My Cousin Janalyn's Photos From Italy
Every last one who went to Italy: me, cousin Allison, cousin Rob, dad, aunt, mom, cousin Janalyn, uncle (in St. Mark's Piazza, Venice):
In the picture below, the sky appeared bright, everthing else dark-dark, so I upped the "exposure" and lost the color. So then, I upped the saturation. So, it looks odd, but it's still an interesting photograph:
And the gondola on which my cousin Janalyn rode. She's the one who took all the photos, except for The Pieta and obviously the ones she is in. Note the men from the above photograph in the distance:
A rather well-designed photo from The Vatican:
Another from The Pantheon:
And another from The Duomo in Florence (I like that the shading on the figures at the very top is such that it really appears as though the figures could jump off from where they're crouched and land on you):
A ceiling in The Vatican:
Raphael's The School Of Athens:
(Our Vatican tour group was given the option: (a) See The Raphael Rooms, (b) Spend 10 extra minutes inside of The Sistine Chapel. My family, encouraged by me, were the only ones of a group of about 40 who chose to see The Raphael Rooms, which includes Raphael's most famous work, The School of Athens. So, we split from the group.)
A mosaic of Raphael's Transfiguration (in St. Peter's Basilica):
A detail of another mosaic in St. Peter's- to illustrate how the mosaics are composed:
Michelangelo's Pieta:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Michelangelo%27s_Pieta_5450_cropncleaned.jpg
(Michelangelo was commissioned to do the Pieta when he was just 22, and completed it at age 24. I saw a lot of sculpture in Italy; nothing approaches Michelangelo's Pieta- the fleshiness of the flesh, the quality and polish of the marble, the believability of the folds of cloth. Michelangelo chose to create an idealized young virgin rather than a heart-broken, old woman, which had thusfar been the only way Mary had ever been depicted in a pieta scene. Mary appears to be reflective, not mournful- in contemplation, not despair. My favorite interpreation says Mary sees her child (as she reflects on his future) while the viewer sees what she's reflecting upon.)
Me, standing at the site of my cousin Jan's painting:
Janalyn (for whom the painting of the above scene was done):
My aunt (lookin' all happy and pigeon-free in St. Mark's Piazza):
And lookin' all happy in Burano:
Lookin' all happy on the train (in contrast to, well, everyone else):
Me, sittin' all effeminate-like in Rome:
Lookin' all disgruntled and critical of Roberto, our masogenistic-jokester, native-Roman, Coliseum tour guide:
Gelatto!
Gelatto will make parents appear like children:
In another feat of hilarity, my mom... Okay, let me set this up correctly... There's this sacred place in Rome- Scala Santa (Holy Stairs). The story goes, St. Helena, mother of Emporer Constantine, traveled to Jeruselum in the 4th Century, retreived the stairs from the Roman building at which Pontius Pilot condemned Jesus to death, and brought the stairs to Rome. Pilgrims come to Scala Santa and pray as they climb the twenty-eight steps by knee. So, as my mother kneels down, we all hold our breath in wonderment- is she really going to do this? After a tense two minutes, we all watch as my mom puts her hand on the railing and stands up. She looks up at us and then down at the ground as she shakes her head while smiling. I start cracking up laughing- in a church- that houses the steps where Jesus last walked. My dad would later enjoy telling the story of how my mom had valiantly climbed the holy stair:
Me chillin' at the Spanish Steps with what appears, at first glance, to be disco shoes:
Keepin' the tummy at bay at, although you can't tell, The Vatican, with people around me, whom I know:
What appears to be some kind of coffee dessert:
And various window displays:
In the picture below, the sky appeared bright, everthing else dark-dark, so I upped the "exposure" and lost the color. So then, I upped the saturation. So, it looks odd, but it's still an interesting photograph:
And the gondola on which my cousin Janalyn rode. She's the one who took all the photos, except for The Pieta and obviously the ones she is in. Note the men from the above photograph in the distance:
A rather well-designed photo from The Vatican:
Another from The Pantheon:
And another from The Duomo in Florence (I like that the shading on the figures at the very top is such that it really appears as though the figures could jump off from where they're crouched and land on you):
A ceiling in The Vatican:
Raphael's The School Of Athens:
(Our Vatican tour group was given the option: (a) See The Raphael Rooms, (b) Spend 10 extra minutes inside of The Sistine Chapel. My family, encouraged by me, were the only ones of a group of about 40 who chose to see The Raphael Rooms, which includes Raphael's most famous work, The School of Athens. So, we split from the group.)
A mosaic of Raphael's Transfiguration (in St. Peter's Basilica):
A detail of another mosaic in St. Peter's- to illustrate how the mosaics are composed:
Michelangelo's Pieta:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Michelangelo%27s_Pieta_5450_cropncleaned.jpg
(Michelangelo was commissioned to do the Pieta when he was just 22, and completed it at age 24. I saw a lot of sculpture in Italy; nothing approaches Michelangelo's Pieta- the fleshiness of the flesh, the quality and polish of the marble, the believability of the folds of cloth. Michelangelo chose to create an idealized young virgin rather than a heart-broken, old woman, which had thusfar been the only way Mary had ever been depicted in a pieta scene. Mary appears to be reflective, not mournful- in contemplation, not despair. My favorite interpreation says Mary sees her child (as she reflects on his future) while the viewer sees what she's reflecting upon.)
Me, standing at the site of my cousin Jan's painting:
Janalyn (for whom the painting of the above scene was done):
My aunt (lookin' all happy and pigeon-free in St. Mark's Piazza):
And lookin' all happy in Burano:
Lookin' all happy on the train (in contrast to, well, everyone else):
Me, sittin' all effeminate-like in Rome:
Lookin' all disgruntled and critical of Roberto, our masogenistic-jokester, native-Roman, Coliseum tour guide:
Gelatto!
Gelatto will make parents appear like children:
In another feat of hilarity, my mom... Okay, let me set this up correctly... There's this sacred place in Rome- Scala Santa (Holy Stairs). The story goes, St. Helena, mother of Emporer Constantine, traveled to Jeruselum in the 4th Century, retreived the stairs from the Roman building at which Pontius Pilot condemned Jesus to death, and brought the stairs to Rome. Pilgrims come to Scala Santa and pray as they climb the twenty-eight steps by knee. So, as my mother kneels down, we all hold our breath in wonderment- is she really going to do this? After a tense two minutes, we all watch as my mom puts her hand on the railing and stands up. She looks up at us and then down at the ground as she shakes her head while smiling. I start cracking up laughing- in a church- that houses the steps where Jesus last walked. My dad would later enjoy telling the story of how my mom had valiantly climbed the holy stair:
Me chillin' at the Spanish Steps with what appears, at first glance, to be disco shoes:
Keepin' the tummy at bay at, although you can't tell, The Vatican, with people around me, whom I know:
What appears to be some kind of coffee dessert:
And various window displays: