Where is Julius Caesar?

Today is our last in Rome for this holiday... and we allocated our time to museums. We had a choice of over 50 museums... we called into an Information Centre for their help in selecting the best on offer... and said our interest lay in the period covering the Republic and itsmNot imediate aftermath. 

You may think our choice a little high-brow... but today was another 32°+ day... sites with air-conditioning had added attraction. 

The supply of raw materials for museums is not lacking. We had a peep into open doors of storage  areas and saw hundreds of statues just waiting for their day in the sun. On the museums' verandahs were the good quality statues that had not been identified... who is that maiden lounging on the sofa with her nose missing... one day a young research student will identify her... "goodness, is that what Hadrian's wife looked like!" There is enough unused material to fill another 50 museums. 

Today we put in 5 hours walking through statues, mosaics, frescoes and paintings from the period covering 100 years from 100 BC... the period when so much happened in the empire. Like so many Australians, I think of Julius Caesar as the most swashbuckling character of the period. I was expecting plenty of statues... a painting would have been nice... but what was on offer... nothing... plenty of statues of his adopted son... Augustine... but Julie didn't get a guernsey. Did the British Museum take all of the statues of Julius Caesar ? 

What we did see was the Baths of Diocletian... once extending over 13 hectares... thermal... open to all citizens... ceiling with heights in excess of 20 metres... more massive than Lane Cove's efforts. The decorations put together by Diocletian may have been a bit more elaborate as well. Michaelangelo organised a renovation of the area... but some unknown town clerk thought he could do better and did away with Angelo's efforts... I suppose Angelo didn't allow for the extra lane of horse and buggy... that was essential for the progress of Rome. 

The most startling impression for today was to compare the sophistication of art in statues with the relative primitive efforts being made with painting at the same period. Perhaps, painting equipment may not have been advanced... paper, paint, colours, brushes, etc. But the expressions, movement and emotions being conveyed in sculpture just were not attempted in painting. Tomorrow, we make tracks to the Amalfi coast to find new adventures. 

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