ROME INFORMATION

Welcome to our Rome Information section.

We created this section of our site to help you navigate your way around the city and make your stay in Rome as enjoyable as possible.

Art

Michelangelo

Michelangelo Buonarroti born in Caprese, Tuscany in 1475. He was a painter, sculptor, architect and, aside from Leonardo Di Vinci, no other artist quite embodied the renaissance like Michelangelo. Known during his time as Il Divino or the divine one, a name he acquired because of his talent, a talent that has never been equaled, never mind surpassed. Quite an achievement for a man who died nearly 500 years ago. Yet what is it about this artist that made him so great? To answer that you only need to look at his work and forget about the Sistine Chapel, because to really understand Michelangelo you need to look at his sculpture.

Listed below are a couple of his works in Rome, often overlooked.

San Pietro in Vincoli
address - 4/a Piazza San Pietro in Vincoli

Moses 1513-15

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
website - www.basilicaminerva.it

Christ carrying the cross 1519-20

Caravaggio

The Milanese Michelangelo, Merisi, or Caravaggio, as he was known was born in 1571. Bursting into the limelight almost as soon as he arrived in Rome. Caravaggio manages to completely change the face of Italian art forever, with his own unique brand of Chairoscuro or use or theatatrical lighting. This dramatic use of shadowing, coupled with a heightend sense of realism in his works, secured Caravaggio's position as the most famous artist in Baroque Rome. Influencing artists that followed from Rembrant to Bacon, Caravaggio is considered by many to be the father of modern painting.

Listed below are his works in Rome and where they can be seen:

Galleria Borghese
website - www.galleriaborghese.it

Boy with a basket of fruit, 1593

Sick Bacchus, 1593

Boy peeling a fruit, 1593

David, 1609-10

St. John the Baptist, 1610

Musei Capitolini
website - www.museicapitolini.org

St. John the Baptist, 1600

the Fortune Teller, 1596

Galleria Doria Pamphili
website - www.doriapamphilj.it

Magdalene, 1597

Rest on flight to Egypt, 1596-97

St. John the Baptist, 1600

Galleria Nationale d'Arte Antica
website 1 - www.galleriaborghese.it/barberini/it
website 2 - www.galleriaborghese.it/corsini/it

Judith beheading Holofernes, 1598

Narcissus, 1598-99

St. John the Baptist, 1603-04

St. Francis, 1606

Madonna with serpent, 1606

(Contarelli Chapel) San Lugi dei Francesi
address - 20 San Lugi d' Francesi

The calling of St. Matthew, 1599-00

The martyrdom of St. Matthew, 1599-00

The inspiration of St. Matthew, 1602

(Cerasi Chapel) Santa Maria del Popolo
address - Piazza del Popolo

The crucifixion of St. Peter, 1600

The conversation on the way to Damascus, 1600

Bernini

If there's one artist that really left his mark on Rome it was Bernini. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was born in Naples in 1598, the son of a Florentine sculptor, Pietro Bernini. While many argue his father contributed very little to Italian art, without his instruction and support we may have missed out on one of the greatest sculptors the world has ever seen. Bernini the younger was a powerhouse in Italian art and did for the Baroque period what Michelangelo did for the Renaissance.

Listed below are some of his more famous works in Rome and where to find them -

FOUNTAINS -

Baracci Fountain - Piazza Spagna, date unknown

Fountain del Tritone - Piazza Barberini, 1624-43

Fountain of the Four Rivers - Piazza Navona, 1648-51

SCULPTURES -

Galleria Borghese
website - www.galleriaborghese.it

Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius, 1618-19

Apollo and Daphne, 1622-24

David, 1623-24

The rape of Proserpine, 1621-22

(Cornaro Chapel) Santa Maria delle Vittoria
website - www.santamariadellavittoria.it