hmm….19th century, I think.
And here’s another that I like best–you can see why.
I could easily drop mama and papa at one of those places I listed and saunter over to Largo Argentina to visit my Roman friends. Those guys have it easy—lying around on sun-warmed ruins all day, free kibble plus all the treats that passers by give them. What a life. It’s a veritable country club! These Italians know how to live.
Uh, oh, here mama comes with the leash!
Did I actually say that?
Oh, yeah–In bocca al lupo!!! (Lotsa luck…)
