Must-see paintings and sculptures
Apollo Belvedere – the greatest work of art from among all the works of antiquity
Benrnini’s Apollo and Daphne – a rock animated by love
Simon Vouet’s Buona Ventura – the lamentable effects of palm reading
Caravaggio’s Young Sick Bacchus – an artist in the guise or perhaps something much more?
Raphael’s Woman with a Unicorn - an image of a virgin marked by virtue
Bernini’s David – a sculpture testifying to the power of faith and humility
Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath – a victor filled with sorrow
Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Teresa – an anthem on the subject of bodily union with God
Gaul Killing Himself and his Wife – meaning, praise of an honorable suicidal death
Laocoön Group – the dramatic story of one arm and its lack
Simon Vouet’s Herodias with the Head of St. John the Baptist – femme fatale of the Baroque
Pietro da Cortona’s The Story of Aeneas – meaning where the pope searched for his roots
Bronzino’s John the Baptist – between cold eroticism and refined devotion
Caravaggio’s St. John the Baptist – a work of art, sacrilege, or child pornography?
Caravaggio’s Judith and Holofernes – a refined mixture of violence and desire
Van Honthorst’s The Concert – singing together or perhaps a peregrination of the prodigal son?
Raphael’s Fornarina – a mysterious love interest or perhaps…
Antoniazzo Romano’s Legend of the True Cross – miraculousness told in a Renaissance way
Domenichino’s The Hunt of Diana – a painting about spying and its unfortunate results
Jacopo Sansovino’s Madonna del Parto – between a saint and a maid
Madonna delle mani – an indecent work, damaged and found anew
Caravaggio’s Madonna of Loreto - the sanctity of dirty, coarse feet
Andrea Sansovino’s Madonna and Child with St. Anne – a work praised by poets
Carlo Saraceni’s Madonna and Child with St. Anne – an everyday life scene and… a dove
Giovanni Lanfranco’s Apparition of the Virgin to St. Lawrence – a thematic painting yet not bereft of artistry
Bronzino’s Madonna with Child, St. John the Baptist and St. Anne – meaning a song of love sentenced to suffering
Caravaggio’s Madonna and Child with St. Anne – a work despite and against itself
Caravaggio’s The Martyrdom of St. Matthew – death among onlookers and terrified passersby
Caravaggio’s The Crucifixion of St. Peter – a painting on the banality of evil
Giovanni Baglioni’s Heavenly Love and Earthly Love – a virtue in the struggle against sin
Michelangelo’s Moses – the remains of a tragic work
Mosaics in the Church of Santa Pudenziana – how the Good Shepherd became a lawgiver
Melozzo da Forlì’s Musical angels – Christ among songs, music and dance
Michelangelo’s Nude Christ – miraculously duplicated
Caravaggio’s Narcissus at the Source – a tragedy of unfulfilled love, or perhaps a story about the essence of art
Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul – meaning how Saul became Paul
The Incredulity of St. Thomas– and how strong is your faith?
Domenichino’s The Last Communion of St. Jerome – a work about the superiority of communion under one kind
Pasquino – snide, mean and still today irreplaceable
Antonio Canova’s Pauline Borghese as the Venus Victrix – remember me like this for ages
Michelangelo’s Pietà – an astonishing story of silent suffering
Guercino’s The Funeral of St. Petronilla – a difficult topic, masterfully solved
Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X – a real, perceptive and effective portrait
Portrait of Pope Clement IX – a subtle image of a delicate pontifex
Bronzino’s Portrait of Stefano Colonna – a picture-perfect condottiero
Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s The Rape of Proserpina, meaning sanctioned rape
Pietro da Cortona’s Rape of the Sabine Women – all is well that ends well
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius – a symbol of imperial harmony and peace
Ludovica Albertoni – a masterpiece in the shadow of a moral scandal
Bernini’s Statue of St. Bibiana – meaning how to present a virgin in the moment of bliss
Stefano Maderno’s Lying St. Cecilia – a miracle or an elaborate mystification?
Caravaggio’s The Calling of St. Matthew – how a sinner becomes the chosen of God
Raphael’s Fire in the Borgo – a hymn on the subject of more than just antiquity
Carlo Saraceni’s Transitus Mariae – meaning how the Discalced Carmelites co-created the image of the Most Holy Virgin
The Transfiguration – the most divine of all Raphael’s works
The Triumph of Religion Over Heresy by Pierre Le Gros – meaning a Jesuit theatrum sacrum
Van Honthorst’s The Beheading of St. John the Baptist – a work immersed in darkness
Michelangelo’s Vault of the Sistine Chapel – a masterpiece born out of doubt and suffering
Sleeping Hermaphrodite – the ever-present third gender
Raphael’s Stanzas – meaning how the popes had wanted to live
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Saint Cecilia Playing the Lute – an autoportrait in the guise of a saint
Saint Cecilia Distributing Alms to the Poor– a story of the recalcitrant Roman populace
Carlo Saraceni’s St. Cecilia with an Angel - two musicians
The Holy Family with St. Elizabeth, the Young St. John the Baptist, and an Angel – a family meeting with an angel in the background
Caravaggio’s Saint Jerome – the Doctor of the Church as a weapon in the struggle against heretics
Melozzo da Forlì’s Sixtus IV Appointing Platina as Prefect of the Vatican Library – pope as an earthly ruler and a patron of science
Raphael’s’ The School of Athens– a fancy riddle or an alternative history
Raphael’s Triumph of Galatea – beauty and the beast in a Renaissance version
Pietro da Cortona’s Triumph of Divine Providence – family apotheosis, meaning painting to the point of breathlessness
Guido Reni’s Crucifixion of St. Peter – meaning a reason for a duel
Dying Gaul – a funeral rhapsody in memory of the Gauls
The Deliverance of St. Peter– between reality and a vision
Giovanni Lanfranco’s Venus Playing the Harp – a tribute to music or perhaps to love?
Crouching Venus – eavesdropped on for the last two thousand years
Bronzino’s Venus, Cupid, and Satyr – a sublime allegory or a courtly jest?
The Vestal Virgin Tuccia – between virtue and downfall, meaning the story of an unwanted work
Caravaggio’s Fortune Teller – a painting about the dangers of life and the illusion of art
Daniele da Volterra’s The Descent from the Cross – a faded shadow of a great work, meaning the aftermath of vandalism
Caravaggio’s The Entombment of Christ – a perfect work
Dirck van Baburen’s The Entombment of Christ – catching up with Caravaggio
Raphael’s The Deposition – a painting of suffering, the fragility of life and an unforgettable loss
Antoniazzo Romano’s Annunciation – meaning, how the Virgin Mary can miss the most important moment of her life
Sleeping Hermaphrodite – the ever-present third gender
The figure of the Hermaphrodite stimulated the imagination of the people of Antiquity in a particular way. A being of two genders – both female and male – seemed privileged exceptional, and completely ideal, however, it also aroused ambivalent feelings and suspicion. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a figure with male genitalia and female breasts garnered a lot of attention both in literature as well as in the visual arts. When it comes to the latter, the favored topic (although not the only one), was a sleeping Hermaphrodite. This is how he is depicted, stretched on b...
See moreSimon Vouet’s Herodias with the Head of St. John the Baptist – femme fatale of the Baroque
Femme fatale is associated with painting and literature of the XIX century – with women who devoured the hearts of men, cold-blooded demons of sex who with premeditation led men to their downfall. However, beautiful, erotic, attractive, but at the same time ruthless and sophisticated women have always fascinated artists. We can find them in ancient literature and mythology, as well as in the Old and New Testaments. We can also see them in the painting creations of Caravaggio and his successors because it was exactly in the XVII century when Salome, Judith, and Herodias became fashionable...
See moreSpada Chapel – ancestors, meaning capital which cannot be underestimated
Numerous posthumous chapels, which we can see during a pilgrimage through Roman churches are generally filled with decorations and works of art. They arouse our respect, and approval, and let our thoughts linger on the grandeur and significance of the family, but above all their sense of art. It is quite seldom that we think about them in purely practical categories, not to say mercantile. It is a rare situation indeed that we can say that the main motive of their creation was not only the desire to immortalize one’s fame, but also the prestige of future, yet unborn successors of the fam...
See more Zgodnie z art. 13 ust. 1 i ust. 2 rozporządzenia Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady (UE) 2016/679 z 27 kwietnia 2016 r. w sprawie ochrony osób fizycznych w związku z przetwarzaniem danych osobowych i w sprawie swobodnego przepływu takich danych oraz uchylenia dyrektywy 95/46/WE (RODO), informujemy, że Administratorem Pani/Pana danych osobowych jest firma: Econ-sk GmbH, Billbrookdeich 103, 22113 Hamburg, Niemcy
Przetwarzanie Pani/Pana danych osobowych będzie się odbywać na podstawie art. 6 RODO i w celu marketingowym Administrator powołuje się na prawnie uzasadniony interes, którym jest zbieranie danych statystycznych i analizowanie ruchu na stronie internetowej. Podanie danych osobowych na stronie internetowej http://roma-nonpertutti.com/ jest dobrowolne.
