The Price

'You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.'

- Miriam Adeney

Roman era graffiti found on Colosseum

Roman era graffiti found on Colosseum

Graffiti dating from the Roman era has been found scrawled on the walls of the Colosseum during restoration work.

By Nick Squires, Rome

10 January 2013

Restorers also discovered fragments of brightly coloured frescoes, suggesting that the ancient monument was gaudily decorated when it hosted gladiatorial fights and wild animal hunts under the emperors.

The fragments – in ochre, red, blue and green – are in stark contrast to the monochrome grey and white of the travertine marble that covers the facade of the amphitheatre today.

The graffiti includes hard-to-decipher words and symbols as well as two large phalluses – possibly an erotic representation, or perhaps just lewd scribbling.

The new discoveries were made on the third and highest level of the Colosseum, which is closed to the public.

They are spread out over a 200ft-long section of a covered tunnel which would have funnelled spectators to their seats high above the arena.

The coloured frescoes were "an extraordinary discovery", said Rossella Rea, who is in charge of the landmark in the centre of Rome.

"We weren't expecting to find them. There is still a great deal to be studied and there will almost certainly be other surprises."

The frescoes would have been "rich and elaborate" in colour and detail, said Ida Simonelli, the head of the restoration team.

A £22 million restoration of the Colosseum, to be funded by Diego Della Valle, the multi-millionaire founder of the Tod's shoe empire, is scheduled to begin within weeks.

It will be the most comprehensive restoration effort in more than 70 years and is expected to take two years.

The project, which will entail removing decades of grime from the facade of the Colosseum, will take place in phases so that the amphitheatre can remain open to visitors.

The privately-funded work, which has been delayed by months of bureaucracy, is being seen as a model for the sponsoring of other ancient sites in Italy, including Pompeii.

Source from The Telegraph

Matching

An artist painting a picture of a statue of a Flemish artists in Bruges, Belgium, May 1955

National Geographic

The Enclave - Richard Mosse

Interview with Richard Mosse, representing Ireland in the Venice Art Biennale 2013 with "The Enclave", filmed in the Congo.

All Was Sunshine

'All was sunshine - all was spring! The vine hung in long trails from tree to tree; never since have I seen Italy so beautiful. I sailed on Lago Maggiore; ascended the cathedral of Milan; passed several days in Genoa, and made from thence a journey, rich in the beauties of nature, along the shore to Carrara. I had seen statues in Paris, but my eyes were closed to them; in Florence, before the Venus de Medici, it was for the first time as if scales fell from my eyes; a new world of art disclosed itself before me; that was the first fruit of my journey. Here it was that I first learned to understand the beauty of form - the spirit which reveals itself in form. The life of the people - nature - all was new to me; and yet as strangely familiar as if I were come to a home where I had lived in my childhood. With a peculiar rapidity did I seize upon everything, and entered into its life...'

from The True Story of My Life: A Sketch by Hans Christian Andersen

Chanel Exhibition

Chanel Exhibition on Euromaxx, Deutsche Welle

The first exhibition ever dedicated to a perfume is for Chanel No. 5, at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris

Hævnen

Hævnen, or In A Better World, as it is known in English, is a Danish film directed by Susanne Bier that won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011. 

"Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his work at an African refugee camp. In these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness. Anton and his wife Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), who have two young sons, are separated and struggling with the possibility of divorce. Their older, ten-year-old son Elias (Markus Rygaard) is being bullied at school, until he is defended by Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen), a new boy who has just moved from London with his father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen). Christian's mother recently lost her battle with cancer, and Christian is greatly troubled by her death. Elias and Christian quickly form a strong bond, but when Christian involves Elias in a dangerous act of revenge with potentially tragic consequences, their friendship is tested and lives are put in danger. Ultimately, it is their parents who are left to help them come to terms with the complexity of human emotions, pain and empathy."

The acting, cinematography, and musical soundtrack are all perfect elements in a film that questions what it means to be on this planet; what it means to choose between peace and revenge. The story itself is perhaps a bit ponderous, but the message of the film is so strong and so heartfelt that one cannot come away from it untouched. Bier challenges Hollywood's notions of the age-old themes of life and death, rendering a fresh take on the fragility of humankind. I urge you all to see Hævnen. I haven't seen many Scandinavian films, but I will for sure remember this for a long time.

Out and About in Pisa

Out and About in Pisa, on Euromaxx City, Deutsche Welle

Treading Flowers

Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer on their villa near Rome, Italy, January 1960

Echoes

'Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.'
- Giotto di Bondone

An Italian Key

An Italian Key written and directed by Rosa Karo in 2011, tells the tale of Cabella, an orphaned young woman who inherits an old key and travels to Italy to explore her family's history. Beautiful vistas of Italian countryside create the perfect backdrop for a languid, dreamlike fairy tale.

Viva Venice

Viva Venice on Euromaxx, Deutsche Welle

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Trafalgar Square, London

National Geographic Magazine

September 1953

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Italy: Prison Island of Gorgola on European Journal, Deutsche Welle

After having visited Alcatraz last month, it was interesting to see this video of an island which still serves as a prison.

Valentine

I thought I'd be much better at blogging when I came to America, but there are just so many exciting things to do here that I don't have enough time to update this often. But today, in honour of Valentine's Day; which is so prominent a celebration here; are some photos of a 40 square metre mural that features the endearment 'I love you' in more than 300 different languages of the world. The wall made of 612 tiles is at the centre of the Abbesses garden in Montmartre, Paris. It was designed by Federico Barone and Claire Kito.

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An hilarious video on Corriere della Sera featuring a driver from Cardito, a province of Naples, who cannot park. Blocking traffic on both sides, a small crowd gathers; other cars, bikers, a church procession.

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German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle talks about the relationship between Germany and France.

Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers

Article from BBC

Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers

The French government has overturned a 200-year-old ban on women wearing trousers.

The Minister of Women's Rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, said that the ban was incompatible with modern French values and laws.

She said the law, imposed on November 17, 1800, had in effect already been rescinded because of incompatibility.

The move to formally repeal the law followed a parliamentary question asked last year.

According to the law, women needed to have the permission of local police if they wanted to "dress like a man" and wear trousers.

Though it has been ignored for decades, formally it remained on the statute books.

Ms Vallaud-Belkacem said the original law had been intended to prevent women doing certain jobs.

"This order was aimed first of all at limiting the access of women to certain offices or occupations by preventing them from dressing in the manner of men," she said.

It was modified in 1892 and 1909 to allow women to wear trousers if they were "holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse".

During the French Revolution, Parisian women had requested the right to wear trousers and working-class revolutionaries became known as "sans-culottes" for wearing trousers instead of the silk-knee breeches preferred by the bourgeoisie.

Full Moon Silhouettes

Here is a beautiful video, Full Moon Silhouettes by Mark Gee, that I first stumbled upon on la Repubblica, and have since found a link to the original post here on Vimeo.

'Full Moon Silhouettes is a real time video of the moon rising over the Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. People had gathered up there this night to get the best view possible of the moon rising. I captured the video from 2.1km away on the other side of the city. It's something that I've been wanting to photograph for a long time now, and a lot of planning and failed attempts had taken place. Finally, during moon rise on the 28th January 2013, everything fell into place and I got my footage.

The video is as it came off the memory card and there has been no manipulation whatsoever.'

President Obama Delivers His Second Inaugural Address

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Some photographs of Barack Obama's second inauguration into Presidency of the United States of America.