This group of photographs revisits long boxed black and white negatives from a year in Rome in (1978-1979) and time spent in Rome in 2010. A collaboration with a younger self, this project brings all the modern conveniences of the digital age to the effort. It also attempts to stake out an unorthodox approach to colorization, via a “chance procedure”, that overlays scanned images of oil painting fragments.
The base of the emperor Trajan’s Column, a guilty visual treat, but a bit of propaganda sanitizing his bloody annexation of Dacia (land now part of a number of Eastern European countries including parts of Ukraine).
In Trajan’s forum – some noteworthy walls what have been around for over 19 centuries.
Trajan's Forum
Trajan's Market
The Arch of Janus 4th century BC
The Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin is known for housing the Bocca della Verita (The Mouth of Truth) in its portico. Built in the 8th century, the Basilica was given a Baroque facade in 1718. In 1894 the facade was removed and the exterior was carefully restored to its Byzantine grandeur.
Another Emperor (Marcus Aurelius) on horseback a centerpiece Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio. This rare intact ancient Roman equestrian statue was nearly damaged in a bombing in 1979 (not long after the photo was taken). It was a time in Rome when left wing radicals carried out the assassination of Prime Minister Aldo Moro. This 1979 bombing, however was attributed to a Fascist organization.
San Pietro in Montorio
With its origins as a meadow, the Campo De Fiori it is a Roman square that never had been reshaped by architectural intervention. As photographed in 1978, it was at a height of disrepair and to my eye an exemplar of the picturesque. It also has a sad history of executions by fire for heresy and acts that ran counter to the Spanish Inquisition in Italy. In 1553 it witnessed the burning of a copy of the Talmud. It had a reputation as one of the most dangerous places in Rome in 2000. Seeing it again in 2010 it had been substantially sanitized with restoration and new paint.
Campo de Fiori 1978
Campo de Fiori 1978
Papal Apartments Castel,Sant Angelo 16th century
The 17th century Villa Borghese is one example of how artistry, excess and papal power shaped Rome. Cardinal Scipione Borghese guided this effort to showcase vast collection of ancient art and commissioned works.
Villa Borghese
The Villa Borghese
The Villa Borghese
The Villa Borghese became a public park in 1903
The Cardinal Scipione’s secret door? Probably not.
Another 17th century villa with its casino, Bel Rispiro was competed by Camillo Pamphili in 1647 to showcase a collection of ancient and contemporary art.. He was nephew of Pope Innocenzo X.
The Villa Dora Pamphili is located very near the Porto San Pancrazio the site of combat in 1849 between Garibaldi (with supporters of the Roman Republic) against the French who ultimately restored the Pope’s temporal power.
Details of “Bel Rispiro” Villa Doria Pamphili photographed in 1978.
Villa Dora Pamphili
Villa Dora Pamphili
Villa Dora Pamphili
17th century Palazzo Barberini
Leaping to the 18th century, to a special spot on the Aventine Hill the skills of architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi are on display (an entrance screen to the Villa del Priorato di Malta). Also, a place to gaze through a keyhole to a view of St. Peters and at the time of the Enlightenment to the seat of diminished Papal power.
Close by is Santa Maria Del Priorato Di Malta, renovated by Piranesi with his talents as a classical archaeologist, architect and artist.
An everyday sight in Rome 1979
In the beginning of the 20th century socialism became a political force. In 1903 the “Instituto Casa Popolari” was formed to build housing for city residents. The examples that follow are the work of architect, Innocenzo Sabbatini and his project just a few blocks north of the walls of Vatican City.
In 1920, the ICP built a garden city, Monte Sacro, about 7 miles from the center of Rome.
ICP housing by Innocenzo Sabbatini
ICP housing by Innocenzo Sabbatini
ICP housing by Innocenzo Sabbatini
Privately funded building projects, in the early days of 20th century, filled new quarters of an expanding Rome with exuberant architectural qualities.
A special group of apartment buildings organized around the newly created Piazza Mincio in 1927, is notable for the hyper eclecticism that was the hallmark of architect Gino Coppedé. He created a collage of imagery, that when completed, would have appeared familiar. It is a city with a tradition of reflecting the agendas of those who build in often memorable ways.
Piazza Mincio
Piazza Mincio
Piazza Mincio