Here We Go Again

First home game of the season!

We played Bologna, and did terribly.  The score was 2-0 Rome for most of the game, and then in the last 20 minutes Bologna scored 2, making a tie.  Che cazzo!  Rome is notorious for starting the season badly but then doing well in the end (like they did last year), so that's what I'm hoping for.  Currently we are second-to-last in the Seria A league, which is shameful, but again, we were at the bottom at the beginning of last year and ended up finishing second, so...  Also, the soccer season here is ridiculously long, lasting from the end of August until mid-May, so there is plenty of time to make up those points!

Have to get that sign just right.

The reaction of long-time fans towards the end of the game. :(

End of Summer Party

This Saturday the Hertziana, together with the American Academy, the British Academy, and one other Institute that I can't remember, threw a party to celebrate (or mourn) the end of summer.  It was held in the courtyard of the Palazzo Strogonaff, which is an area that I can go to anytime I please and eat lunch if I wish.

The party started at 8:30, but knowing this is Italy we assumed nothing would really get started until an hour later, so we showed up around 10pm.  Oops!  We forgot that these are the Germans, and so apparently the party started on the dot, but it was still in full-swing when we got there.

With Carly and Liz, both of whom are at the American Academy for the next two years.  Carly is a fellow grad student at Rutgers and Liz was a Fulbright last year.

Bibliotheca Hertziana

Last week I began working at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, which is the library that the Kress Foundation has a relationship with in Rome.  It is not only in a beautiful location and series of buildings, but has the best collection of art historical literature in the city.  Beginning next week I plan to be there just about every day to work on my dissertation and hopefully complete this thing called grad school.  I am so excited that I have a place to go and do my work, and having an office with my own desk makes it feel much more permanent than moving around to different libraries like I did last year, always carting along my stuff with me.

This is the main building, the Palazzo Zuccari, which was built in the 1590s by Federico Zuccari, a Mannerist artist probably most famous for his frescoes inside the dome of the Duomo in Florence.  The palazzo is just above the Spanish Steps in a beautiful spot between the streets Via Sistina and Via Gregoriana.

A true Mannerist, Zuccari added elements of humor and surprise to his architecture, like this door frame.  This picture is from google because the building has been under restoration for quite some time, and therefore most of the facade is covered by scaffolding.

 

 Door to the main building of the library and institute.

Detail of the door.  The HH stands for Henrichetta Hertz, who purchased the palazzo in the early 1900s from the last descendants of the Zuccari family.  During Hertz's ownership of the building it was also used as an Inn for traveling artists during the grand tour.  Finally, it was given to Germany and transformed into the library and institute it is today, dedicated to art history.  The name "Bibliotheca Hertziana" is the Italianized version of the German "Hertz bibliothek", or Hertz library.  Given that the institute is owned by Germany, all of the scholars and staff are German, and the place is therefore known as "Deutschland piccola" or "little Germany" by the Italians.  Who knew I would be hearing German all the time while in Italy?  So far I've mastered the phrase, "Es tut mir leid, Ich spreche kein Deutsch" which means "I'm sorry, I don't speak German".  That is about all I plan to learn.  Luckily everyone also speaks either English or Italian, or both. 

Inside the main entrance, with a view of the ceiling frescoes by Federico Zuccari.  This is the thing with Rome (and all cities in Italy)-- many old buildings are taken over by various businesses and so their workspace is adorned with original frescoes and decoration.  The downside to this is that they are often closed to the public and therefore such decoration is often never seen by many.  The Palazzo Farnese, which is now the French Embassy, with the fabulous frescoes by Anibale Carracci, is a classic example.  There are also important early-Baroque frescoes inside the US Embassy in Rome.

The reading room, for visiting scholars.

The ceiling of the reading room.  Not too shabby!

Stairs up to my office.  At least my thighs will be in shape!  (Luckily there is also an elevator.)

I share my office with another woman.  This is a view of her desk, as well as the (sadly non-functioning) fireplace, and closet.  Also, notice the chandelier?  Pretty!

Other side of the room with the doors and bookcase.  The steps on the far left lead up to a small bathroom.

My desk and the window.

View from the window, towards the top of the Spanish Steps.

The Hertziana owns two other buildings, the Palazzo Stroganoff, which is adjacent to the Zuccari, and another building a few doors down that houses the photo library.  This is the entrance to the Stroganoff, a 19th century palace that houses a large portion of the library's holdings as well as various offices.

Beautiful fireplace and fresco inside the main entrance.

More stairs!

While at the Stroganoff I had to visit our IT guy to get my computer linked up to the network.  The center window is his office.  Life is hard here in Rome.