Venerating Antiquity

Rome - Truth Unveiled by Time

2009-03-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

This week I have decided to switch it up a bit and write about a piece that has recently inspired me. I’m going to fast-forward through Classical times for this post to the times of the Italian Renaissance and introduce you to “La Verita Scoperta dal Tempo,” or The Truth Unveiled by Time, sculpted in 1645 by the leading artist of the Renaissance period, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The work remained in the Bernini household until 1924, when it was transferred to the Galleria Borghese, a museum in Rome.

I came upon this sculpture during my first visit to the Galleria Borghese. It struck me at first because, besides the immense size of it, it looked a little out of place to me among the other pristine, pearly grayish-white marble sculptures that adorn the rest of the museum. In contrast, this work has an odd color mixture of tan, yellow and cream shades within its marble.

"La Verita Scoperta dal Tempo," Galleria Borghese, Rome

The naked woman in the sculpture represents "Truth," holding the sun in her hand and resting her foot on the earth. Bernini's intention was to have the allegorical figure of “Time” being the force removing the drape, thus revealing the naked truth. The figure of “Time” however, was never sculpted, leaving us to wonder what Bernini would have used to sum up such an awesome power.

This was Bernini’s most personal work that he sculpted for himself as a testament to the truth he knew within.

The general belief is that he created this sculpture as a response to wrongful accusations made by his adversaries at the Vatican of causing structural problems at St. Peter’s Basilica. He began work on this piece in 1645 at a difficult time for him and a critical time for the church, after the death of Pope Urban VIII.

My own hypothesis of this sculpture's meaning is a little different. Is it possible that Bernini had animosity towards the church and the Vatican for these accusations and sculpted this work for himself with a more esoteric meaning?

As we see, the veil is being pulled off the figure of "Truth," hence the truth being uncovered. Is it not true that when conditioned thoughts and obstruction of beliefs caused by outside influences finally falls away and one has true clarity of mind, that the truth will reveal itself?

If the general opinion is to be accepted, I cannot help but wonder of what significance the Sun and the Earth have in this sculpture?

What I believe Bernini is calling truth is the nature of the universe, or what is known as the True Law. When my hypothesis is considered, it makes logical sense for the Earth to symbolize the Universe and the Sun to symbolize Nature. In essence, "Truth" has one foot upon the Earth and holds on to Nature in the palm of her hand.

It can be interpreted that this piece has more meaning to it than was originally thought. Perhaps Bernini was disheartened by his adversaries' opinion of him and his work and perhaps he did not believe in the church's message. Perhaps he is even saying in "Truth," or maybe what he knew in his heart, that once the "veil" of the church's beliefs has been pulled away or "unveiled" then the true law be revealed and in the end, the truth will prevail.

What do you think?

Copyright © 2009, La Rosa Siciliana. All Rights Reserved.

Aesculapius, God of Healing & Medicine

2009-03-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

photo from the Botanical Gardens in Palermo, Sicily

The Greek god Asklepios, or Aesculapius as the Romans called him, was known to all as the father of medicine. According to writings as far back as 1500 BC, he was the child of the god Apollo and his mortal mistress Coronis. The legend of this half-man, half-god’s birth is a metaphoric one and allegedly took place in Epidaurus, Greece. After learning of Coronis’ infidelity, Apollo killed her in a fit of rage and upon her death, he realized she was pregnant.

Out of grief he delivered their unborn child from her womb. Aesculapius’ birth symbolized the possibility of life in the face of death, or in other words the nature of surgery and medicine. Apollo then gave his child to Chiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) known for his knowledge of medicine, to raise and train him in the healing arts and he became known thereafter for his superior medicinal and healing abilities.

It is believed that around 1237 BC, Zeus killed Aesculapius with a thunderbolt because he had revived the dead, thus threatening the laws of the major deities.

BECOMING A GOD

It was after his death that Aesculapian worship spread to other regions. This is when he became known as a full on god. Legend says that he was granted immortality by the grace of Zeus, who saw how the people worshiped him and felt remorseful about his death. Therefore, he granted him his father Apollo’s position as god of healing.

The cult of Aesculapius began in Epidaurus, where the foundations of the first Asklepieion, or healing center, still stand. More than 200 temples were built all over Greece during the time that his cult was at its height. In 293 BC, worship of the god reached to Rome when, as an attempt to cure the plague, the Romans built a temple to him on Tiber Island. Aesculapius became accepted as the most important Greco-Roman god of healing, a position he held until about 500 AD.

drawing of what the Asklepieion Sanctuary in Epidaurus may have looked like

THE ASKLEPIEION DREAM TEMPLES
The Asklepieion were large sanctuaries built near natural running springs. His temples were known as ”dream temples” in which the ritual of incubation took place. The sick would sleep in the temple overnight where in their dreams they hoped to be visited by the god or his symbol, a snake. The snake is the Aesculapius’ sacred symbol because of its ability to shed its skin to become anew; a metaphor for healing.

In their dreams they would receive remedies, treatment and some would even be healed of their ailments upon awakening. Pilgrims came from all over the world by the hundreds to be healed. His followers believed that one couldn't be healed or visited by the god until one was at ease with his own soul; thus they could only enter the temple after they had cleansed themselves in a sacred spring and held “pure and holy thoughts” in their minds.

Numerous stone tablets bearing stories of miraculous cures and terracotta figures of body parts that were healed were found about the temple grounds as gratitude.

Aesculapius’ temples and worship survived way past his pagan counterparts and lasted into the first few centuries of the Christian era. The fathers of the Christian church considered him the most serious competitor of Jesus Christ. Although they attacked Aesculapius with bitterness, they had no choice but to recognize the similar healing and miracle performing abilities that Jesus shared with him.

AESCULAPIAN SYMBOLS
Although he is no longer regarded as a deity, Aesculapius is still revered in medical circles, and many organizations bear his name or his symbol. His staff, entwined by a single serpent, is the symbol of medicine.

Aesculapian Staff

However, it is often confused with the caduceus, or a staff with two snakes, which was actually associated with the god Hermes and not Aesculapius, which is more likely what we associate with hospitals, pharmacies and medical practices.

Staff of Hermes often confused with that of Aesculapius

AESCULAPIUS TODAY
There is only one Temple of Aesculapius that stands today in the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome. Surrounded by a serene artificial lake and only accessible by boat, it was constructed as a memory in 1786 to replicate the temple on Tiber Island.

the Temple of Aesculapius in Villa Borghese gardens, Rome

Temple detail and statue of Aesculapius

This was a place where my much of my inner healing took place during the time I lived in Rome. I do attest to the healing power of Aesculapius as I have witnessed it firsthand and highly recommend a visit to this site to quiet the mind and uplift the spirit. The Temple at the Villa Borghese gardens is a haven of inner peace, tranquility and harmony; truly an Aesculapian surrounding. This is the one stop that I never miss making a pilgrimage to when I visit.

Copyright © 2009, La Rosa Siciliana. All Rights Reserved.

Rome - Tiber Island & the Temple of Aesculapius

2009-03-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sitting atop Rome’s only river, the river Tiber, is a small boat-shaped land mass called Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island).

Many legends circulate in regard to how the island came to be. Some believe the island’s foundation was formed in 510 BC when bundles of grain harvested and owned by the Roman king Tarquinius the Superb, were tossed angrily into the Tiber during the revolt against him. Others say that after the fall of the hated king, the victorious Romans threw his body into the Tiber, which attracted settlements of garbage and dirt (words the people associated with the king himself) thus, becoming the foundation of the island.

Due to its negative connotations, Tiber Island grew to become a place of condemnation for the city's worst criminals. But in 300 BC, when the plague struck Rome, it turned into an island of containment for the city's contagiously sick and dying.

With the population quickly dwindling and no known cure, the Roman Senate sought guidance from the Decemviri, the ten men priests of sacred matters, who guarded and consulted the mystic Sybilline books in times of dire need. They informed the senate to send some men to Epidaurus (Greece) in order to obtain an image of Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing and medicine. Upon their return a temple dedicated to him was to be built on Tiber Island.

When the delegates returned from Greece with a statue of Aesculapius in tow, they realized a snake from the Aesculapion (the god’s healing center in Epidaurus) had gotten onto the ship and sailed with them.

The snake, being the symbol of Aesculapius, was considered a sign of favor from above. When the boat docked at Tiber Island, the snake slithered from the ship and swam ashore. Where it rested, they built the temple.

The temple was inaugurated in 293 BC and after its construction was complete, the plague miraculously disappeared. Ever since, Tiber Island has been a center for healing and medicine. Numerous terracotta votive offerings have been found on the site of the old temple, in shapes of body parts believed to be healed by the god.

To commemorate the journey, the island was decorated to look like a boat, complete with an obelisk in the middle to act as the boat’s mass.

Below is a drawing from a map of ancient Rome, reconstructing how the island may have looked in ancient times:

The shadow of the boat shape can still be made out today.

Presently, on the island stands the modern day Fatebenefratelli (meaning “Do Well Brothers”) Hospital and above the grounds where the temple once stood is the church of San Bartolomeo.

It is said that upon the island (and especially in the church) you can still feel the healing power of Aesculapius. More on him in the next post…

Copyright © 2009, La Rosa Siciliana. All Rights Reserved.

Rome - Tempio di Minerva Medica

2009-02-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

I discovered this ruin on one of my first days wandering around in Rome in the heart of the Esquilino area, near the main train station, Termini. With no signage or information available on the monument and not finding mention of it in any guide book, I became intrigued and spent some time imagining what it could be. I would walk past it everyday and have no clue what I was looking at, except an out of place, desolate shell of something that had to be exceptionally beautiful and glorious in its time.

It was days later that I found out what it actually was, thanks to my expansive Rome bus route map that I had picked up at the station. There it was, staring me right in the face - a little picture of the dome marked the “Tempio di Minerva.”

Minerva, one of my favorite deities, is the Italian goddess of wisdom and warriors who corresponds to the Greek goddess Athena. In this instance, being named Minerva Medica, or Minerva the doctor, her aspect of healing is highlighted.

Cult statue of the Goddess Minerva, circa 4 B.C.

However, later I found, the structure is not actually a temple dedicated to her, but is a 4th century nymphaeum, or grotto, consecrated to the water nymphs, whose spirits were believed to reside near natural springs and rivers. It had been named the Tempio di Minerva due to a statue of her found at the site during excavations.

The nymphaeum was part of the Horti Liciniani, a set of gardens that were located on a vast villa complex owned by a family of plebeians called the Licinii.

What is interesting about this structure is its shape - a 12 sided dome. Inside the structure, there are nine niches and above them are spaces for ten corresponding arched windows. When it stood in ancient times, both the exterior and interior were decorated with colorful marble, leaving its original opulence to the imagination.

Rome - La Porta Magica (The Magic Door)

2009-02-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

La Porta Magica or “the Magic Door” stands in Rome’s Esquilino area, which lies a little bit south of the city center in an area that has grown a reputation for being called Rome’s “Chinatown.” This small area of ruin is the only remaining portion of Villa Palombara, the 17th century residence of Marquis Massilmiliano di Palombara, senator of Rome and practicing alchemist.

In 1873, demolition on the villa began in order to make room for the new public square of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. La Porta Magica, hidden from the outside view, was discovered when an exterior wall of the villa was knocked down.

The Magic Door is said to be the entrance to Palombara’s alchemy lab, where he and the alchemists he funded practiced rituals and carried out experiments in hopes of discovering the formula for the “Philosopher’s Stone.” Discovering this formula, which turned base metals into gold, was the alchemists’ goal.

Upon inspection, the door itself was found to be “magically” sealed shut, possibly by the esoteric inscriptions that it boasts, and could not be opened. Being superstitious, a common trait amongst Romans, this curiosity alone gave them enough reason to take it as an omen. Therefore, the piazza was constructed around La Porta Magica, leaving it the only portion of the villa standing.

While we cannot get a peek inside what is left of the laboratory, the inscriptions around the entrance give insight into his depth of involvement in the study and what went on inside. Etched around the door jam are inscriptions of symbols that resemble the planets and their corresponding gods and metals, which still can be seen today. Each set of symbols is accompanied by esoteric mottos in Latin such as, “When in your house black crows give birth to white doves, then you can be called a sage.”

The top part of the jam displays the inscription “RUAH ELOHIM” written in Hebrew and meaning “Divine Spirit.”

The circular ornamentation above the door bears the six pointed dual-triangle star, also known as the symbol of King Solomon.

If we look to the sides of the door, we notice two rather dwarfed, bearded men who seem to be slightly Oriental in nature. They, however, are not Oriental but Egyptian, and portray images of the god Bes, an ancient Egyptian deity associated with having oracular and demonic qualities.

In ancient times, the Romans adopted the numerous gods and goddesses of their conquered cities, and the cult of Bes became pretty widespread throughout the city. However, theses statues were not original to the Villa Palombara. They were found in 1888 during a dig in another area of Rome called the Quirinale, the area where Italy’s president lives today, and had been placed at La Porta Magica soon thereafter.

Folk legends are still discussed up to present day about La Porta Magica and its true meaning.