Marti and her new friend in Roma.

TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2000/ROME -- Marti and I are stylin' here in Roma. Warm sunny daze, siestas in the midafternoon. We're staying in Ian's huge duplex apartment while he and Jo are off on their honeymoon. The living room has close-up views of the Colosseum out the north windows, on the ground floor there are a bedroom, two baths and an office where I can write these posts. Kitchen, dining room and private secluded balcony are on the second floor. Plus an attic with spiral staircase and exposed beams.



I have a 15-minute walk (around the Colosseum, how bad is that?) to the cyber café where I'm getting ten hours for 60,000 lira (200 French francs), about $4/hour.

The food here is great. Pizzas are awesome, plus we're cooking at the flat. Last night I stuffed squash blossoms for the first time, using buffalo mozzarella and bits of anchovy. Sautéed them in extra-virgin olive oil. Killer.

In the Campo de' Fiore market yesterday I found really thin "wild asparagus." I put some in a leftover penne primavera heat-up last night and used some in an omelet this morning.


Caravaggio by Minasi.

Today Marti and I went up to the Galleria Borghese to kick off our Caravaggio Quest. Years ago Marti encountered the remarkable body of work created by the notorious Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi of the small town of Caravaggio. Born in 1571, Caravaggio has been described as the world's first modern painter. Robert Hughes wrote, "There was art before him and art after him, and they were not the same."


The Sick Bacchus.

For years Marti has dreamed of coming to Rome to see the couple of dozen Caravaggios that reside in various churches, galleries and museums here. This trip represents the fulfillment of that desire.Today was a rather emotional experience for her, as we tracked down seven of his canvases in three different locations. At the Galleria Borghese we saw The Sick Bacchus, David with the Head of Goliath and Saint Jerome in his Study.




David with the Head of Goliath.



Saint Jerome in his Study.

Marti pointed out that Caravaggio's pictures stand out from all the others. "He's thinking in a completely different way," she explained. No one else at the time painted so naturalistically, depicting Saints -- of all people -- in a controversial manner, complete with flaws and dirty feet!



Saint John the Baptist.


Next we went to the Pinoteca Campidoglio to see Caravaggio's very sexy young Saint John the Baptist. This guy knew how to paint skin.

After lunch back at the flat, I watched Mary Pierce demolish Monica Seles at Roland Garros on TV while Marti caught a quick power nap. Then we cabbed to the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi to see the three marvelous altarpieces that Caravaggio painted for the Contarelli Chapel. There was a malfunctioning coin-operated light machine to illuminate the canvases, but Marti and I got it to work.


The Calling of Saint Matthew.




The Inspiration of Saint Matthew



The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew


These three paintings were very moving, innovative and highly imaginative portrayals of episodes from the life of Saint Matthew.

The Caravaggio Quest is well underway.



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Email: phildemetrion@yahoo.com