I gasped and stopped in my tracks when I saw this during my Sunday walk. It's not the first time I've seen Caravaggio-inspired street art in Trastevere. The Medusa electrical box was one thing, but this made my easily excitable heart pound with unexpected delight. It's not just because it's inspired by my favorite painter Caravaggio, or because it comes from one of my favorite of his paintings (see below), but because it features the face of a very young Mario Minniti, one of Caravaggio’s favorite models.
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When we left off I was just about to wrap up the story of Numa Pompilius, Rome’s second king. Today I will officially finish the story of Numa Pompilius, and I promise, you will never hear his name from me again. In previous posts I described how Numa was Rome’s most pious king, instituting the cult of the Vestal Virgins, reforming religious laws and reorganizing the Roman calendar. He was wise and pacific, creating several codes and laws by which the Romans lived for many centuries to come. But where did he get all this wisdom?
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Learning a new Italian word is always fun, but learning one that even the maritino himself does not know is exciting indeed. The fact that this occurred just in time for Thanksgiving made me particularly grateful. So, without further ado, I give you... La batata. And before you think I just have a bad cold and can't pronounce my Ps at the moment, I am not talking about a patata (potato) but something much, much yummier.
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"Some days the mere fact of seeing feels like perfect happiness... You feel so rich you long to share your jubilation with others. The memory of such moments is my most precious possession. Maybe because there've been so few of them. A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there-- even if you put them end to end they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds snatched from eternity." Robert Doisneau
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