All done! I love ruins among greenery, and here is my first piece of this combination, at the Baths of Caracalla. If you read myBaths of Caracalla post, you know that I went to the Baths, pretty much just to photograph them, for studies to draw and paint. This is the first of, hopefully, many pieces ...
The Roman Baths of Caracalla
Pastel on mounted Wallace paper,
with watercolor underpainting
I started with a photo of the view I wanted ... This is the main photo I worked from.
I chose to squeeze it all in to a smaller space, adding the big structure in the middle of the photo below, so I'd get those side by side, tall structures. It was cut off in the above photo, but fortunately I was snapping lots of photos, to get as much coverage as possible. Mixing the two photos, I felt I got a better composition.
Then I sketched in, what I wanted, with dark blue and green hard pastels (by Nupastel.)
I wetted the drawing with a paintbrush dipped in SpectraFix. Now I had my main shapes in, with some of the major values.
After that I went in with a watercolor underpainting. Part of the idea, for me, is imagining what colors I may want to use over the top, and what effect that will create.
After that, I was ready for soft pastels. (I use a variety of brands, like Unison, Mount Vision, Girault, Terry Ludwigs etc.) I went in with the sky first, then little by little, going into the trees and ruins ... the grass... then adding more colors, with varying intensity. The photos are so contrasty, it's a challenge to keep it from getting to flat and graphic ... which would be ok, if that is what I was going for!
Anyway, it was pretty fun to work on, especially the brick and stone of the ruins. Right now, I'm working on a piece of the Palatine Hill. It's turning out pretty abstract because you can't really tell what anything is, except for one single tree and it's reflection, in puddle of rain water.
More Italy to come, as well as the baby birds that hatched, in a fern, next to my parents back door. So fuzzy and cute, I can't even handle it!
It was the beginning of April, when my friend Erin came to visit. She drove up from her home in San Diego, California to Los Angeles, for the weekend. Erin and I met in an acting class in S.D., more than twenty years ago!
Anyway, Friday night we had a great sushi dinner in West Hollywood, but the weather had been strange and we decided to wing it on Saturday, depending on the weather. On her last visit I took her to the Getty Center but unfortunately, the gardens were closed! That was such a bummer because, you see, she is something of a green thumb!
On Saturday morning, the skies had begun to clear, and we decided to go somewhere neither one of us had ever been. The Los Angeles Arboretum.
It turned out to be a gorgeous day! And the path around the arboretum led to us to an edible garden, a whole area that was plants from Australia, Then South American, Mediterranean, as well as other parts of the world, and other climates too. Turns out that the Arboretum is on 27 acres of land. It's actually in Arcadia, near the San Gabriel Mountains.
The land's modern history starts with a guy named Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin, when we bought a huge amount of land in there area and built the Rancho Santa Anita buildings and grounds.
There's a whole lot of history, but basically in 1947, Los Angeles and California went in together and bought 111 acres. Out of a portion of that land they created the arboretum, and the first Greenhouse was built in 1949. 1,000 trees were planted in 1951 and the arboretum was opened to the public in 1956. They were off and running ... more planting, more greenhouses .... Lucky us! I can't believe in all these years, I'd never been!
Loved the Tropical Greenhouse, which was very humid, warm and "jungly."
Outside the greenhouse ...
And into the Orchid Greenhouse!
This, below, is looking onto a big area, that must have been in the middle of the grounds, with a huge fountain. (We didn't really look at our map, we just wandered around!)
Here is one of the many geese, also wandering around the arboretum. They were very friendly, unlike other geese I've come across. Isn't he cute?
I don't know how many peacocks are at the arboretum, but we saw dozens! And, we were told, it was mating season. (We witnessed the truth of this later.)
In the magnolia garden, everything was in bloom ... all different varieties of them! (This was the very beginning of April)
Recognize this cute house? It was always seen at the beginning of the TV show, Fantasy Island! It was built in 1885 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It was built for Elias Jackson "Lucky" Brown and his fourth wife, Lillie Bennett. (The architect was her dad, Albert A. Bennett.) It's all furnished with antiques, from what we could see through the windows, as if it's still lived in. Unfortunately, it was all locked up.
Queen Anne Cottage
The early owners, even put in a large pond back in the day, with little boats. Oh, and it's said to be haunted.
Being in the Los Angeles area, there has been a lot of filming on grounds, including parts of two Jurassic Park movies, and various other T.V. shows and mini-series.
One of many little ponds, on the grounds ...
There was also a little Shakespeare Garden with all sorts of little herbs and flowers, that are mentioned or written about in his various works.
Erin, heading up to see the view ...
And what a beautiful view!
At this point, both of our phones died ... which is what we had been taking pictures with! (I'd left my actual camera in Ojai the weekend before!) This was such a bummer, because at the end of the day, we walked into the beautiful blooming Japanese garden, to find two different peacock males, in all their glory, showing off for all the little girl peacocks! We couldn't believe it!
Ah well, it's emblazoned on my memory but I will have to go back next April so I can share "The Show" with you all.
I love when everything is in bloom! Especially the flowers that look like little faces. Makes me think of my favorite scene in Alice in Wonderland.
For information about the Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden, go to www.arboretum.org
Hope you are all enjoying some beautiful, golden afternoons!
Born in Sulmo, Roman Republic (modern day Sulmona, Italy)
Died Tomis, Scythia Minor, Roman Republic (Modern Constanta, Romania)
My great weather Monday, in Rome, continued. After spending part of the morning at the "Non-Catholic Cemetery," in Rome, I hopped the metro, and headed to the Baths of Caracalla. My hope was to hit up the baths, and the Palatine Hill, while the weather was still clear and the skies blue.
I was on a photo mission, after seeing the ancient Roman baths, while researching my trip online. I love painting/drawing old stonework, but especially when it's contrasted with greenery, or some kind of plant life. Rome had had a lot of rain (and flooding) so there was definitely greenery.
I was scouring Youtube, for music of ancient Rome, for you to listen to. The thing is, it's not hard to find, but much of the ancient music I found on Youtube, sounded ... pretty creepy, and/or annoying. No wonder the Romans drank.
Anyway, I found this guy who plays Roman lyre music and it's pretty groovy ... in an ancient Roman kind way. ;)
It's difficult in photos, to really show you how huge this place is. The big arched doorway is big enough to stand, probably, four gladiators end to end.
Emperor Caracalla's father, Septimius Severus, is said to have begun the project, but after he died, and after Caracalla had his younger brother (and co-Emperor) Geta killed, (in his mother's arms!) he had the project completed. He was one brutal dude, but the baths were a way to ensure his legacy. I think they are the largest baths on the planet today, and in the past, second only to the baths of Diocletian.
This huge area, seen above and below, was the West Palaestra ... one of two huge gymnasiums.
Throughout the huge complex, you can see some of the incredible, original, mosaic floors. They used different colored marble, from various places, including Egypt, Sparta and Numidia.
Poetry comes fine spun
from a mind at peace.
~Ovid
Here is an Illustration, I got on Wikipedia, that shows the arial plan. You can see the gymnasiums, on the left and right, as the big vertical rectangles, with marked with "G." This gives you a little idea of the size of the place, after seeing photos of one of the gymnasiums above.
Not sure if you can see the tiny letters in the illustration ...
A-Calidarium (hot bath - the circle top/middle)
B-Nymphaeum
C-Great Hall
D-Frigidarium (Swimming Pool)
E-Courts
G-Palaestra (weight training, gymnasium)
H-Lecture Halls
I-Vestibules
L-Dressing Rooms
N-Steam Baths
Q-Lounges
S-Gymnasia
T-Study Rooms
V-Nymphaea
Imagine the brick walls completely covered in marble and granite, with beautiful mosaics and huge sculptures, in large niches. I believe these doors led into the dressing areas.
This digital restoration video of the baths, will give you an idea of what the place looked like almost 2 thousand to 1,500 years ago.
The only bummer, is there was very little signage at the baths, so unless you do a little research before you go, you don't really know what you are looking at! There were meeting rooms, saunas, 2 libraries and cafeterias as well as gymnasiums, olympic size pool, track and various heated baths and it was all free to the public.
Isn't this floor incredibly beautiful?
God himself helps those who dare.
~Ovid
This is a huge central "hall" above. There would have been enormous columns, some of which are probably the 22, over at Santa Maria in Trasteve. Click here to see my post of that church and check out the huge columns, in the nave, taken from this place.
Turning to the right, in the photo above, you would see what I think is the frigidarium. (see photo below)
Beyond the Frigidarium, was the huge open air pool. Apparently, the Caldarium, the very hot bath, is what you do before moving on to the more mild temperature of the Tepidarium. After that, the Frigidarium and the olympic sized pool. All this after your workout and massage.
Our native soil draws all of us, by I know not what sweetness, and never allows us to forget. ~Ovid The Poems of Exile; Tristia and the Black Sea Letters
Venus is kind to creatures as young as we; We know not what we do, and while we're young We have the right to live and love like Gods. ~Ovid
Above and below, the East Gymnasium. Look how tiny the humans are, below!
Up on the wall, remains of marble moldings.
Fortune resists
half-hearted prayers.
~Ovid
The two huge structures below, would have held a massive dome (just a little smaller than the pantheon) over the top of the Caldarium. (hot baths)
Until recently, in summertime, they would set up a stage for the Rome Opera, between the two huge structures above, (that would have held the dome.) Someone became concerned the sound was not good for stability of the structures and it was moved into the gardens. You can see how they would use it for staging, in the past, in the Pavarroti video, below. This was from the first Three Tenors Concert.
The stones in the foreground below are part of an art installation by Michelangelo Pistoletto, originally at the Venice Biennale in 2005. It's called Il Terso Paradiso (The Third Paradise) and is made of ancient stone fragments. Though you can't see it from this angle, it makes 3 loops.
I don't think I was there very long, before having to leave. (An hour? A little longer?) They were doing some sort of construction. I was so bummed when the workers pointed at the exit and said, "Dieci minuti" I took those ten minutes, and I ran to the far end, so that I could walk slowing back to the exit taking pictures, the whole way. I had no idea what they were working on.
Doing a little research, I just found out. There are a couple of articles online about the excavation of the underground tunnels, where the heating of the baths and saunas were done, by 50 ovens! (And whole lot of coal, wood and slave labor!) Two miles of triple grid tunnels, as well as an old temple! Anyway, a few weeks after I left Rome, a portion of those tunnels were open to the public, as well as the museum and bookshop that had been closed for a year. Guess I'll have to go back!
'The god of Delos, proud in victory, Saw Cupid draw his bow's taut arc, and said: 'Mischievous boy, what are a brave man's arms To you? That gear becomes my shoulders best. My aim is sure; I wound my enemies, I wound wild beasts; my countless arrows slew But now the bloated Python, whose vast coils Across so many acres spread their blight. You and your loves! You have your torch to light them! Let that content you; Never claim my fame!' And Venus' son replied: 'Your bow, Apollo, May vanquish all, but mine shall vanquish you. As every creature yields to power divine, So likewise shall your glory yield to mine.' ~Ovid Metamorphoses
The baths were in use for a few hundred years, until the Goths destroyed the aquaduct in 537 AD. During 1600 century much of the excavation was done and a lot of the art was taken elsewhere thanks to the Farnese family, who took some of it to the Palazzo Farnese in Rome (Now the French Embassy.) Now the art is in various museums.
Among other works, there was a huge statue of Hercules, later called the Farnese Hercules,which is now at the Naples National Archeological Museum. Two of the fountains, from Caracalla, are in the Piazza Farnese, and other works are in the Vatican Museums and elsewhere.
This is a bust of Emperor Caracalla that I photographed, later in the trip, at Palazzo Bianco, in Genova.
Unfortunately, the following video is in Italian but you can still get a lot out of it. Especially the very end from 16:56-17:42. You might want to just turn the sound down on it, if you don't speak Italian.
The Baths of Caracalla have been in popular culture, in a ways I did not realize. Not only did the first Three Tenors concert take place in 1990 there, but it's also been in movies like Woody Allen's To Rome with Love and La Dolce Vita.
Here is a scene shot at the baths, in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. You can't really tell where they are, but it would have been so fun to shoot a movie there! If an American director was shooting at the Baths, he'd have to show you that he was shooting there. With Italian directors, it's just ambiance and I guess, when you live in Rome, the "awesomeness" is just part of life!
I'm currently doing a pastel piece of the Baths of Caracalla, working from my photos. Of course, I will be sharing that with you soon!
I was so happy to have made it to the Baths, even though, like I said, I wasn't sure what I was looking at, most of the time! It was an impressive sight and on such a beautiful day, I was just thrilled to be there! Next time, I'd love to sit and sketch.
After I left, I took one of only 3 cab rides I hailed in Rome. I knew I'd be walking all around the Palatine Hill and I had to give my feet a little break! That post will up soon ... after a little Spring Day at the Arboretum.
Hope you enjoyed our little visit to the Roman spa!
Have a great week!!!
Links for more information on the Baths of Caracalla click here,here, and here
