You can read the first part here
Memory 4 – I was always a
voracious reader and nothing would make me happier as a child than a good book;
good food always came a close second. And while I was strongly a follower of
the Brit Bard, having anglophile antecedents in school, a certain poet from
Italy whose surname resembled Tamilian Surnames was always a favourite.
So when I stood in front of
Dante’s House I realized how much I owed to the poets of the ages past, bards
who sang of heaven and hell, life and death, hope and despair,
Memory 5 – 2 novels about Italy
always fascinated me. Quo Vadis and The Last Days of Pompeii. So when I finally
had the chance to visit Pomepii I never looked back. The city of ruins it is
called but to me it looked more like an abandoned city - A city where people
had just left their houses and would be back in a few moments. Pomepii stood,
proud, defiant, dead.
Memory 6 – Pizzas were a staple
diet in IIMB as we stayed up late to complete assignments and we thanked the
Italians not just for teaching world football to defend but also for the
pizzas. And thus it was a dream come true to stand on the road in Naples where
Pizza Margharita was created in honour of their beloved queen in the three
colours of the Italian Flag. So next time you don’t find the 3 colours on your
pizza, do send it back as inauthentic.
Italy was much more than just
these memories. It took me to an age where I always felt I belonged. In Milan,
known for its High end Fashion, situated in one of the smallest churches
imaginable sits Christ with his disciple having The Last Supper. You walk into
the room with trepidation, wondering what lies awaiting you and then when you
stand in front of Him, the rest of the world do not seem to matter anymore. This
was an age where Light was shining across Europe. Knowledge was being
unshackled from ages of darkness and from the play of light and darkness an
artist emerged, who knew how to play with light – Caravaggio.
If ever you have a chance to visit
Rome, forget everything else, forget the Colloseum, forget the fountains,
forget even the pizzas, but ensure you visit Villa Bourghese. If there was one
family who contributed as much to the Renaissance as much as they did to the
intrigues of Italian and Papal Royalty, it must have been the Bourghese.
We were lucky to have the most
fantastic guide to take us through the world’s greatest private art collection.
The Baroque style of Bernini’s architecture comes alive in its rooms while the
self portrait of Caravaggio and the play between beauty and decay in his
pictures looks down upon you from its walls. You imagine what it would have
been like to live beside the masterpieces looking down upon you. Baroque or the
“in motion” style of art needs to be seen with one's own eyes. As we moved
around the Bernini sculpture we could see how the world changes based on the
perspective we were taking.
But your journey to understand
Caravaggio does not stop with the riches of the Villa. You can walk out into
the streets of Rome and with a little research you will know where to find
David, where to look for a Bernini, where to find the 6 Caravaggio strewn
across the city.
Take the walk in Rome and your
Roman Holiday will be more than what you could have imagined.
