A Sunny Sunday Expedition to an Exhibition

Last Sunday was one of those glorious winter days we can get here in Roma: it had been cold at 0730 (around 0c) when I walked the Hounds from Hell but by 1000 when we set off for Piazza San Pietro it was sunny and warm - in fact it got up to around +18c.   I was surprised at how few people were in the square on a Sunday morning but it was not too difficult to pick out the tourists - many wearing short sleeves and - lord help us - some even in shorts while the locals were still sensibly wearing their scarves and gloves.   Experience has taught that it may be warm in the sun but those churches and old buildings hold the cold. The jaunt over to the Country Across the River was the first activity of a rather full day of exhibition viewing, pranzo with friends, a late matinee at the opera and a dinner with two of our dearest friends here.

Pope Sixtus IV Appoints Bartolomeo Platina Prefect of the Vatican Library, a fresco by Melozzo da Forlì, 1477.

Though it was formally established in 1475 by Sixtus IV - he of the Sistine Chapel - the Biblioteca Vaticana had existed as a loose collection of manuscripts and documents from the early days of the papacy. With its creation and the construction of a proper building to house the collection in 1587 - a building still in use today - the Library became one of the major repositories of the written and pictorial word in the modern world.

This stero-card from 1909 shows the Great Hall (Sistine Hall) of the Library, the photo below shows how little it has changed in the past 100 years.

The Biblioteca was closed in July of 2007 for renovations, remodelling and restoration of Domenico Fontana' s building to meet the ever expanding collections and modern library technology.  After three years of intensive work it was reopened this past September.

At its reopening the Library inventory held 1,600,000 printed volumes, 80,000 manuscripts and 100,000 archival units, 8,400 incunabula, about 300,000 coins and medals, 150 thousand prints, drawings and engravings, and over 150 thousand photographs.

The Library is not open to the general public but can be used by scholars for research and study.  Some 4,000-5,000 people access it every year under strict supervision and stringent rules - no food, no liquids, no pens.  Security measures are closely observed following the theft of pages of a rare manuscript in 1987. 

The scope of the holdings covers manuscripts, incunabula, books, documents, periodicals, photographs, coins and medals from around the world - writings in Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Chinese, pictographs from Mesoamerica - some 2 million items.  As with any library the contents are constantly growing as new books, and in some cases collections, are acquired.  A sophisticated computer chip system was part of the three year project both to ensure security and to assist in filing.  The mere thought of attempting to find a miss-filed book in the 60 kms of shelving and storage would cause any librarian nightmares.

To celebrate the reopening the Vatican mounted Conoscere La Biblioteca Vaticana - which rather prosaically translates as Getting to Know the Vatican Library - at Il Braccio di Carlo Magno in Piazza San Pietro.  The Curators have fashioned a multi-media exhibition which highlights the collections, the collectors, the conservation and the history of the Library.  The use of facsimiles in the first room means that it is possible to leaf through beautifully reproduced copies of rare books adding the tactile to the audio and visual.  With the exception of a rather pompous introduction and a fair bit of revisionist propaganda - at one point I had to stifle laughter at both the pomposity and hypocrisy of the section on coins -  the audio guide provides clear and detailed information on the Library and the items displayed.

Well-known rare holdings along side little known gems in the collection are displayed behind protective glass with sufficient descriptions in Italian and English - though the curators could take a tip from the remarkably detailed carding used at the recent Bronzino exhibition in Firenze.  The logical progression moves us room to room and floor to floor from the earliest works on to prints, coins and photography.  Display rooms reproduce the frescoes from the Library and connecting passageways are lined with life-sized photos of the shelves and storage areas of the Library itself giving the displays an added context.

The exhibition has been extended until March 13 and despite any reservations I may have is well worth the visit.  One further caveat - the catalogue is available only in Italian - very strange given the number of foreign visitors through the Vatican on any given day.

In the next few days I'll be posting photos I took of a few of the more intriguing displays - yes we were allowed to take photos as long as they were not flash.


10 febbraio - Santa Scolastica da Norcia

Ho Visto*

I seldom go into Centro during the evenings unless it is for a special event - dinner, opera etc - so a few weeks ago when I found myself going to Trastevere after dark I took a few "night" photos of an area that I pass through regularly during daylight hours.

The Ghetto is one of my favourite areas in the city - it is a touristy but retains its neighbourhood feeling. Once a walled in area where the gates were closed at sunset and opened again at sunrise it is now a quartiere where things are constantly happening.  And as the brochure for the Museum in the Great Synagogue says:  We've been here 3000 years - have we got stories!


View Larger Map

My normal walk takes me from Largo Argentino - where Julius Cesar was assassinated - through  Piazza Mattei to Portico d'Ottavia by way of Via dell Reginella passed San Grigorio and across the Ponte Fabricio - built in 62 BC and still used today - over the Isola Tiberina and across the younger - 1 BC - Ponte Cestio and on to Trastevere. 

The Fontana delle Tartarughe stands in the Piazza Mattei at what was once one of the gates to the Ghetto.  It was recently restored and a water purification system installed - the high calcium content of the water that flows through the fountains of the city means that unless work is being constantly done marble becomes stained and drains clogged.

Via della Reginella is the only street that is left from the original Ghetto - most of the area was torn down or reconstructed when Rome ceased to be a Papal State. Once a street of overcrowded tenement homes it now houses some interesting art galleries and shops;  though thank heaven it still has a local flavour and hasn't been too "Disneyfied".

Portico d'Ottavia was originally built in 146 BC by Quinto Cecilio Metello but rebuilt by Augustus to honour his sister Ottavia - the ex-wife of Marcus Antonius - in 23 BC.  It was the site of temples to both Juno and Jove as well as a Greek and a Latin library.  Today the tiny church of Sant'Angelo di Pescheria stands where one of the temples once was.  Before the area became the cramped living quarters for Rome's Jews it was the fish market. To the far right is one of the few remaining Medieval buildings in the area.  

After Pope Paul IV herded Roman Jews into the Ghetto in 1555 San Grigorio a Ponte Quattro became the focus of some of the draconian laws that governed life in the Ghetto.  Jews were forced to attend mass and listen to hectoring sermons expounding the errors of their ways on their Sabbath - its location just outside one of the main gates to the enclave made it the perfect location for these attempts at forced conversion.  

San Bartolomeo all'Isola sits at one end of Isola Tiberina in the middle of the Tiber, a hospital at the other. The site of a temple to Aesculapius with a sacred snake from Epidarus the Isola has been a "hospital" island since ancient Roman times.

This photo was taken on a slightly earlier evening when the Tiber had risen because of constant rains. It had overflowed the first embankment and all of the first level around the Isola was underwater. Before the embankment was built in the late 1800s floods were a common occurrence both on the Isola and on both sides of the river.

 

The lights of Trastevere beckoning across the Tiber from the Ponte Cestio and by this time the river level had fallen considerably.

This laurel wreath had been hanging at a memorial to the deportation of the Roman Jews in Largo 16 Ottobre 1943 for a year or more - finally someone saw fit to take it down.

Once a week I take this little stroll through history and at night it take on a  - dare I use the term - magical quality and history seems to loom  even more present.

09 febbraio - San Niceforo di Antiochia

Okay I've Heard the Term "Branding" But ....

... and believe me this has nothing to do with me being a monarchist (a lukewarm one but a monarchist none the less) but this may be taking it a bit too far.

Crown Jewels Condoms of Distinction is producing special celebration packs that bear the slogan: "Like a royal wedding, intercourse with a loved one is an unforgettable occasion".

A more complete report can be found here. Yes I know its The Vancouver Sun but they got the story from Agence France-Presse and we know the French would never lie about things concerning the British monarchy.

Thanks to my friend Candy for sending me this.

05 fabbraio - Sant'Agata

Happy Belated Birthday Quinquin

Or perhaps I should say belated greetings to, to give him his full name, Octavian Maria Ehrenreich Bonaventura Fernand Hyacinth Rofrano. January 26th was the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of the young Count at the front door of the Von Fanninal residence bearing a silver rose for young Sophie and autumnal heartbreak for Princess Marie Thérèse von Werdenberg.

Throughout the week in Salzburg and Vienna we had heard Mozart, Berg, Haydn, Shostakovitch, Handel, Schubert and J.C. Bach but not a note of Strauss. As compensation we saluted the composer and Der Rosenkavalier, perhaps his most famous work, by stopping last Sunday at a small but beautifully curated exhibition at the Austrian National Library.

It was mounted among the towering book shelves in the baroque splendour of the State Hall (click here for a virtual view of this splendid room) - the great central room built in the 1720s for Emperor Charles VI by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach to plans drawn up by his father Joseph Emanuel. As the opera takes place the 1740s, the early years of the reign of Charles' daughter Marie Thérèse, the venue was highly appropriate.

The room serves as the repository for over 200,000 books dating from 1501 to 1850 and includes display cases that change regularly of many of the great early treasure of incunabula, manuscripts and illuminations in the Library collection. The most fascinating, for me at least, was a Book of Hours written in silver ink on velum that had been stained black. It is one of only four known to exist and was more awesome in reality than these examples would indicated.

Arranged around the statue of founder Charles VI the Rosenkavalier exhibition showcased Strauss's original score, Von Hofmannsthal's manuscript with Strauss' musical notations, photos, letters and documents from its premiere and the composer's life in Vienna. And included a wonderful life-size display of Alfred Roller's costume designs for that first performance, rotating mirrors reflecting both the designs and the relationships in the opera.

For the video in HD *just left click here to go to YouTube.

For such a old fellow I must admit that QuinQuin is looking and sounding pretty youthful and is still able to break hearts. As the Marschallin so rightly muses: Die Zeit, die ist ein sonderbar Ding - Time, it is a strange thing!

*And as I've just realized if you want to read the commentary!!!!

04 febbraio - San Giovanniccio

Gung Ha Fat Choy - Gong Xi Fa Cai*

*A wish for the New Year in Cantonese and Mandarin for the New Year.

With the appearance of the new moon last night a good part of the world's population welcomed in the New Year. The fourth year of the 12 year cycle of the solar-lunar calendar which has its origins in the astrology and legends of Northern Asia this is the Year of the Rabbit. Though we tend to think of it as Chinese New Year's it is celebrated in several other countries in Asia - as an example last night was Tet, the beginning of the New Year in Vietnam.

The prognosis for the coming year according to one sage:

A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger. We should go off to some quiet spot to lick our wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year.

Good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force. A congenial time in which diplomacy, international relations and politics will be given a front seat again. We will act with discretion and make reasonable concessions without too much difficulty.

A time to watch out that we do not become too indulgent. The influence of the Rabbit tends to spoil those who like too much comfort and thus impair their effectiveness and sense of duty.

Law and order will be lax; rules and regulations will not be rigidly enforced. No one seems very inclined to bother with these unpleasant realities. They are busy enjoying themselves, entertaining others or simply taking it easy. The scene is quiet and calm, even deteriorating to the point of somnolence. We will all have a tendency to put off disagreeable tasks as long as possible

Money can be made without too much labor. Our life style will be languid and leisurely as we allow ourselves the luxuries we have always craved for. A temperate year with unhurried pace. For once, it may seem possible for us to be carefree and happy without too many annoyances

Given the current climate I can only hope that the astrologer who predicted this is 100% accurate in their reading of the year ahead.

To find out what you own future holds in the year 4079 on the Chinese calendar just click on the Zodiac sign below.

In the past years I have written about many of the traditions of the 15 days celebration throughout the world including the tradition of sending hui chun or good luck messages to family and friends. These hopes and wishes for the New Year are hung around the house or office in the hope of bringing fortune in the coming year. The people at Discover Hong Kong have a web page that allows you to send hui chun to friends expressing your hopes for their health, prosperity and happiness in this Year of the Tiger.  I used it to send quite a few out this year but have the uncomfortable feeling they may have ended up in friends and families "spam" boxes.

I thought I'd post this hui chun for everyone rather than chance more ending up in "spam" folders and people thinking they've been forgotten:

And that is my wish for all of us as health is, after the sort of year I've seen both for myself and those I love, more important than all the wishes for wealth or prosperity.

Xin Nian Kuai Le

03 febbraio - l'anno del coniglio

A Quick Bit of Sharing

Normally when I do a "Sharing" post it contains photos from a recent trip and links to postings I've read on some of my favourite blogs. But this time its just one item.

My friend Larry over at Amoroma has always been a source of great enjoyment with his wonderful Advent Calendar, trips with the school and "birdwalks" through Roma and "beyond the walls". He had taken a well-deserved rest in January - if a quick trip to the U.S., getting back into the school year and all his other interests and activities can be considered rest.

His first "birdwalk" of the New Year took him past a monument but not one of the old Roman kind. This is a sculpture by Mimmo Paladino not just to victims of the Nazi Holocaust but to all who would be potential targets of fascism, racism or discrimination.

A left click on the shackled hands will take you to Larry's photos and remarks on a work that I find a true memorial to the Holocaust.  And hopefully a warning to future generations.

01 febbraio - Santa Verdiana

Wisdom for a Dog Owner

I don't normally go around borrowing things from other blogs but when Skip over at his eponymous House of Chaos posted this I felt I wanted to share it.

Yes its could be considered a bit on the schmaltzy side - hey I just got back from Vienna you want schmaltz???? - but they are ten sentences that every dog owner or perhaps more important any perspective animal owner should take into consideration.

And in response to a few queries - well okay one person asked - Nicky and Nora were ecstatic to see us but then they are ecstatic to see anyone holding a biscuit in their hand!


01 febbraio - Santa Brigida d'Irlanda

Bronzino - Limmericks and Holy Pictures

I thought I'd posted more of the enchanting observations on a few of the paintings that were in the Bronzino exhibition that just closed in Firenze. You may recall that Italian author Roberto Piumini wrote doggeral verses in the style popular with the painter and his friends at the Academia and Konrad Eisenbichler used them as his inspiration for English verses. They thought of them as "ways to look at Bronzino".

I think this is perhaps one of the loveliest paintings I have ever seen of a sleeping child - you almost feel John's kiss awakening his little cousin.

*"Dear Mary," Joseph says, "if in a while,
Our little Jesus should awake
And want to eat, I'll light this little pile
of sticks so you might cook a meal or bake,

But note," then Joseph adds, "his cousin John
has come to play with him, and when they're done
Pursuing one another on the lawn
They'll both be very hungry, for a bun."

"I'll bake some sweets for them," she says and smiles,
"Some buns, some pastries, and a healthy snack.
I'll make some cookies, too, in various styles.
But where is my flour? Where is that sack?"

Holy Family with Saint John (Panciatichi Maddona) - 1538-40 - was one of five paintings commissioned by the wealthy and influential Bartolomeo Panciatichi.

«Maria,»
dice Giuseppe, «se fra poco,
Gesù si sveglierà, a vorrà mangiare,
io accenderò con la legna un bel fuoco,
ma tu, che cos'avrai da cucinare?"

«E poi,»
Giuseppe dice, «è arrivato
anche Giovanni, suo cugino, e sai
che è un bambino molto affamato...
Maria, Maria, cos cusinerai?»

Lei sorride e risponde: «Farò
frittelle di farina, dolci e bionde.»
Vedi un sacco di farina? Io no.
Tu guarda melgio:" dove si nasconde?

As with many painters of the period Bronzino found himself suddenly constrained by the decrees on art that came out of the Council of Trento - decrees that effected not only the spiritual but the physical content of what took place in Catholic churches. Subjects that had once been considered part of the normal Christian iconography were banned and strict use of symbols and groupings were carefully watched by the unsettled church authorities. This simple and beautiful Christ Crucified straddles the two worlds with a severity that is almost Protestant but with all the required iconography demanded by the Council. It was painted for Bartolemeo and Lucrezia Panciatichi, who at the time were suspected of having "Reformationist" leanings and were investigate by the Church until a gentle word from Cosimo caused the authorities to back away.

Christ Crucified - circa 1540 - Bronzino for the Panciatichi chapel.

Around the time that Bronzino became part of a group exploring the virtues of one form of art over the other - painting over sculpture being the most heatedly debated. Certainly this study could have been achieved in wood and polychrome but Bronzino's technique and artistry has turned it into a "real dead-body".

*Bel gioco l'altalena, in verità
si v agiù e poi su, alternamente.
Ma vedi? C'è qualcosa che non va
in questa altalena risplendente ...

Un angelo la regge con la mano,
e il piccolo di destra porta su:
chi e quello che in basso, scuro e strano,
l'altro, a sinistra, tiene a tire giu?

Forse questa non è un'altalena...
E se un angelo salva l'innocente,
chi sarà quello che, con brutta lena,
trascina l'altro giù, dannatamente?

Saint Michael the Archangel - circa 1525-28 - the fact that it is on canvas, unusual for a time when most paintings were done on wood suggests this may have been a banner made for a confraternity.

A seesaw, wow! That's lots of fun!
You're up and down, you laugh and scream.
But look! This seesaw has begun
To go off-balance. See the beam?

An angel holds it in his hand,
And on the right that boy is up,
But on the left a grasping hand
has seized the boy that's in that cup.

What kind of seesaw could this be?
If that's an angel helping out
Then who's that figure that I see
Grabbing the boy who seems to shout?

* Cherci nei Quadri/Hide and Seek

Roberto Piumini - Konrad Eisenbichler

2010 Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze

2010 Alias, Firenze

It may be purchased through their on-line store.

31 gennaio - Sant'Armentario

Related articles

• More Bronzino Dogs and Doggerel (willyorwonthe.blogspot.com)
• Family Portraits (willyorwonthe.blogspot.com)
• Painterly Poetry and Dog(gerel) (willyorwonthe.blogspot.com)

I Eat Like A Bird

Or so Laurent tells me; and to be honest quite often I do leave a portion of a meal unfinished. Its not that I don't enjoy it or that I wasn't hungry just that I can only eat so much and then: basta! Enough!

Take last Friday afternoon at Triangel, a popular gasthaus, near the Festpeilhaus in Salzburg. I had resisted ordering Wiener Schnitzel since arriving in Austria the previous Sunday – I mean its so predictable. But the warm atmosphere on a cold day and the fact that the lady seated next to me – this is the sort of place where you share tables – had one that looked great wore down my resistance to things traditional. So a Schniztel with garlic-parsley potatoes, wild cranberry sauce and a half litre of beer were ordered and in due course set down in front of me.

When I arose from the table here's what was left:

Now before you scold me for not finishing my plate let me explain that what I left behind was about 1/3 of what I had been served. I think I did pretty damned good for someone who “eats like a bird”.

Though I do almost wish that I had left room for a desert - I would have particularly liked to have tried that last item on the sweets menu! I'm still trying to figure that one out. (left click for a closer look)

.

And speaking of sharing tables – as we were finishing off our meal two of my favourite singers came in to the restaurant - apparently it is a bit of an artists hang-out because its near the theatres, its inexpensive and its good. Philippe Jarousky, the French counter tenor came in and sat opposite us followed minutes later by the German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff who asked – in a voice as deep as the one he projects on stage – if the place next to me was free. Then a friend at another table motioned him over to join them and my opportunity to break bread - a very good rye Laurent tells me - with one of my musical idols passed.  He ever graciously said thank you and then sat behind me and proceed to order ...  schnitzel!

31 gannaio - Santa Marcella di Roma

The Ring Continues - La Scala December 10, 2010

As I mentioned in December I went up to Milano mid-month to see the opening opera of the new season at La Scala: Die Walküre , the second installment of their new Der Ring des Nibelungen. I been there in May last year when the cycle began with Das Rheingold and reviewed it at that time for Opera Britannia. Once again the kind editors (Faye and Anthony) had arranged for me to be there as both an opera lover and their critic.

Unfortunately a combination of Holidays and a hacker - the deadly H and H combo - resulted in many of the December reviews at Opera Britannia being delayed in posting but they were finally able to get things sorted out and my thoughts on the new season's opener where published today.

A left click on the poster from the December 10, 2010 performance will take you over to Opera Britannia and my review.

28 gennaio - San Valerio di Saragozza

Von Trapped!

The last time I was in Austria I bought myself a trachten suit - no not track suit trachten suit, you know the sort of thing Christopher Plummer wore when he played Captain Von Tapp.  And despite my initial feeling that it was a little bit like getting up for a road company of The Sound of Music  it turned out to be one of the most comfortable suits I've ever bought and the style suits me. And though it has occasioned the odd stare at La Scala and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma I will, charitably, put it down to petty Italian jealousy and the old Austro-Italian rivalry.

On our stopover in Innsbruck I saw a more casual jacket in a store window and thought I'd just try it on. Turns out it's perfect for the matinée concerts here in Salzburg - matinée in the old sense of the word being a late morning performance - particularly when paired with the new shirt and tie I had to buy to go with it.

And while in the shirt shop I just happened to spy a really great sweater made of Yak wool - and though I had sweaters with me I was perishing with the cold.  And when it was offered as a gift how could I refuse?????

 

Now I don't normally post photos of myself - as point of fact I don't normally allow photos taken of myself - but I just had to show off the cool Alpine green stitching on the sleeves, the elbow patches and that stag on the chest. And warm??? Like newly buttered toast!

27 gennaio - Sant'Angela Merici

Ein bisschen Volkskunst II

Well all I can say is "Thank God for digital!"

27 gennaio - Sant'Angela Merici

Ein bisschen Volkskunst I

The fascinating Tiroler Volkskunst Museum in Innsbruck revealed a glory of items detailing life in the mountains and valleys of the Tirol. Traditions that seem, in many cases, regional but at the same time how people responded to the conditions of their times.

I thought over the next few days I'd post a few of the displays that I personally enjoyed and that made me do a bit of searching and researching.

There are few movies that I find I can go back to time and time again but one of them is Babette's Feast, Gabriel Axel's 1987 adaptation of the Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) novella. The story of a small aging religious community in Jutland that is shrinking physically and spiritually and the redemption and love brought to it by a famous French chef is a film I return to at least once a year or when I am feeling in need of confirmation of the goodness of life. When I first saw it in the cinema I recall being a bit repulsed by the scene where the two sisters show Babette how to make “bierbrot” - their main meal of the day. But this method of taking harden bread and reconstituting it in liquid – beer, milk, wine – was practiced in most parts of Europe, even in the finer households.

Bread would be baked two or three times a year and then stored in wood boxes and hung from the ceiling so mice wouldn't get into it. It would harden and, if kept dry, be good for many months - hardtack was a version familiar to sailors and many early settlers in North America.

The hardened bread would be brought down and broken up on this special bread board: the knife tip was on a pivot and the blade was used to break rather than cut the bread into usable chunks. Then it would be thrown into the pot of simmering liquid to expand and thicken. Certainly in the winter cold of Jutland and in the mountains of the Tirol it would have provided warming nutrition but I still have trouble at even the thought of it.

26 gennaio - San Policarpo

Marie Thérèse ......

Yesterday afternoon was spent visiting a palace outfitted by Empress Maria-Thérèse for her family and then by the Archduke Karl Ludwig as a stopover for the Empress Sissi.  It was truly spectacular in that Habsburg style of slightly over the top going for baroque.  Little did I think that when I checked into the Hotel Bristol in Salzburg that I would be inhabiting their world.

We've stayed at the Bristol twice before and have come to think of it as a bit of a home hotel - welcoming - more important remembering - staff, incredible service and beautiful rooms.  I had asked for a room on a slightly higher floor than we normal get, as this would probably be our last visit to Salzburg for a while.

This is the view: (a left click will enlarge it for a closer look)

From left to right - the Holensalzurg Castle, the bell tower of Saint Peter's,  the dome of the University Church, the Untesburg Mountain and the Monchsburg.  All covered with snow and looking quite magical - but it would be even better if the sun where shining - well maybe tomorrow.

And then we get to the room itself:

Okay we are desperately trying to live up to the room - this is beyond baroque! That little tent thing in the corner is actually the closet and there is another one in the other corner. I just don't think I should look in the mirrors behind the bed first thing in the morning!

But its the bathroom that has to be seen to be believed:

It must be at least 20 feet long by 25 feet wide and the ceilings in both rooms are at least 16 feet high. And that bathtub fits two ... or more! Again a cool little tent in the corner serves as a closet for bathrobes etc.

So being the brave little soldiers we are, we will try and live up to all this. I'm just not sure I have anything in my wardrobe that is quite baroque enough!

25 gennaio - Santi Gioentino e Massimino

Shine Your Codpiece Mister?

The cloister that adjoins the new Volkskunst Museum to the Hofkirche had a light dusting of snow that was starting to accumulate as the day progressed. It was still snowing late into the evening so it must be covered in a white blanket by now.

The original intent this morning was to visit the Hofkirche in Innsbruck and see the funeral monument commissioned to commemorate Maxmilian I by his grandson Ferdinand I. Access to the church is through the new Tiroler Volkskunst Museum and we ended up spending almost all our time visiting the beautifully designed displays there - including some perfectly preserved and remarkable rooms from the Gothic period in the Tirol. After almost two hours we finally did make our way across the snow covered cloister to the Hofkirche and Maxmilian's cenotaph.

Though originally of Gothic design the Hofkirche has bee altered over the years by various monarchs and now has an overlay of the Baroque though, thank heavens, not the Rococo so beloved of many Austrian royals.

Though his original intention was to move his grandfather's remains to the newly constructed church, Ferdinand finally respected Maxmilian's wishes and left his body in its simple tomb at Wiener Neustadt. However Ferdinand went ahead with the project and employed some of the the best painters, sculptors and craftsmen to complete a church and a monument built to the glory of God and the Habsburgs.

The pious Maxmilian is flanked by the Four Virtues on the top of the black marble cenotaph inscribed with bas-reliefs of scenes from his life.

The cenotaph is surrounded by an elaborate iron and brass grill and bears scenes from the Emperor's life: important alliances (matrimonial and otherwise), victories (it would appear the good Emperor and his clan suffered no defeats) and events of importance to the Habsburg dynasty. They are based on woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer and carved in white marble. The entire monument took some 80 years to complete.

The Emperor is accompanied by 28 bronze statues - 14 on each side - representing Habsburg ancestors, members of his family and famous heroes. Unusually 8 of the figures are Habsburg women who figured prominently in the family history and alliances.

But the bronze Maximilian in pious prayer on top of the monument is not alone. He is flanked by 28 slightly larger than life size (anywhere from 200 to 250 cm (6 1/2 to 8 1/2 feet) bronze statues. They are remarkably detailed likenesses of ancestors, relatives and heroes. I guess the "hero" category explains the legendary King Arthur being amongst the elect!

But what I don't understand is the shine on Rudolph I's codpiece???? Normally when a bronze statue has that sort of polish it means that visitors have been touching it - witness the shining toes on the right foot of the statue of San Pietro in St Peter's Basilica. Touching St Peter's toe? Okay that I can sort of understand but what sort of blessing do you get from touching Rudolph's crotch?

24 gennaio - San Francesco di Sales