"Secrets of Borghese II" Top 5 Page for this destination Rome Travelogue by icunme

detail to come

Temple Diana

Roman Goddess of the moon, nature, wild animals and hunting.
She also had a temple on the Aventine - the statue here was a copy of the Artemis of Massalia (which was a copy of the Artemis of Ephesus).
Diana was a patron of women and hunters. She was considered the protector of the lower classes, especially slaves. Her festival on August 13, in both Rome and Aricia was a holiday for slaves and on her feast day, all Romans had to give their slaves the day off. Her temple became a sanctuary for runaway slaves.

Comparisons have often been made to the late Princess Diana of Great Britain.

In psychotherapy and Jungian psychology, Artemis/Diana has come to represent the multifaceted, contradictory, beautiful, violent aspects of the feminine psyche. Her temple at Ephesus was one of the Wonders of the Ancient World and the site of one of Saint Paul's least-successful missions - built probably by Mario Asprucci, based of course on classical models, it is an example of a circular peripteral temple.
More detailed Temple Diana photos on the Off the Beaten path tips.

Bernini's Fountain of the Seahorses

A lone duck is poised to join Bernini's seahorses - we like to think he's very discriminating and has chosen his company well - whether by fortune or folly, he could do no better. Sea-horses with tossed manes and backward curving wings plunge outward from the shelter of the lower basin - as though rising through the water from the earth beneath. Their heads, close to the basin are unburdened by any weight - they are free. Their tails twine about its stem. Although ready to take flight; they do not - the enchanter's chisel has checked the horses in mid-ascent - Bernini's genius masters his fancy.
Single shafts of water, spout upward between the forefeet of the sea­horses - the lower basin lies in the turf, like a natural pool, and the water fills it to the brim - it reflects the trees and clouds in its quiet depths, and the slightest breeze ruffles the surface, reflecting the sunshine like a broken mirror. Then from the centre of this dreaming pool there rises a fountain. Carved in travertine, the natural mellow tone of which has been rendered even more lovely by centuries of mild Italian weather.

This appears to be a Temple - located near the street at Pincio and close to Villa Borghese. No one seems to know just what it is - you you do, please let me in on this Villa Borghese secret.

Exterior of Museo Canonica

Pietro Canonica - a sculptor of international repute - music lover - composer - and painter. In 1926 Pietro established this studio under auspices of Rome's City Council. Seventeenth century documents show it as "Gallinaro" (i.e. hen house) where ostriches, peacocks and ducks were bred. After his death in 1959 his collected works formed the basis of the museum dedicated to his name.
His wife died in 1987 and donated the valuable furnishings from their apartment. Thus, we have the Pietro Canonica museum which is one of the most complete examples of home museum and artist's studio in all of Rome.
You will be astounded at the display of his art works on the first floor - an extraordinary huge sculpture of Christ depicted as the disposition spans a good portion of a wall. Pietro did huge marble sculptures and worked with a detail that was never comprimised, even given the speed that became so well known. His hand was commissioned by the majority of the day's notable internationals.