vatican creche on christmas eve…?

We made a quick trip down to st. peter’s this morning, to catch the partially unveiled, life-size creche in the square. A spectacle is clearly forming; TV cameras setting up (complete with cranes), lots of people despite the impending downpours. The creche itself seemed to follow a 1950s disneyland aesthetic, if not more crude…

panoramas – in villa doria pamphili

in the umbrella pines.

Panorama – AAR Library Reading Room

I’ve wanted to make a panorama of this space since we arrived here…

circle image
AAR Library Reading Room - circle view

full-screen interactive (requires html5 browser, click image to load page)

DIY Creche Supply in Piazza Navona

They’ve got what you need. Electric water fountains, mini loaves of bread, every animal imaginable, tiny flickering fireplaces…
DIY creche supply pails plus fountains

walking and listening on immaculate conception day

Dec. 8 was a national holiday here, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and I wanted to get a sense of what that means for Rome. I realized right away this a big family day out, and to me, it seemed to be the harbinger of the holiday season much like Thanksgiving in the U.S.
Audio – walking north across Ponte Sisto:

crossed the ponte sisto

on the other side of ponte sisto - via dei pettinari

I went out in the morning and caught some of the services in churches along my walk. My first stop, at Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini, turned out to be the luckiest; I arrived just in time for some lovely early music.

My next stop was in another of my favorite churches, mainly for its name and location: Santa Barbara dei Librari, or Saint Barbara of bookbinders and printers, booksellers. It’s dedication has a complicated history. It’s tucked into the end of a tiny niche of a street; here’s a photo of the exterior at night from a couple months ago.

Santa Barbara dei Librai, Night

Exterior of Santa Barbara dei Librai at Night

When I went in yesterday, someone was playing the organ, whose pipes and keyboard are crammed into a tiny loft above the entrance. But the most interesting thing was the diorama installed in a window, depicting the church’s little corner street Dickensian style, with the nativity conveniently occurring on the front steps.

Santa Barbara dei Librai, organist up above the entrance Santa Barbara dei Librai, diorama Santa Barbara dei Librai, diorama

Then on to San Carlo ai Catinari, where it seemed like a Bishop gathering was taking place at the beginning of their service. What struck me there was how paparazzi-like the average Italian tourist was behaving, especially during a service where you’re technically not even supposed to visit, let alone hold your camera up above your head for flash photos. Even the people sitting in the pews were holding up cell phones. The best part were the people climbing up into the wood pulpit to snap a few choice views.

They also had slightly gaudy créche taking over one of the side chapels.

There were some nice moments of singing and swinging the incense:


San Carlo ai Catinari, angry bishop San Carlo ai Catinari, pulpit paparazzi San Carlo ai Catinari, créche

The cats of Largo Argentina were out in full force, basking in the sun and enticing unknowing tourists into thinking that they’re actually friendly.
largo argentina cats largo argentina cats largo argentina cats
Intersection at the north end of the Largo:

Quickly stepped into Chiesa del Gesu, which was nice and glowy from the sunlight, Then further up to Santa Maria Sopra Minerva to see how the light was working on its ceiling. A modest service taking place there, with the familiar signs warning off tourists. Some kids were playing soccer against the facade.
chiesa del gesu

santa maria sopra minerva - vault santa maria sopra minerva - tourists keep out! santa maria sopra minerva - soccer

Lots of people at Piazza Rotunda and the Pantheon.
piazza rotunda piazza rotunda - obelisk
Audio of weaving through the crowds from the Piazza through the Portico into the Pantheon interior:


pantheon - inside pantheon

Inside nearby Sant’Eustachio a priest was giving a husky reading:

 

Grüss Vom Krampus!

I’m not aware of any st. nicholas celebrations in Rome , so I dug up some reminders.

krampus (wikipedia)

Mary Reid Kelley: ‘The Syphilis of Sisyphus ’ (NYTimes review)

Review of our recent project, up at Fredericks & Freiser through Jan. 7.
NYTimes.com article.

Press release at Fredericks & Freiser

sant’Ivo

Borromini, 1642-1660

sound of st. peter’s square on a monday afternoon.

made a quick trip to the vatican post office, recorded some sound in the middle of the square. there was some work going on around the obelisk.

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Chiesa di Santa Maria dell’Orazione e Morte

Made it to Chiesa di Santa Maria dell’Orazione e Morte. A church run by an old foundation created to care for the remains of the unknown dead. There were once several crypts but they were destroyed when the Tiber walls were created, now there is only one crypt/’cemetarium’ left.

We were fortunate that the cemetarium was open; we were all alone down there. Still thinking about the vertebral chandeliers and their finger-bone details, and what they signify for the poor and forgotten…what were their makers thinking about?

As we were just about to climb up the stairs and out, someone turned off the lights…had a brief, comically terrifying moment.