While the museums were closed...

 In early January I was quite excited to hear that after a couple of months of closure museums would once again be reopening, but only in "yellow zones".  In spite of a fall spike, Rome has had relatively few virus cases compared to other areas.  I think the main thing keeping us in the yellow zone is that we have a lot of hospitals.  The zone determination is based on infection rates, case positivity percentages, and hospital occupancy etc.  Umbria just to the north hasn't had that many more cases for their population, but they have fewer hospitals so they often end up an orange zone.  It's a bummer.  I want to go to Orvietto.  Well, just as the announcement that the museums could open was made, Rome went into the orange zone.  Another stretch without museums.  Fortunately, churches were open.

Here in Rome there are so many amazing works of art and architecture in the city.  Many of them are in place, not in museums.  That amazing altarpiece by a famous artist is still an altarpiece.  Sculptures by Michelangelo and Bernini are still in the churches that commissioned their work.  I get restless and grumpy if I stay home too long, so off to the churches I go.

I've been learning a bit about Baroque architecture and the names Borromini and Bernini keep coming up.  One one block on the Quirinal hill there are two churches, one designed by each of these famous rivals.  

The first is by Borromini, San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane.  Quattro Fontane refers to the four late Renaissance fountains on each of the corners of the intersection from which the street and the church get their names.  Two an possibly all four of the fountains figures represent rivers, specifically the Tiber in Rome and Aniene, a tributary of the Tiber that provided water to the city. The other two are the goddesses Diana and Juno or perhaps other rivers.

Juno

River Tiber

Aniene river

Diana

I first learned about these churches on an art history documentary on YouTube.  I love this tiny little church.  It is so different from the many other Baroque style churches that saturate the city.  It is light and white and geometric.  It is all about the shapes.  It is so tiny.  There is only room for six rows of small benches.

Off to the side there is a cloister with a well in the center where the priests would walk in quiet.  It feels so stark with the plain walls, but then you look up and see the fluted roofline and the topsy-turvy balustrades.  It really is Baroque after all.

Just down the road the interior of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale is a riot of gold and multicolored stone.  It is a theater piece telling the story of St Andrew's martyrdom and ascent into heaven.  Bernini considered this his masterpiece, but I prefer Borromini's style.

The exterior is all curves.  So very Baroque.

At the end of the street in Piazza Quirinale on top of the Quirinale hill.  The piazza is the home of the presidential palace, formerly a papal palace and Napoleon's imperial palace in Rome.  This means that there are frequently guards and reporters hanging around.  There is also a spectacular view of the city.

This is also the latest home of one of the many obelisks in the city on the Fontana dei Dioscuri.  The fountain was assembled in the 16th century from bits and pieces around town.  The Dioscuri, or Castor and Pollox, are Roman copies of Greek statues representing sons of Zeus, possibly from the Baths of Constantine.  Without markings, the obelisk is difficult to date and or trace.  It has undoubtedly moved around town many times.

Many old palaces are now museums.  The museum at Palazzo Barberini was closed, but the garden was open so I wandered around.  It's quite an impressive place.  The team of architects includes both Barberini and Borromini.  It was strange to see it so quiet.  An area that would normally have been full of people was empty except for me and a few cats.  It was a grey almost drizzly day.  It was nice but could have been a bit spooky.

Back side of Palazzo Barberini

Garden grottos

Barberini Bee

I saw another obelisk in the distance and didn't recognize it so I went to check it out.  In fact I've seen it many times.  In my wandering I'm not sure how all the bits of the city fit together.  So it is fun to make the connections and build the map connections in my head.