Welcome back to my blog! Thank you for reading. Today was a very good day. I ate good food, I got a nonzero abount of sleep, nothing of mine hurts more than it should... Rome is looking good from this perspective! Today we visited the Centrale Montemartini, which is my new favorite museum, so I thought I would talk about that.
What Makes Centrale Montemartini Unique
Back in 1995, the Capitoline Museum was undergoing some renovations. In order to allow the public to continue to make use of the museum, some of the exhibits were moved to a power plant that had been defunct since the 60s. The move put statues and reliefs and mosaics among the remaining industrial equipment.
When I say equipment, I mean EQUIPMENT.
Part of the reason I enjoyed this museum should be pretty obvious to those of you who have read my blog before. The contrast between the plant and the pieces in the museum are very visually interesting. Beyond that, however, the power plant is a reminder that Rome had a history beyond the 5th century AD. That is one of the things I constantly find myself being reminded of. When you visit Rome, not only do you get the ancient history or even the ancient and medieval histories. You always get its entire history, regardless of where you are or what you are looking at.
The statues themselves were pretty typical of Roman art. Many of the pieces were recreations of Greek sculpture (or in some cases, sculpture straight-up stolen from the Greeks). There were plenty of busts, and plenty of headless or armless statues. I remember growing up thinking that statues were made without arms or a head! In addition, most of these statues would have been decorated with bright colors and gold. The eyes would have irises. This is one of the most difficult things for me to visualize. Temples on top of ruins I can handle, but bright colors on statuary? Apparently not so much.
Athena's dress is probably hot pink.
Despite the space being repurposed, the layout of the museum was simpler and easier to follow than the Capitoline Museum. It was a series of a couple rooms, laid out in more or less chronological order, that allowed me to walk back and forth through time as I pleased.
Overall, the museum had many layers of significance to me personally, and I am extremely happy I got to experience it on this trip.
Food Update
I put together penne, meatballs, spinach, and basil. The result was filling and delicious. I highly reccommend it. I don't think I will ever be able to fully enjoy a dining culture where all of the restaurants do not open for dinner until 8.
Gelato of the Day
I had tiramisu gelato from a shop near the Colosseum today. I feel as if I was setting myself up for disappointment on two different axes: I was getting a flavor meant to imitate another delicious dessert, and I was getting gelato from a place that gets away with overcharging tourists. The texture of the gelato was off, and the taste was a little sweeter thaan I had hoped, but overall the verdict is that even sub-par gelato is gelato.
Tune in Tomorrow
Unless I get distracted, I will be talking about Italian water culture.
Ciao!
Good Post Morgan! I like the fact that you post about what Gelato you have had that day and one meal you had too. The other pictures you had were excellent too! I thought that museum was pretty cool myself with having the big antique generators that once powered the city of Rome and then combining a little ancient history with it. I have some questions for you. What was your favorite statue, or what stood out to you the most? And what has been your favorite Gelato flavor so far?
ReplyDeleteHey, Morgan! I really liked what you had to say about Centrale Montemartini. It was a very different atmosphere from the other museums we have visited so far. It feels like the city itself, where there's a mix of ancient and modern buildings all over. Also, I'm sorry you had sub-par gelato. That's really unfortunate. :(
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