Daily Updates
Week Four: Oct. 16
16 October. Sarah reporting: After a relaxing night of churning out emperor papers in Paestum, we greeted the morning with crusty, red eyes, a healthy dose of carpal tunnel soreness, and plenty of grumbling. Some shook off enough of their malaise to make it down to a carbohydrate heavy traditional Italian breakfast of cookies and milk, while others lingered in bed, but eventually, we all managed to haul our collective keesters back onto the bus with Renato. Three hours later, we made a stop in Salerno for Italian coffee and a look at a beautifully mosaic-covered Duomo. Later, up the Amalfi coast at Torre Annunciata, our brains were satiated with an education in Pompeiian wall painting and Roman villa architecture in the fabulous “Villa of Oplontis”. Recently excavated (in the 1950’s) this sumptuous seaside getaway may have been an imperial complex and has some totally killer features, such as well-preserved paint, a servant’s latrine, and a gigantic swimming pool. Sign me up for one of those, baby. The day ended at the Villa of the Misteries Motel in Pompeii, where papers were handed in and sighs of relief were vigorously exhaled. Dinner, Sleep, etc.
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: A medieval inscription on a Roman piece of sculpture
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: The right end of the inscription
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: Looking into the atrium
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: A protective lion at the entrance
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: the atrium and bell tower
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: the great bronze doors cast in Constantinople
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: a detail from the doors
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: a detail of the doors
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: A Byzantine mosaic of St. Matthew
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: a mosaic decorated pulpit
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: a detail of the mosaic
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: a detail of the mosaic
16 October. The Duomo of Salerno: the crypt, elaborately decorated in the Baroque style
16 October. The Salerno fish market: note the sword fish in the top corner
16 October. The Villa of Oplontis in Torre Annunziata
16 October. Courtney, Sarah and Brian engage in the art of note-taking
16 October. Matt, instead, gives me his best James Dean
16 October. Joanna
16 October. The group, outside the villa
16 October. The group, inside the villa
16 October. Original terracotta gutter and spouts for rainwater
16 October. A brick column with stuccoed fluting
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis: a detail
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis: a detail
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis: a close up
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis: a vaulted niche
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis: a close up of the stucco molding
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis
16 October. Plaster casts of the original wooden shutters that would have been in the windows
16 October. Wall paintings from Oplontis: a detail
16 October. The peristyle courtyard
16 October. Amphorae in a storage room
16 October. A carbonized piece of the original wooden lintel