The mythological love story

This delighful fresco depicts a scene from the Apuleio's "Metamorfosi", a latin text where many myths are described. It decorates the central panel of the "Loggia di Psiche", located in the portico of Villa della Farnesina, a fantastic example of Renaissance villa. This place is really cool and incredible, because we can really understand how was a rich home owned by a nobleman who lived in Rome during the XVI century. Imagine a huge garden surrounding the building, with its rooms completly painted with coloured frescos, used like a simple decoration and to display how powerful and important is the owner. Particularly this fresco, like the entire Loggia (a portico), was decorated by the Raphael's workshop. The master opened a real school for young artists, who helped him or substitute him (he was a real busy man). The fresco cycle in this room represents the love story between Amore and Psiche. The last one was a beautiful girl, with a beauty so wonderful that each man fell in love with her. 

This is the reason why Venus got envious, starting to threaten the king of that land, who was also the Psiche's father. Venus would bring wars and pestilences if the king wouldn't sacrifice her daughter, bringing her in a place where stood a monster. The Psiche's father accepted, while Venus commanded to her son, Amore, to kill her. But Amore too fell in love with her. For this reason Psiche didn't found a monster but a great and precious palace, with many rooms. She started to live there. Each night a divine figure came to her, and with great passion they fell in love each other. Psiche couldn't see his new lover, but she felt a lot of passion for him. It was Amore who preferred to go against his mother.

But the trick was discovered and Venus threathened them. But thanks to Zeus Psiche and Amore managed to get married in the high sky, in the Mount Olympus. Like we could observe in this picture! The entire portico is painted with natural elements, fruits and vegetables which couldn’t appear all together in Nature, because they develop in different moments, but used to sent a message of abudance. You can see light blue corners, because the entire portico must suggest the idea of open air space. Imagine the special guests of the owner, coming here, talking and eating. They could do that looking at the garden, standing in a place which suggest them Nature and break, with a myth describing the success of Love against everythin. A real paradise!

The secret of a marble arch

The "Arco degli Argentari" is a structure with architrave (so it isn't a real arch), which stands just next to the portico of the Church of San Giorgio al Velabro. The area is plenty of remains which manage to bring our minds in very ancient times, when Rome was just born, when the kings tried to improve the city with many public services, as the market of Foro Boario (which was located just on this neighborhood). It was the symbol of a Rome which wanted to open new ways in the world. 

For this reason it isn’t a case if the “Arco degli Argentari” was a gift of the "bankers and the merchants of Rome", offered to the Imperial family of Settimio Severo, at the beginning of the III century AD. The "Arco degli Argentari" in fact was used as one of the entrance of the Foro Boario, the place in which the donors worked. Monuments as arches or something similar were very common in Rome, mainly if the receiving was the Emperor: in this way it was easier received some favours… A political way to improve businesses!
 
What is important to say it isn't just the fine and rich marble decorations, with the figures and reliefs which completely cover the surface, but what there isn't...in fact, close to the figures of the Imperial family, as Caracalla or Settimio Severo, we could observe a sort of empty space, a relief not so well preserved that looks like to be destroyed. Because it was destroyed, in order to cancel a character.

This is a clear example of "damnatio memoriae", a roman tradition which was used against the enemies of Rome or the men who weren't able to have civil behaviours. Nero, for example, was convicted, after his death, with the “damnatio memoriae”. This is the reasons why is very rare to find a marble bust or a statue depicting him. Turning back to the “Arco degli Argentari”, that cancelled character was Geta, the Caracalla's brother. Geta was the Settimio Severo’s heir, because it was his first son, while Caracalla was the second one. But in a period full of murdereds and blood, Carcalla killed his brother accusing him of treason. And the punishment for this crime was a “damnatio memoriae”. But probably, Caracalla just wanted to eliminate an aspirant to the throne…you can imagine that blood and violence were common in Rome, especially during this time, when the political power started to be not so strong like at the beginning. Many emeperors after this dinasty died, killing by soldiers or noblemen!

Stones from the divine Jupiter

These white rocks put all together, one by one, forming a real wall, aren't just simple rocks or archeological fragments. And the museum that hosts them isn't a simple museum! We are inside the Capitoline Museum and we're looking at the only remains of the ancient Temple of Jupiter which stood on the hilltop of the Capitoline Hill. It was built when Rome was very young and when he was ruled by kings. There was a kingdom, and there were the famous Seven Kings of Rome. The man who desired to build this temple was Tarquinio Prisco, the fifht king of the city (we are during the VI century BC).

There’s just a curiosity about him. He wasnt’ a Roman, but an Etruscan man. And this is the reason why he used the Etruscan model to realize this temple, which was completed by Tarquinio il Superbo, the last king of the city, another man coming from the Etruscan civilization, who brought with him the culture of his tribes. He was a real tyrant, and he enslaved many people to complete this majestic temple. This row of old rocks, which we can date to the VI century BC (long and long time ago), reveal us an ancient history and a curiosity! According to the legend, during the excavations to make the foundations wokers discovered a human skull. 

The ancient Roman ministers, called "aruspici", who came from the Etruscan area (do you remember something?), claimed that it was the symbol of the power of Rome which will became the "Caput Mundi" (in fact, skull is translate in ancient Latin with "caput"). Besides the temple underlines also other important aspect of the Roman style and culture. Jupiter wasn't just the Father of the Gods, but also the protector of Rome. In a certain way we should consider the God as an instrument of Rome which used him like a fear weapon, in order to conquer tribes and lands. 

They assimilitad the most powerful God with the most powerful city: Rome! So Jupiter wasn’t just a God but also the symbol of Rome, the main important God who accepted to help Rome. This process could be named with "romanizzazione": we could consider the figure of Jupiter, the Father of Gods for Romans, also the reason and the moral incentive for the power of Rome. And still today, looking at the white rocks of the foundation of the temple, we can feel something like that. A strange atmosphere which links us to the archaic time until the modern age…