Heat and History

Yesterday, as the Romans say, ‘the heat arrived’. The bricks have started radiating the sun right back at you, even if you’re in the shade. It’s quite a shock for a white girl from the frozen north. I’ve lathered myself with sunscreen and I’ve caved to wearing a dress, but it is still hot. Cold churches and their incense are especially wonderful, buildings with AC are almost as good. We understand now why Fr. Maher kept gushing about the wonderfully cool spring. Warning: history and architecture stuff ahead. Skip this paragraph if you really could care less. We’re wrapping up the classes now with Neoclassical/Romanesque and Gothic Revival/Fascist architecture and history. We’ve already covered a lot of the buildings and things, but Fr. keeps adding more information. His class on the 19th century must be fascinating. Today we worked on the Neoclassical; a lot of the information was new to me, so I was excited. The Romanesque Revival brought back the heavy masonry and language of stability and strength originally used around 1000 CE to not affirm civilization against the barbarians, but to affirm the strength of the Church as the Papal states were dissolved and the Pope held prisoner in the mid 1800’s. This is also when and why the dogma of the Pope’s infallibility and the immaculate conception (Mary was exempt from original sin but still through the salvific power of Jesus) became canon law instead of just common practice; the Church was loading up her guns for battle with secular society. The Gothic Revival came a bit later, as Jesuit education and Neo Thomism charged into the Americas and elsewhere to reinstitute the Medieval Synthesis (the unity of reason and faith) that is illustrated in the upward motion and unity of Gothic Architecture. At the same time, the new middle class of Italy got sucked into consumerism and capitalism while the lower class pulled against them for communism. Both groups focused on a secular, material reality, and the church balanced the two with an affirmation of the goodness of material goods and capital while calling for communal responsibilities and the worth of unseen realities. Cool.

Yesterday we looked at the Grand Tour of Rome, the picture that English French, and German gentlemen created of Rome in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. We saw the Grand Hotel with its plush carpets and glitzy chandeliers, as well as their idea of Rome as ruins, superstitious Catholics, lazy peasants, and a lost heritage. We talked about the choice between Neoclassical and the Romantic as we walked through the Borghese gardens and looked over the city. In the afternoon we survived a sweltering subway ride to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Built on the spot of Paul’s burial, it’s enormous, beautiful and cool. It also has its paradisum (courtyard) intact unlike most of the churches in Rome. Portraits of all the popes run around the inside of the Basilica like high school banners or quotes, and there are only 6 more open spots (not counting the one for the incoming portrait of Francis), so some people think there will only be 6 more popes. It was also the spot of the announcement of Vatican II, so we saw the Pope’s notes for the speech and newspaper clippings from the time. When we got home we made grillata for dinner, that is, pork and more pork. We had sausage, chops, and ribs all fried up together as the main event, with pasta and sauce and salad and bread around the edges. Fr. makes sure we never starve. He came and ate with us and told us stories about student life at GU and at Marquette U among other things. Today I also found some cheap English books. I wanted some classical literature to chew on, and happily that was precisely what was cheap (like ¼ of the price) of the Dan Brown novels they had. I guess no one wants to read the classics so they’re cheaper. I sure don’t mind! I’m excited to sink my teeth into Tess D’Ubervilles and Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I’ve wanted to read both, so once I finish I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I will have new pastures to frolic in. Oh boy! I have also exploited a good gluten-free selection in a nearby supermarket. Karen and Dad will be here soon and Karen will have plenty to eat! I can't wait to see them!