Rome

While we claim Salamanca as our spiritual home, our visits to Rome give us a similar feeling of comfort. We both like places with historical significance. Cairo is ancient; Jerusalem, venerable, and Paris luxurious and elegant, but Rome’s historical, architectural and graphic art treasures are beyond compare. Here, we focus on our favorite area,  historical period, and favorite artist.

17th Century Rome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

The Calling of Saint Matthew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original was one of three paintings commissioned by French cleric Monsignor Mathieu Cointrel (known in Italian as Matteo Contarelli).

The paintings adorn The Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, across a side street from the Palazzo Madama. Cardinal Del Monte, who had been charged with the completion of the much delayed chapel provided Caravaggio space for his workshop in the Palazzo Madama (Ref: Alfred Moir's "Caravaggio" Abrams, 1989). From there, Caravaggio would walk frequently across the alley to study the chapel's tenuous lightining and to figure out the best placement of the paintings.

 

Our visit to this important site gave us a greater understanding and appreciation for Caravaggio's life and work, in particular, The Calling of St. Matthew, also known as "The Vocation of St. Matthew," basis for our book's cover and the theme of the novel.

 

The church is in the area between the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona and above the ruins of Nero's baths. Click here for map,

 

Another must-see site in Rome is The Pamphili Gallery, where Velazquez's exquisite painting of a remarkable man, Pope Innocent X, can be admired. The former Giambattista Pamphili was one of the predominant figures in 17th-Century Rome.

 

The Gallery's organization has kindly allowed us to include a link to their website here.

 

The Galleria Doria Pamphilj is located just off The Corso, in the Piazza del Collegio Romano 2 telephone 06 - 679 7323.

The Gallery is a short walk from the Piazza Navona, The Pantheon and the Church of St. Luigi dei Francesi.

 

Map: Click here