Wanted in Rome - December 2021

Poste Italiane S.p.a. Sped. in abb. post. DL 353/2003 (Conv. in L 27/02/2004 N.46) art. 1 comma 1 Aut. C/RM/04/2013 - Anno 13, Numero 11 DECEMBER 2021 | € 2,00

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAGAZINE IN ROME

WHAT'S+

ON

WHERE TO GO IN ROME

ART AND CULTURE ENTERTAINMENT GALLERIES MUSEUMS NEWS

0 0 0 1 1

CONT

EDITORIALS

still create images of hell on earth today Mary Wilsey

10. PIETRO DA CORTONA:

ROME’S THIRD BAROQUE GENIUS Martin Bennett

14. CHRISTMAS CRIBS AND

NATIVITY SCENES IN ROME Andy devane

16. LAKES AROUND ROME 18. ROME FOR children 20. STREET ART guide 22. MUSEUMS 24. ART GALLERIES 40. CULTURAL VENUES 42. Wanted in rome junior 45. RECIPE 46. puntarella rossa 50. USEFUL NUMBERS

DIRETTORE RESPONSABILE: Marco Venturini EDITRICE: Società della Rotonda Srl, Via delle Coppelle 9 PROGETTO GRAFICO: Dali Studio Srl IMPAGINAZIONE: Simona Castellari STAMPA: Graffietti Stampati S.n.c.

DIFFUSIONE: Emilianpress Scrl, Via delle Messi d’Oro 212, tel. 0641734425.

Registrazione al Trib. di Roma numero 118 del 30/3/2009 già iscritta con il numero 131del 6/3/1985.

Finito di stampare il 30/11/2021

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAGAZINE IN ROME

Poste Italiane S.p.a. Sped. in abb. post. DL 353/2003 (Conv. in L 27/02/2004 N.46) art. 1 comma 1 Aut. C/RM/04/2013 - Anno 13, Numero 11 DECEMBER 2021 | € 2,00

4. Dante's Inferno can

MISCELLANY

WHAT'S ON

30. EXHIBITIONS 32. ART news 34. OPERA 36. Classical 38. Dance

CURRENTLY SUSPENDED Copies are on sale at: Newsstands in Rome Anglo American Bookstore, Via della Vite 102 Wanted in Rome, Via di Monserrato 49 Wanted in Rome Via di Monserrato 49 - tel. 066867967 advertising@wantedinrome.com editorial@wantedinrome.com www.wantedinrome.com www.wantedinmilan.com

WHAT'S+

ON

WHERE TO GO IN ROME ART AND CULTURE ENTERTAINMENT GALLERIES MUSEUMS NEWS

Piazza della Rotonda

by Thomas W. Schaller Watercolour, 38x38 cm www.thomasschaller.com

ENTS 4

Dante's Inferno can still create images of hell on earth today

10

30

PIETRO DA CORTONA: ROME’S THIRD BAROQUE GENIUS

EXHIBITIONS

38 classical

Art

DANTE'S INFERNO CAN STILL CREATE IMAGES OF HELL ON EARTH TODAY SCUDERIE DEL QUIRINALE TAKES VISITORS ON A HELLISH TOUR INSPIRED BY DANTE'S INFERNO

T

he exhibition Inferno at Scuderie del Quirinale, open until 9 January, marks the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri. Coming shortly after the show on Raffaele, to mark the 500th anniversary of the painter's birth, this is another feather in the Scuderie's cap.

While the Raffaele exhibition had to shut because of the covid-19 lockdown, L'Inferno was organised during the pandemic. It is an impressive achievement that the curator and French art historian, Jean Clair, Dante in exile by Domenico Petarlini (1897).

4 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Mary Wilsey together with the Le Scuderie del Qurinale, managed to put together 232 works, from 87 collections and 15 countries at a time when the world was effectively still in lockdown, or at least not working at its normal pace.

It is strange therefore that images of plagues and their various manifestations are nowhere to be seen in this exhibition. How many pandemics over the centuries have created their own versions of hell, death, fear, anxiety, loneliness and economic

Gli orrori della guerra: l’esodo by Gaetano Previati (1917).

devastation? Perhaps the pandemic is still too close to us, too difficult to understand, to have been included in this exhibition.

Clair first thought up the idea of an exhibition on the subject of hell in happier times, back in 2006. It was turned down when he suggested it to the Prado.

Perhaps that was not the right moment, when thoughts of hell and the devil had almost vanished from the public sphere. So it was not until the Scuderie approached the French art historian to mark the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante that the exhibition at the Quirinale came into being.

The anniversary of Dante's death was a good reason to look at the theme of hell. But as Clair himself explains, this exhibition is not only about Dante and the first book of The Divine Comedy. It is about the manifestations of hell on earth. Starting with the portrayal of hell and the devil in the teachings of the Mediaeval Church, it follows through with more recent manifestations of hell, such as war, the dehumanisation of the industrial revolution, genocide, mental illness, terrorism. It is all the more surprising therefore that it completely ignores plague as one of its hells.

The exhibition begins with the silent film Inferno made in 1911 by Francesco Bertolini.

Here anyone who has read, or set out to read, the first book of The Divine Comedy will feel at home. Not surprisingly the seats at the top of the first magnificent flight of the Scuderie stairs

are occupied mainly by young students, probably well-versed in their Dante. For those who want to move on quickly to the rest of this exhibition there is another chance to see the film on the way out.

The first few rooms are dominated by scenes of multitudes of writhing, naked bodies in various states of agony and confusion. One of the first examples is La Caduta degli Angeli Rebelli by Francesco Bertos (1750), carved from a single piece of Carrara marble. Another is a small painting Gli Inferi (1622) by Monsù Desiderio (François de Nome) who worked most of his life in Naples. The painting from the Bresançon Museum of Art and Archaeology stands out for its composition, lighting, perspective and sheer complexity of the array of small white bodies writhing their way across the scene.

However it is unquestionably the plaster of Rodin's massive unfinished Gates of Hell inspired

by Dante's Inferno that dominates the early part of the exhibition. Its 180 figures were a foundation for much of Rodin's subsequent work, as is evident from some of the smaller figures on display in the exhibition. Rodin worked on the Gates of Hell most of his life but was never satisfied and never finished them completely. Not long before he died in 1917 he gave the drawings and sculptures to the French state but they were not finally cast in bronze until 1928.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 5

Their sheer size acts as both an inspiration for visitors to the exhibition and a barrier. In order to get the correct perspective the Gates are set so far back in the room that it is difficult to manoeuvre around them, especially when they are blocked by a guided group of visitors. The Gates have a fascinating history of their own, but for the purposes of this exhibition it is exciting enough to see the central figure, originally called The Poet, after Dante of course, but which became the model for The Thinker, one of the world's best-loved pieces of sculpture.

In sharp contrast to Rodin's massive Gates are the paintings of Dante alongside Virgil guiding him through hell. The red of Dante's clothing lightens the unremitting darkness of the exhibition space and his well-known face is comfortingly familiar compared with all the paintings of contorted bodies in the first few rooms. Even the pensive and sorrowful portrait from the Uffizi of Dante in Exile by Domenico Petarlini (1897) is better than the visions of hell that come before it.

La Caduta degli Angeli Rebelli by Francesco Bertos (1750).

A series of sensitive contemporary mixed media works by Miquel Barceló, who produced 300 illustrations between 2000 and 2002 for The Divine Comedy, lighten the gloom in one of the following rooms. They manage to convey Barceló's own feeling of just how contemporary The Divine Comedy still is today.

Up the winding stairs to the next floor and the scene of Sicilian puppets brings a welcome relief, well explained in its label: "Nella cultura popolare l'inferno e il diavolo assumono a volte un carattere meno minaccioso o additura burlesco, che esprime al contempo la paura che ispirano e la possibilità di sconfiggerlo."

For a moment the prevailing feeling of evil shifts as the emphasis of the exhibition moves away from visions of hell to the devil himself, a character once so feared in religious belief but now dismissed as superstitious nonsense in contemporary society.

Next comes a series of paintings, one by Cézanne, on the Temptations of St Anthony of Egypt. The key to these is not so much the small Cézanne but the work by the Neapolitan painter Domenico Morelli painted in 1878 and probably influenced

by Flaubert's prose poem of the same name.

Here is a mix of eroticism and mysticism, realism and symbolism, with St Anthony centre stage, 6 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin.

clutching his cloak around him, as he stares into the far distance to avoid the temptations of two seductive women clearly enjoying their efforts to drive the desert father to desperation.

From these temptations in a religious key the exhibition moves to the hell on earth of the 19th and 20th centuries. The subjects make a devastatingly long list; industrialisation, the brutality of

two world wars, death and disfiguration, the extermination of the concentration camps, the Holocaust, madness, terrorism. The canvases crowded with desperate bodies are back, pushing up against each other, either in death or trying to avoid it. The painting by Gaetano Previati, Gli orrori della guerra: l’esodo (1917) shows civilians fleeing death in a scene that is all too familiar today, whether of Afghanis pushing in desperation to climb on to get-away planes at Kabul airport or of cold, starving refugees on the Belarus border forced up against the barbed wire across the Polish frontier.

One painting stands out among the others, La Matta by Giacomo Balla (1905) from the National Gallery in Rome. The woman illustrates another form of hell, of the inability to control one's body, of loneliness and isolation. The lone woman stands at an open door, alone but not alone, as she desperately attempts to control her movements and to communicate with someone inside the room.

From one agony to another, to that of disfigured faces, plaster casts of faces disfigured by the wounds of war, the living dead. Here is the double tragedy not just of the physical pain of the disfigured faces but also of the annihilation of their previous identity.

Moving into the next room the original typescript of Primo Levi's If this is a Man, the testimony to his time in Auschwitz, seems shockingly down to earth. Here are pages familiar to anyone who grew up with typewriters; the crossings out, the additions, the re-writings, the painstaking afterthoughts before a work is finally sent to the publisher. The onlooker cannot help feeling guilty to be looking so dispassionately at this sanitised version of the Holocaust, of what is left of that desperate suffering and subsequent pain.

The Twin Towers in Flames (2003) by British sculptor Raymond Mason doesn't manage to convey the shock of that out-of-the-blue event but it takes the exhibition right up to date and conveys once again the crowding, the lack of space, of bodies pushing up against each other in terror and horror.

Then finally, in the last section, we are out to the stars, almost as though we were clambering out of that hell-hole ourselves in those wonderful last lines of Dante's L'inferno.

8 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

La Matta by Giacomo Balla (1905).

E senza cura aver d'alcun riposo salimmo su, el primo e io secondo, tanto ch'i' vidi delle cose belle che porta 'l ciel, per un pertugio tondo -e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

"And with no rest from the fatigue of it, We clambered up, he first, till finally I saw the heavenly spheres Through a round hole, the aperture whence we Emerged to look once more upon the stars".

Two works by Anselm Keifer end the exhibition but we aren't quite out of hell yet. There is something challenging about Stelle Cadente (1995). Here is a man on his back under the stars, motionless with his eyes shut, as though there were something troubling and challenging him as he lies in a deathlike position. Is it wonder or fear? as he lies in a death-like position. Is it wonder or fear?

It is only as we walk down the magnificent final staircase of Le Scuderie, with its view over the roof tops of Rome, off to the dome of St Peter's in the distance, that we are finally able to leave those images of hell behind.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 9

Art

PIETRO DA CORTONA: ROME’S THIRD BAROQUE GENIUS CORTONA COMPETES WITH TWO MORE FAMOUS CONTEMPORARIES

O

Martin Bennett

pen any guide-book and, to reduce fame to a crude word-count, the Bs have it: Bernini and Borromini. Or vice-versa. Part alphabetical/alliterative coincidence perhaps, part their biographically fascinating rivalry, Bernini and Borromini have tended to push Pietro da Cortona Rome’s third Baroque genius to the background.

Right of SS. Maria Maggiore’s altar Bernini’s simple grave-slab contains the phrase ‘DECUS ARTIUM ET URBIS’/ glory of arts and city. The same could be said of Pietro da Cortona. Spectacular ceilings, tapestries, fresco-cycles, church and palace façades and an entire church, SS. Luca e Martina, in the Roman Forum. His work adorns Rome, and also beyond.

Like Bernini’s father, Cortona was Tuscan, together with the same-named town (Cortona) the painter, a.k.a Pietro Berrettini, is named after. And it was Florentine merchant-banker/ecclesiastical family, the Sacchetti, who supplied his first commissions.

He designed one of the family villas, the sincedemolished Casa del Pigneto – out along Via Aurelia, north of the Tiber – and brilliantly reproduced it on canvas. Undepicted are the mosquitoes which would soon make the palace uninhabitable. Between the Tiber and a sail-flecked sea, the building stands spotlit by a break in the clouds.

Cortona's vast Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power marked a watershed in Baroque painting.

10 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

In the Sachetti family’s second/substitute ‘casa’, 66 Via Giulia, his portrait of Cardinal Giulio Sacchetti (now in Galleria Borghese) was long the salone’s centre-piece. For the cardinal’s brother, Marcello, there were a series of early paintings eventually passed down to the Capitoline museum. One is a haunting depiction of Marcello, a model of taste

and elegance. An anxious/melancholy gaze and the left hand clutching a white handerchief suggests the illness causing the nobleman’s untimely death (1629).

Tuscan connections recurring, when Maffeo Barberini (from another exiled Florentine family) became pope, Marcello Sacchetti was appointed his general and secret treasurer. Pietra da Cortona, talent already proven, was in the right place and at the right time, progressing from Sacchetti painter/ architect to papal one. But, unlike occasionally volatile Bernini and the infamously grumpy Borromini, Cortona with his reassuringly stable character wasn’t inclined to throw such opportunities away. To quote art historian Jorg Merz, “He moved gently through Rome’s quarrelsome artistic world, avoiding the limelight.” Writing in 1736, Pascoli (one of Cortona’s biographers) describes him as “friendly and charming, courteous and wary when he spoke of himself.”

And so to his frescoes in S. Bibiana, where in 1624, during fitful renovation work, masons came upon two urns. Given the church’s associations with the family home of the Roman martyr, the pope quickly identified the remains as the saint’s, and a favourable omen for his papacy. Sacchetti providing funding, renovation was stepped up. Bernini assumed architectural duties, Cortona that of painting one of the three naves. The church nowadays stands like an abandoned ship between Termini’s numerous rail-tracks.

‘Se piove pe’ Santa Bibiana, piove quaranta giorni e un’ settimana’ goes a local proverb. (If it rains on S. Bibiana’s Day, it’ll rain for 40 days and a week.) And Cortona’s frescoes (of the saint refusing to worship pagan gods, and her subsequent martyrdom) are interwoven with motifs depicting lush fruit and foliage. The bucolic imagery points back to the fertility of Horti Liciniani outside, a source of herbs against nervous disorders, the saint appropriating curative powers previously attributed to the Minerva Medicina Roman temple down the road (Via Giolitti.)

Cortona and Bernini next meet in the Capitoline Museums. In Cortona’s theatrical and life-sized Rape of the Sabine Women. Like the sculptor, Cortona designed masques and stage-sets and two figures in the foreground seem familiar; their poses borrow from Bernini’s Daphne and Apollo/ Pluto and Proserpine statues. Hereby saving costs of a model?

The Baroque façade of S. Maria della Pace was added by Cortona at the behest of Pope Alexander VII.

From his apprenticeship under Domenichino, Cortona was a prolific drawer; sculptures and friezes supplied a repertoire of ready-made, dramaticallyproven stances. Yet, adopting the then-fashionable idea that painting and poetry are sides of the same coin, Cortona would add any number of imaginative, sometimes humorous touches of his own.

In his Triumph of Bacchus in the Capitoline Museums, for example, an infant centaur totters on the tips of his hooves to peer inside an amphora. Offsetting the classical fixities of the temple behind is the rollicking energy of the god’s entourage. A riot of colour as well as limbs, critics citing the influence of Rubens who had passed through Rome not long before (1606-8). Cortona’s versality continues in a ‘protolandscape’ of the alum mine to which Pope Urban had awarded the Sacchetti family a monopoly.

Inside Palazzo Barberini Cortona takes a leap in scale. Climb either stairway – Borromini’s spiral or Bernini’s grand, if-more-conventional, equivalent – the ceiling in the Salone hosts another triumph, ‘The Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power.’ Cortona directs a cast of hundreds.

Artist fees often depended on just that, the number of figures portrayed, here to the princely tune of 4000 ducats. Temperance, Religion and Piety personified, occupy their respective clouds. Fury, disarmed, reclines on his weapons. Dunce Titans get flunked by a spear-wielding Minerva. Crane your neck some more and there’s Hercules clubbing Avarice’s harpies. At ceiling’s centre hover, like heraldic aeroplanes, so-called ‘bomber bees’, the Barberini symbole.

Images of nepotism? Cortona a servant of power?

But wait. Off to one side Silenus, the boozy centaur, appears to slip Providence’s gaze. As he’s poured another drink, the glorious slob, on transfer for “The Triumph of Bacchus”, almost steals the scene. Cortona, then, is a secret satirist? Except, Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 11

Art this piece of street theatre’s effect that a wall-notice stipulates the design be in no way changed by future generations. Today’s crowds keep to nearby Piazza Navona. Comparatively secluded, Piazza della Pace, matching its name, remains one of Roma’s most delightful squares. And to think Cortona claimed his architecture was a mere hobby…

Also little visited in SS. Luca and Martina. As tourists shuttle between the Roman Forum and Campidoglio, the church is easily overlooked, which is a pity, given its beautiful crypt. Cortona’s work actually began back under Pope Urban, inspired, as with S. Bibiana, by concurrent exhumation of a saint – Martina. The remains’ authenticity has since been contested*, but initially fortune and/or providence seemed in Cortona’s favour. Until his patron, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, was accused

by Innocent X of embezzlement and fled to France.

A seven year interruption ensued. After which Cortona’s work started again, this time on the upper church, including rose-stuccoed dome and the floor where he would eventually be buried.

Self portrait by Pietro da Cortona.

from his sympathetic portrait of Urban VIII back in the Capitoline Museums one may hazard that the Barberini pope is smiling too. The ceiling could have turned out differently. While Cortona was away decorating Florence’s Pitti Palace, two overweening assistants determined to complete the masterwork on their own. However their presumption was checked when the intonaco / plaster ran out, stuccatori’s / plasterers’ pay having fallen in arrears.

Urban’s papacy once ended, Barberini cardinals having fled to France, one might expect a downturn in Cortona’s fortunes. But, talent and tact ever to the fore, he was soon decorating pro-Spanish Innocent X’s Pamphilij palace/ new power-centre in Piazza Navona with “Stories of Aeneas.” Ownership currently resting with the Brazilian embassy, the fresco-cycle is visitable twice a week for guided tours in Italian and Portuguese.

Under Alexander VII, Cortona’s first Chigi commission was S. Maria della Pace.

The facade of the new church, alternating concave and convex a la Borromini, conjured harmony from urban mess. Better seen than described, a confined space suddenly seemed much larger. So pleasing was 12 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Out of envy or no, some of Cortona’s fellow S. Luca academicians suspected a plot to turn the church, (his ‘beloved daughter’ he called it) into a private mausoleum**. The lower church was roped off and a six-year controversy broke out. Accusing the academicians of obtructionism, Cortona’s supporters prevailed, duly placing in the lower church a more fulsome wall-plaque/cenonotaph and bust.

Not that Cortona ceased painting altogether. Next door to the rippling façade of Borromini’s Oratory, S. Maria in Vallicella combines spectacle with the miraculous. Look up and one sees an expanse of (blue) sky. The church-roof, or its remains, threatens to crash down on one’s head. Only the presence of the Virgin and some strong-armed putti prevent disaster.

Cortona continued creating alterpieces. In Borromini’s S. Ivo, then in S. Carlo dei Catinari.

In Pope Alexander’s 1661 refurbishment of Castel Gandolfo’s church to newly-canonised Tommaso da Villanova, he created The Crucifixion altarpiece.

Working alongside him in the church was Bernini, as they had done back in S. Bibiana 37 years before. *Donatella Sparti, Article, 998 **Corinna Ricosoli- from ‘Who telleth a tale of unspeaking death’, Dublin

UK NATIONAL SETTLED IN ITALY BEFORE 1 JANUARY 2021?

Make sure your residency in Italy is easily recognised. Request your new Carta di Soggiorno Elettronica from your local Questura as soon as possible. And don’t get confused…it isn’t the same thing as your electronic ID card.

Find out more on gov.uk/livinginitaly

Christmas in Rome

CHRISTMAS CRIBS AND NATIVITY SCENES IN ROME ROME HOSTS A RICH DISPLAY OF CHRISTMAS CRIBS AND NATIVITY SCENES DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON Andy Devane

T

e best known crib exhibition in Rome, and perhaps in the world, is 100 Presepi. The 2021 edition of the international display, now in its 46th year, is being held under the colonnade in St Peter’s Square from 5 January until 9 January. A firm fixture on Rome’s Christmas calendar, each year 100 Presepi hosts some Nativity scenes from across Italy and dozens of other countries.

The figurines, made of ceramic, maguey wood and fibreglass, will be dressed in traditional Chopcca costumes.

Baby Jesus will be represented as a “Hilipuska” child, reports Vatican News, wrapped in a typical Huancavelica blanket tied with a “chumpi” or woven belt. The Three Wise Men will carry traditional food including quinoa and other indigenous cereals, and they will be accompanied by llamas draped in the Peruvian flag.

In addition to contemporary replicas of traditional 18thcentury Neapolitan and Sicilian cribs, and 19th-century Roman mangers, there are modern versions made from wood, papier-mâché and terracotta, as well as unconventional materials such as sand, rice and metal. 100 Presepi was established in Rome in 1976 and took place in Piazza del Popolo until four years ago. Today it is organised by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. For visiting details see website, www. presepi.it.

The inauguration ceremony at 17.00 on 10 December will also see the Vatican switch on the lights on its Christmas tree, a 28m-high spruce gifted from the northern Trentino region of Italy. The 113-year-old tree, weighing eight tons, comes from a sustainable forestry management project in Andalo whose artisans have handcrafted the 600 wooden decorations.

This year’s Nativity scene in St Peter’s Square will feature 30 life-sized figurines dressed in Andean costumes in what is the Vatican’s first crib to come from the Americas. The Nativity scene, which was created by five artists from the Chopcca Nation of indigenous peoples in the Huancavelica region of Peru, will feature alpacas, vicunas and the Andean condor, Peru’s national symbol.

Christmas in St Peter's Square several years ago.

14 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

A traditional-style crib can be found each year in the church of off Largo Chigi, in the city centre, which for the last six decades has housed the work of Italian members of the global crib-building association Amici del Presepio.

A more unusual manger scene can be found near St Peter’s on Via dei Cavalleggeri 5. The street cleaner’s crib, owned and cared for by Rome’s refuse collection company AMA, has a floor containing over 1,400 different stones brought by pilgrims from all over the world. For details about visiting the presepe dei netturbini see AMA website www. amaroma.it.

Rome’s Christmas tree, a 25-metre high fir from Trentino, is located in Piazza Venezia. This year’s tree is dedicated to the battle against food waste and world hunger by the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization which will place 17 giant gift packages – symbolising FAO’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals – at the tree’s base, local media reports. The tree will be illuminated at 17.30 on 8 December, on the religious feast of the Immaculate Conception, with the lights along the city’s main thoroughfare, Via del Corso, switched on at the same time.

Italy's first AP School

admissions@aosr.org www.aosr.org/admissions

The Best of an American-International Education

LAGO DI ALBANO This volcanic crater lake presents visitors with beautiful views of its clear water and surrounding forests. The picturesque towns along the shores serve as popular summer resort areas for Romans, including Castel Gandolfo, home to the summer papal palace whose gardens were recently opened to the public. On the other side of the lake is Palazzolo, a villa bought by Rome’s Venerable English College in 1920 and now open to guests. The towns surrounding the lake are known for their restaurants, shops and fruit farms. Swimming, fishing and boating are among the favourite activities for visitors, and the lake’s beach is located on the western shore. A simple 45-minute train ride from Termini, visitors can reach Lago Albano by taking the FL4 train towards Albano Laziale and getting off at the Castel Gandolfo stop.

around rome LAGO DI NEMI Lago di Nemi is a small and unique volcanic lake where divers in the 19th century discovered two large ships built for the notorious Roman emperor Caligula at the bottom of the lake, filled withbottom of the lake, filled with artworks and treasures.

Replicas of the ships along with other artefacts are on display at the nearby Museum of Roman Ships.

Travellers can also visit the natural caves around the lake, which were a favourite haunt of 19th-century foreign artists such as Turner. Nemi is associated with the cult of the Roman goddess Diana, and, for the last 80 years, an annual strawberry festival.

Visitors can reach the lake by taking the SS7 Appia southbound as far as Genzano, and then following signs for Nemi.

LAGO DI VICO Formed by the volcanic activity of Mount Venus, Lago di Vico offers a unique geological backdrop set amid lush woodland and hills. The surrounding nature reserve is a haven for wildlife, but what is most characteristic of the area are the hazel and chestnut plantations. Lakeside campsites and hotels offer swimming, sailing and horse riding. The two towns worth a visit are Ronciglione and Caprarola with its magnificent and recently restored Villa Farnese. Lago di Vico is a 90-minute drive from Rome taking the SS2 Cassia, and turning north at Sutri.

16 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

LAGO DI BOLSENA Located on the site of the Vulsini volcano, dormant since about 100 BC, this crater lake has two islands and is surrounded by rolling hills and vegetation. The area around Montefisascone on the southeast shore of the lake is famous for its Est! Est!! Est!!! wine. The town of Bolsena in the northeast is a popular tourist resort in summer and it is here that the famous so-called Eucharistic Miracle took place in 1263 when a Bohemian priest is said to have seen blood coming from the host that he had just consecrated at Mass. Capodimonte on the southwest of the lake is also worth a visit. The lakeside area provides activities for sports and nature enthusiasts all year round. The best way to reach Lago di Bolsena from Rome is by car, as buses to Bolsena from Termini Station are infrequent.

LAGO DI BRACCIANO Just north-west of Rome along the Via Cassia, Lake Bracciano is one of the most easily accessible lakes for Romans. The ban on motor boats (except for a little ferry) means it remains an ideal spot for swimming, sailing and canoeing. The Lega Navale operates a dinghy sailing school in Anguillara.

Churches and historic sites are located in the three small towns around the lake: Bracciano, Trevignano and Anguillara. There are also places for camping and horse riding tours by the lake, which is just an hour on the Viterbo train line from Rome’s Ostiense station. The lake is overlooked by the 15th-century Orsini-Odescalchi castle in Bracciano, often chosen as the venue for jet-set weddings, and there is also an air force museum at nearby Vigna di Valle.

LAGO DI MARTIGNANO This tiny volcanic lake just to the east of Lake Bracciano offers clean water and beaches with scenic views of the surrounding meadows and wildlife. Lago di Martignano is known for its outdoor activities such as horse riding, hiking, mountain biking and swimming. Umbrellas, loungers and luggage storage are available to rent along with canoes, sailboats and windsurfing equipment. It is also known for the hot sulphurous springs surrounding the lake. Arriving at Lago di Martignano by car is the easiest option. Reaching the lake by public transport involves taking the FM3 train to Cesano and opting for either a local bus or taxi.

IB WORLD SCHOOL

A rewarding international education. Ages 2 to 18.

Request information! +39 06 84482 651 romeinternationalschool.it

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 17

ARTandSEEK Please note that not all of these activites English-language culturaldue workshops visits to are currently open, to theand covid-19 museums and exhibitions for children in Rome.

For crisis. It is advisable to check websites event details tel. 3315524440, email artandseekforfor visiting details and make reservation kids@gmail.com, or see website, www.artandsebefore going. ekforkids.com.

Bioparco Rome's Bioparco has over 1,000 animals and offers special activities for children and their families at weekends and during the summer. When little legs get tired, take a ride around the zoo on an electric train. Open daily. Viale del Giardino Zoologico 20 (Villa Borghese), tel. 063608211, www.bioparco.it.

Bowling Silvestri This sports club has an 18-hole mini golf course, with good facilities for children aged 4 and over, adults and disabled children.

18 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

There are also tennis courts, a table tennis room and a pizzeria. Via G. Zoega 6 (Monteverde/Bravetta), tel. 0666158206, www.bowlingsilvestri.com.

Casa del Parco Eco-friendly workshops, in Italian, in which kids can learn about nature and how to care for the environment. Located in the Valle dei Casali nature park. Via del Casaletto 400, tel. 3475540409, www.valledeicasali.com.

Casina di Raffaello Play centre in Villa Borghese offering a programme of animated lectures, creative workshops, cultural projects and educational activities for children from the age of three. Tues-Fri 14.30, Sat-Sun 11.00 and 17.00. Viale della Casina di Raffaello (Porta Pinciana), tel. 060608, www.casinadiraffaello.it.

Cinecittà World This 25-hectare theme park dedicated to the magic of cinema features high-tech attractions, real and virtual roller coasters, aquatic shows such as Super Splash, giant elephant rides and attractions with cinematic special effects. Located about 10 km from EUR, south of Rome. Via di Castel Romano, S.S. 148 Pontina, www.cinecittaworld.it.

Climbing Associazione Sportiva Climbing Side. Basic and competitive climbing courses for 6-18 year olds.

Tues, Thurs. Via Cristoforo Colombo 1800 (Torrino/Mostacciano), tel. 3356525473.

Explora The 2,000-sqm Children’s Museum organises creative workshops for small children in addition to holding regular animated lectures, games and meetings with authors of children’s books. Via Flaminia 80/86, tel. 063613776, www.mdbr.it.

Go-karting Club Kartroma is a circuit with go-karts for children over 9 and two-seater karts for an adult and a child under 8. Closed Mon. For details see website. Via della Muratella (Ponte Galeria), tel.

0665004962, www.kartroma.it.

Gymboree This children's centre caters to little people aged from 0-5 years, offering Play and Learn activities, music, art, baby play, school skills and even English theatre arts. Gymboree @ Chiostro del Bramante (Piazza Navona), Via Arco della Pace 5, www.gymbo.it.

Hortis Urbis Association providing hands-on horticultural workshops for children, usually in Italian but sometimes in English, in the Appia Antica park. Weekend activities include sowing seeds, cultivating plants and harvesting vegetables. Junior gardeners must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Via Appia Antica 42/50, www.hortusurbis.it.

Il Nido Based in Testaccio, this association supports expectant mothers, parents, babies and small children. It holds regular educational and social events, many of them in English. Via Marmorata 169 (Testaccio), tel. 0657300707, www.associazioneilnido.it.

Luneur Located in the southern EUR suburb, Luneur is Italy’s oldest amusement park. Highlights include ferris wheel, roller coaster, carousel horses, bamboo tunnel, maze, giant swing and a Wizard of Oz-style farm. Aimed at children aged up to 12. Entry fee €2.50, payable in person or online. Via delle Tre Fontane 100, www.luneurpark.it.

Rainbow Magicland The 38 attractions at Rome's biggest theme park are divided into three categories: brave, everyone, and kids. Highlights include down-hill rafting, a water roller coaster through Mayan-style pyramids, and the Shock launch coaster. Located in Valmonte, south-east of the capital. Via della Pace, 00038 Valmontone, www.rainbowmagicland.it.

Time Elevator A virtual reality, multi-sensorial 5-D cinema experience with a motion-base platform, bringing the history of Rome to life in an accessible and fun way. The time-machine's commentary is available in six languages including English. Daily 11.00-19.30. €12 adults, €9 kids. Via dei SS. Apostoli 20, tel. 0669921823, www.time-elevator.it.

Zoomarine This amusement and aquatic park outside Rome offers performances with dolphins, parrots and other animals for children of all ages. It is also possible to rent little play carts. Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult. Via Casablanca 61, Torvaianica, Pomezia, tel. 0691534, www.zoomarine.it.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 19

Rome’s artart capital continues to to grow with newnew murals by important Italian and Rome'sreputation reputationasasananimportant importantstreet street capital continues grow with murals by important Italian international streetstreet artistsartists appearing all the all time. the works located the suburbs, often far often from the and international appearing theMost time.ofMost of theare works are in located in the suburbs, far centre.

Here is where to is find Rome’s mainthe street artstreet projects murals. from the centre.

Here where to find main artand projects and murals around Rome.

Esquilino Esquilino Murals Murals byby Alice Alice Pasquini, Pasquini, Gio Gio Pistone, Nicola Pistone, Nicola Alessandrini, Alessandrini, Diamond. Casa Casa dell’Architettura, dell'Architettura, Diamond.

PiazzaMafredo Manfredo Fanti 47.

Piazza Fanti 47.

Marconi Marconi The M.A.G.R. (Museo Abusivo The M.A.G.R. (Museo Abusivo Gestito dai Rom), a project by French Gestito dai Rom), a project by French street artistSeth Seth is located in a street artist is located in a former former soap factory Via Antonio soap factory on Viaon Antonio AvogaAvogadro, opposite dro, opposite Ostiense'sOstiense’s landmark Gasometro.

For For details see landmark Gasometro. details see www.999contemporary.com. www.999contemporary.com.

Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove di Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove di Metropoliz Metropoliz This This former former meat meat factory factory inin the the outskirts of Rome is nowa astreet street outskirts of Rome is now art art museumasaswell well as as being museum being home hometoto some200 200squatting squatters,migrants. many of The them some migrants.

The Museo dell’Altrodi e Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove dell’Altroveor diMAAM, Metropoliz, or MAAM, Metropoliz, is only open is only open on Saturdays, and on Saturdays, and features the work features the work of more than 300 of more than 300 artists including artists including Edoardo Kobra, Gio Edoardo Kobra, and GioDiamond.

Pistone, Pistone, Sten&Lex See Sten&Lex, Pablo Echaurren and MAAM Facebook page for details.

Borondo.

See MAAM Via Prenestina 913. Facebook page for details. Via Prenestina 913.

Ostiense Ostiense Fronte Del by by Blu.Blu. Via Via del Porto Fronte Del Porto Porto del Fluviale.

Porto Fluviale.

Fish’n'Kids by Agostino Iacurci. Via Fish’n’Kids

by Agostino Iacurci. Via del Porto Fluviale. del Porto Fluviale.

Wall of Fame by JB Rock. Via dei Wall of Fame

by JB Rock. Via dei Magazzini Generali.

Magazzini Shelley by Generali.

Ozmo. Ostiense underpass, Via Ostiense.

Shelley by Ozmo.

Ostiense Palazzo occupato

by Blu, Via Ostiense. underpass, Via Ostiense.

Palazzo occupato by Blu, Via Pigneto Ostiense.

Tributes to Pier Paolo Pasolini by Pigneto Maupal, Mr. Klevra and Omino 71.

Tributes to Pier Paolo Pasolini by Maupal, Mr. Klevra and Omino 71.

20 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Via Via Fanfulla Fanfulla da da Lodi.

Lodi.

2501 mural on Via Fortebraccio.

Fortebraccio.

2501 mural on Via Blu Blu Landscape Landscape by Sten Sten & & Lex. Lex. Via Via Francesco Baracca.

Francesco Baracca.

Prati Prati Anna Magnani portrait by Diavù.

Anna Magnani portrait by Diavù. Nuovo Nuovo Mercato Trionfale, Via Mercato Trionfale, Via Andrea Doria.

Andrea Doria. theSabotino. bear by Daniza the bear byDaniza ROA. Via ROA. Via Sabotino.

Primavalle Primavalle The Roadkill Roadkill by Fintan Magee.

Magee. Via Via The

by Fintan Cristoforo Numai.

Cristoforo Numai.

Theseus stabbing the Minotaur by Theseus stabbing the Minotaur by Pixelpancho. Via Pietro Bembo.

Pixelpancho. Via Pietro Bembo.

Quadraro Quadraro Tunnel murals andand Gio Tunnel muralsby byMr MrTHOMS THOMS Pistone.

Via Decio Mure.Mure.

Gio Pistone.

Via Decio Nido di di Vespe ViaVia del Nido VespebybyLucamaleonte.

Lucamaleonte.

Monte del Grano. del Monte del Grano.

Baby Hulk by Ron English. Via dei Baby PisoniHulk 89. by Ron English. Via dei Pisoni 89.

Rebibbia Rebibbia Murals by byBlu. Blu.Via ViaCiciliano Ciciliano and and Via Via Murals Palombini (Casal Palombini (Casaldè dèPazzi).

Pazzi).

Welcome to Rebibbia by Zerocalcare.

Welcome to Rebibbia by Zerocalcare.

Metro B station.

Metro B station.

S.S. Basilio Basilio SanBa SanBa features features large-scale large-scale works on on the façades façades of in the of social-housing social-housingblocks blocks the disadvantaged north-east suburb of in the disadvantaged north-east S. Basilio near Rebibbia. The regenerasuburb of S. Basilio near Rebibbia. tion project includes works by Italian The project artistsregeneration Agostino Iacurci, Hitnesincludes and Blu works by Italian artists alongside Spain's Liqen. ViaAgostino Maiolati, Iacurci, Hitnes and BluVia alongside Via Osimo, Via Recanati, Arcevia, Via Treia.Liqen. Via Maiolati, Via Spain’s Osimo, Via Recanati, Via Arcevia, S. Giovanni Via Treia.

Totti mural by Lucamaleonte. Via S. Giovanni Apulia corner of Via Farsalo.

Totti mural by Lucamaleonte. Via Apulia corner of Via Farsalo.

It’s aa New NewDay Daybyby Alice Pasquini.

It’s Alice Pasquini.

Via Via Anton Ludovico.

Anton Ludovico.

S. Lorenzo S. Lorenzo Alice Pasquini. Via dei Sabelli.

Alice Pasquini. Via dei Sabelli.

Feminicide mural by Elisa Feminicide mural by Elisa Caracciolo.

Caracciolo. Via Dei Sardi.

Via Dei Sardi.

Borondo. Via dei Volsci 159.

Borondo. Via dei Volsci 159.

Mural by

by Agostino AgostinoIacurci Iacurci on Mural on the the Istituto Superiore di Lattanzio, Vittorio Istituto Superiore di Vittorio Via Aquilonia.

Lattanzio, Via Aquilonia.

S. Pietro S. Pietro Uma Cabra by Bordalo II. Stazione Uma Cabra by Bordalo II. Stazione di S. di S. Pietro, Clivo di Monte del Pietro, Clivo di Monte del Gallo.

Gallo.

Testaccio Testaccio Hunted byby ROA. ViaVia Galvani.

HuntedWolf Wolf ROA. Galvani. #KindComments by by Alice Pasquini, Via #KindComments Alice Pasquini, Volta, Testaccio market.

Via Volta, Testaccio market.

Tor Pignattara Tor Pignattara Dulk. Via ViaAntonio AntonioTempesta.

Tempesta.

Dulk.

Etnik.Via ViaBartolomeo Bartolomeo Perestrello Etnik.

Perestrello 51.

51. Coffee Break Etam Cru. Via Coffee Break by Etamby Cru. Via Ludovico Pavoni.

Ludovico Pavoni.

Tom

by Jef Via Gabrio TomSawyer Sawyer

by Aerosol.

Jef Aerosol.

Via Serbelloni.

Gabrio Serbelloni.

Pasolini by Diavù. Former Cinema PasoliniVia

by Acqua Diavù.Bullicante.

Former Cinema Impero, Impero, Via Acqua Bullicante.

Hostia by Nicola Verlato. Via Galeazzo Hostia by Nicola Verlato. Via Alessi.

Herakut.

Capua 14.

GaleazzoVia Alessi.

Agostino Iacurci.

Via Muzio Herakut. Via Capua 14. Oddi 6.

Agostino Iacurci. Via Muzio Oddi 6.

Tor Marancia Tor Big Marancia The City Life scheme features 14-m The Big City Life scheme tall murals by 22 Italian and features interna14-m tall murals by 22 Italian and tional street artists including Mr Klevra, Seth, Gaia andartists Jerico.including The idea international street was to transform area's of Mr Klevra, Seth,the Gaia andblocks Jerico. flats into an open-air art museum. Via The idea was to transform the area’s Tor Marancia. www.bigcity.life.it. blocks of flats into an open-air art museum. Via Tor Marancia. For full details see website, www.bigcity.life.it.

Clockwise from top left: S. Maria di Shanghai by Mr Klevra (Big City Life), Nido di Vespe by Lucamaleonte, El Devinir by Liqen, Fish'n'Kids by Agostino Iacurci, MAGR by Seth.

Clockwise from top left: S. Maria di Shanghai by Mr Klevra (Big City Life), Nido di Vespe by Lucamaleonte, El Devinir by Liqen, Fish'n'Kids by Agostino Iacurci, MAGR by Seth.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 21

ROME'S MAJOR

MUSEUMS PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ALL OF THESE MUSEUMS ARE CURRENTLY OPEN, DUE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS. IT IS ADVISABLE TO CHECK WEBSITES FOR VISITING DETAILS AND MAKE RESERVATION BEFORE GOING.

VATICAN MUSEUMS

Crypta Balbi

Viale del Vaticano, tel. 0669883860, www.museivaticani.va.

Not only the Sistine Chapel but also the Egyptian and Etruscan collections and the Pinacoteca. Mon-Sat 09.00-18.00.

Sun (and bank holidays) closed except last Sun of month (free entry, 08.30-12.30). All times refer to last entry. For group tours of the museums and Vatican gardens tel. 0669884667. For private tours (museum only) tel. 0669884947. Closed 26 December and 6 January, Easter Sunday and Monday.

Advance booking online: www.biglietteriamusei.vatican.va.

Etruscan Museum at Villa Giulia

Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums

Tel. 0669881814, www.vatican-patrons.org. For private behind-the-scenes tours in the Vatican Museums.

STATE MUSEUMS Baths of Diocletian

Viale Enrico de Nicola 78, tel. 0639967700, www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it. Part of the protohistorical section of the Museo Nazionale Romano in the Baths of Diocletian plus the restored cloister by Michelangelo. 09.00-19.45. Mon closed.

Borghese Museum

Piazzale Scipione Borghese (Villa Borghese), tel. 06328101, www.galleria.borghese.it. Sculptures by Bernini and Canova, paintings by Titian, Caravaggio, Raphael, Correggio.

09.00-19.30. Mon closed. Entry times at 09.00, 11.00, 13.00 15.00, 17.00. Guided tours in English and Italian.

Castel S. Angelo Museum

Lungotevere Castello 50, tel. 066819111, www.castelsantangelo.com. Emperor Hadrian’s mausoleum used by the popes as a fortress, prison and palace. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed.

Colosseum, Roman forum and Palatine

Colosseum: Piazza del Colosseo. Palatine: entrances at Piazza di S. Maria Nova 53 and Via di S. Gregorio 30.

Roman Forum: entrances at Largo Romolo e Remo 5-6 and Piazza di S. Maria Nova 53, tel. 0639967700, www.colosseo-roma.it. 08.30-19.15. Single ticket gives entry to the Colosseum and the Palatine (including the Museo Palatino; last entry one hour before closing). Guided tours in English and Italian.

22 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Via delle Botteghe Oscure 31, tel.0639967700, www.archeologia.beniculturali.it. Museum dedicated to the Middle Ages on the site of the ancient ruins of the Roman Theatre of Balbus. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in Italian.

Piazza Villa Giulia 9, tel. 063226571, www.villagiulia.beniculturali.it. National museum of Etruscan civilisation. 08.3019.30. Mon closed.

Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna Viale delle Belle Arti 131, tel. 06322981, 08.30- 19.30. Italy's modern art collection. Mon closed.

MAXXI

Via Guido Reni 6, tel. 063210181, www. fondazionemaxxi.it.

National Museum of 21st-century art, designed by Zaha Hadid.

Tues-Sun 11.00-19.00, Thurs and Sat 11.00-22.00. Mon closed.

Palazzo Corsini

Via della Lungara, 10, tel. 0668802323, www.barberinicorsini.org. National collection of ancient art, begun by Rome’s Corsini family. 08.30- 19.30. Tues closed.

Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale

Italy's museum of oriental art. Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 14 (EUR). For details see website, www.pigorini.beniculturali.it.

Palazzo Altemps

Piazza S. Apollinare 46, tel. 0639967700, www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it. Ancient sculpture from the Museo Nazionale Romano, including the Ludovisi collection.

09.00-19.45. Mon closed.

Palazzo Barberini

Via delle Quattro Fontane 13, tel. 064824184, www.barberinicorsini.org. National collection of 13th- to 16th-century paintings. 08.30- 19.30. Mon closed.

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Largo di Villa Peretti 1, tel. 0639967700, www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it. Important Roman paintings, mosaics, sculpture, coins and antiquities from the Museo Nazionale Romano, including the Kircherian collection. 09.00- 19.45. Mon closed.

Villa Farnesina

Via della Lungara 230, tel. 0668027268, www.villafarnesina.it. A 16th-century Renaissance villa with important frescoes by Raphael. Mon-Sat 9.00-14.00 excluding holidays.

PRIVATE MUSEUMS Casa di Goethe

CITY MUSEUMS

Via del Corso 18, tel. 0632650412, www. casadigoethe.it.

Museum dedicated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 10.0018.00. Mon closed.

Centrale Montemartini

Chiostro Del Bramante

Via Ostiense 106, tel. 060608, www.centralemontemartini.org. Over 400 pieces of ancient sculpture from the Capitoline Museums are on show in a former power plant.

09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in English for groups if reserved in advance.

Bramante’s Renaissance building near Piazza Navona stages exhibitions by important Italian and international artists.

Arco della Pace 5, tel. 0668809035 www.chiostrodelbramante.it.

Capitoline Museums

Doria Pamphilj Gallery

Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna

Galleria Colonna

Piazza del Campidoglio, tel. 060608, www.museicapitolini.org. The city’s collection of ancient sculpture in Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori, plus the Tabularium and the Pinacoteca. 09.00-20.00. Mon closed. Guided tours for groups in English and Italian on Sat and Sun. Via Francesco Crispi 24, tel. 060608, www.museiincomuneroma.it.

The municipal modern art collection. 10.00- 18.00. Mon closed.

Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Via del Corso 305, tel. 066797323, www.doriapamphilj.it. Residence of the Doria Pamphilj family, it contains the family’s private art collection, which includes a portrait by Velasquez, a sculpture by Bernini, plus works by Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto and Caravaggio. 09.00-19.00.

MACRO Asilo

Via Nizza 138, tel. 060608, www.museomacro.it. Programme of free art events at the city’s contemporary art space until the end of 2019. 10.30-19.00. Mon closed.

Palazzo Colonna, Via della Pilotta 17, tel. 066784350, www.galleriacolonna.it. Private collection of works by Veronese, Guido Reni, Pietro di Cortona and Annibale Caracci. Sat 09.00-13.00 only. Private group tours are available seven days a week on request. For wheelchair access contact the gallery to arrange alternative entrance.

MATTATOIO

Giorgio de Chirico House Museum

Piazza Orazio Giustiniani 4, tel. 060608. www.museomacro.org.

Open for temporary exhibitions 14.00-20.00. Mon closed.

Museo Barracco

Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 166, tel. 0668806848, www.mdbr.it. A collection of mainly pre-Roman sculpture. 09.00- 19.00. Mon closed.

Museo di Roma – Palazzo Braschi

Via S. Pantaleo 10, tel. 060608, en.museodiroma.it. The city’s collection of paintings, etchings, photographs, furniture and clothes from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. 09.00-19.00.

Mon closed. Guided tours in English and Italian on prior booking tel. 0682059127.

Piazza di Spagna 31, tel. 066796546, www.fondazionedechirico.org. Museum dedicated to the Metaphysical painter Giorgio de Chirico. Tues-Sat, first Sun of month, 10.00, 11.00, 12.00.

Guided tours in English, advance booking.

Keats-Shelley House

Piazza di Spagna 26, tel. 066784235, www. keats-shelley-house.it. Museum dedicated to the lives of three English Romantic poets – John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron.

Mon-Sat 10.00-13.00, 14.00-18.00.

Guided tours on prior booking.

Museo storico della Liberazione

Museo dei Fori Imperiali and Trajan’s Markets

Via IV Novembre 94, tel. 060608, en.mercatiditraiano.it. Museum dedicated to the forums of Caesar, Augustus, Nerva and Trajan and the Temple of Peace. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed.

Via Tasso 145, tel. 067003866, www.museoliberazione.it.

Housed in the city's former SS prison, the Liberation Museum were tortured here during the Nazi occupation of Rome from 1943-1944. 09.00-13.15 / 14.15-20.00.

Museo Canonica

Palazzo Merulana

Viale P. Canonica 2 (Villa Borghese), tel. 060608, www.museocanonica.it. The collection, private apartment and studio of the sculptor and musician Pietro Canonica who died in 1959.

09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in Italian and English (book ten days in advance).

Via Merulana 121, tel. 0639967800, www.palazzomerulana.it.

Museum hosting the early 20th-century Italian art collection, including Scuola Romana paintings, of the Cerasi Foundation.

09.00-20.00. Tues closed.

Museo Napoleonico

Piazza di Ponte Umberto 1, tel. 060608, www.museonapoleonico.it. Paintings, sculptures and jewellery related to Napoleon and the Bonaparte family. 09.00- 19.00. Mon closed.

Guided tours in Italian and English.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 23

PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ALL OF THESE GALLERIES ARE CURRENTLY OPEN, DUE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS. IT IS ADVISABLE TO CHECK WEBSITES FOR VISITING DETAILS AND TO MAKE RESERVATION BEFORE GOING.

ROME’S MOST ACTIVE AND CONTEMPORARY

ART GALLERIES

1/9 Unosunove

1/9 Unosunove focuses on emerging national and international contemporary artists and explores various media including paintings, sculpture and photography. Via degli Specchi 20, tel. 0697613696, www.unosunove.com.

A.A.M. Architettura

Arte Moderna Gallery housing numerous works of contemporary design, photography, drawings and architecture projects. Via dei Banchi Vecchi 61, tel. 0668307537, www.ff-maam.it.

Contemporary Cluster

Visual art, design, architecture, fashion design and beauty apothecary in a 17th-century palace. Via dei Barbieri 7, tel.

0668805928, www.contemporarycluster.com.

C.R.E.T.A.

Cultural association promoting ceramics and the visual, humanistic, musical and culinary arts through workshops, exhibitions and artist residencies. Palazzo Delfini, Via dei Delfini 17, tel. 0689827701, www.cretarome.com.

Dorothy Circus Gallery

Prominent gallery specialising in international pop-surrealist art. Via dei Pettinari 76, tel. 0668805928, www.dorothycircusgallery.com.

Ex Elettrofonica

This architecturally unique contemporary art gallery promotes and supports the work of young international artists. Vicolo S. Onofrio 10-11, tel. 0664760163, www.exelettrofonica.com.

Fondazione Memmo

Contemporary art space that hosts established foreign artists for sitespecific exhibitions. Via Fontanella Borghese 56b, tel.

0668136598, www.fondazionememmo.it.

Fondazione Pastificio Cerere

This non-profit foundation develops and promotes educational projects and residencies for young artists and curators, as well as a programme of exhibitions, lectures, workshops and studio visits. Via degli Ausoni 7, tel.

0645422960, www.pastificiocerere.com.

Fondazione Volume!

The Volume Foundation exhibits works created specifically for the gallery with the goal of fusing art and landscape. Via di S. Francesco di Sales 86-88, tel. 06 6892431, www.fondazionevolume.com.

24 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Franz Paludetto

Gallery in S. Lorenzo that promotes the work of Italian and international contemporary artists. Via degli Ausoni 18, www.franzpaludetto.com.

Frutta

This contemporary art gallery supports international and local artists in its unique space. Via dei Salumi 53 tel.

0645508934, www.fruttagallery.com.

Gagosian Gallery

The Rome branch of this international contemporary art gallery hosts some of the biggest names in modern art. Via Francesco Crispi 16, tel.0642086498, www.gagosian.com.

GALLA

Exhibition space designed to showcase original, unconventional art works at affordable prices by artists working in various fields. Via degli Zingari 28, tel. 3476552515, www.facebook.com/GALLAmonti.

Galleria Alessandro Bonomo

Gallery showing the works of important Italian and international visual artists. Via del Gesù 62, tel. 0669925858, www.bonomogallery.com.

Galleria Valentina Bonomo

Located in a former convent, this gallery hosts both internationally recognised and emerging artists who create works specifically for the gallery space. Via del Portico d’Ottavia 13, tel. 066832766, www.galleriabonomo.com.

Galleria Frammenti D’Arte

Gallery promoting painting, design and photography by emerging and established Italian and international artists.

Via Paola 23, tel. 069357144142, www.fdaproject.com.

Galleria Lorcan O’Neill

High-profile international artists regularly exhibit at this gallery located near Campo de’ Fiori. Vicolo Dè Catinari 3, tel.

0668892980, www.lorcanoneill.com.

Galleria della Tartaruga

Well-established gallery that has promoted important Italian and foreign artists since 1975. Via Sistina 85/A, tel.

066788956, www.galleriadellatartaruga.com.

Galleria Il Segno

Prestigious gallery showing work by major Italia and international artists since 1957. Via Capo le Case 4, tel. 066791387, www.galleriailsegno.com.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 25

MAXXI amazes you, always art

architecture design photography cinema

26 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Galleria Mucciaccia

Gallery near Piazza del Popolo promoting established contemporary artists and emerging talents. Largo Fontanella Borghese 89, tel. 0669923801, www.galleriamucciaccia.com.

Galleria Russo

Operativa Arte Contemporanea

A new space oriented towards younger artists. Via del Consolato 10, www.operativa-arte.com.

Pian de Giullari

This historic gallery holds group and solo exhibitions showcasing the work of major 20th-century Italian painters alongside promising new Italian artists. Via Alibert 20, tel.

066789949, www.galleriarusso.it.

Art studio-gallery in the house of Carlina and Andrea Bottai showing works by contemporary artists from Rome, Naples and Florence capable of transmitting empathy and emotions.

Via dei Cappellari 49, tel. 3397254235, 3663988603, www.piandegiullari2.blogspot.com.

Galleria Varsi

Plus Arte Puls

A dynamic gallery near Campo de’ Fiori, known for its stable of street artists. Via di Grotta Pinta 38, tel. 066865415, www.galleriavarsi.it.

Gavin Brown's Enterprise

New York gallerist Gavin Brown shows the work of international artists at his Trastevere gallery in a deconsecrated church dating to the eighth century. S. Andrea de Scaphis, Via dei Vascellari 69, www.gavinbrown.biz.

Il Ponte Contemporanea

Cultural association and gallery showing work by important contemporary Italian and international artists. Viale Mazzini 1, tel. 3357010795, www.plusartepuls.com.

RvB ARTS

Rome-based gallery specialising in affordable contemporary art by young, emerging Italian artists. Via delle Zoccolette 28, tel. 3351633518, www.rvbarts.com.

Sala 1

Hosts exhibitions representing the international scene and contemporary artists of different generations. Via Giuseppe Acerbi 31A, tel. 0653098768, www.ilpontecontemporanea.com.

This internationally known non-profit contemporary art gallery provides an experimental research centre for contemporary art, architecture, performance and music. Piazza di Porta S. Giovanni 10, tel. 067008691, www.salauno.com.

La Nuova Pesa

S.T. Foto libreria galleria

Well-established gallery showing work by prominent Italian artists. Via del Corso 530, tel. 063610892, www.nuovapesa.it.

MAC Maja Arte Contemporanea

Gallery devoted to exhibitions by prominent Italian artists.

Via di Monserrato 30, www.majartecontemporanea.com.

Magazzino d’Arte Moderna

Contemporary art gallery that focuses on young and emerging artists. Via dei Prefetti 17, tel. 066875951, www.magazzinoartemoderna.com.

Gallery in Borgo Pio representing a diverse range of contemporary art photography. Via degli Ombrellari 25, tel.

0664760105, www.stsenzatitolo.it.

Studio Sales di Norberto Ruggeri

The gallery exhibits pieces by both Italian and international contemporary artists particularly minimalist, postmodern and abstract work. Piazza Dante 2, int. 7/A, tel. 0677591122, www.galleriasales.it.

T293

Monitor

The Rome branch of this contemporary art gallery presents national and international artists and hosts multiple solo exhibitions. Via G. M. Crescimbeni 11, tel. 0688980475, www.t293.it.

Nero Gallery

The Gallery Apart

Space dedicated to showcasing young international artists working in pop surrealism, lowbrow art, dark art, comic art and surrealism. Via Castruccio Castracane 9, tel. 0627801418, www.nerogallery.com.

This contemporary art gallery supports young artists in their research and assists them in their projects to help them emerge into the international art world. Via Francesco Negri 43, tel. 0668809863, www.thegalleryapart.it.

Nomas Foundation

TraleVolte

This contemporary art gallery offers an experimental space for a new generation of artists. Palazzo Sforza Cesarini, Via Sforza Cesarini 43 A, t el. 0639378024, www.monitoronline.org.

Nomas Foundation promotes contemporary research in art and experimental exhibitions. Viale Somalia 33, tel.

0686398381, www.nomasfoundation.com.

Contemporary art gallery focusing on the relationship between art and architecture, hosting solo and group shows of Italian and international artists. Piazza di Porta S. Giovanni 10, tel. 0670491663, www.tralevolte.org.

White Noise Gallery

Based in the S. Lorenzo district, this gallery exhibits unconventional work by young Italian and international artists. Via della Seggiola 9, tel. 066832833, www.whitenoisegallery.it.

Wunderkammern

This gallery promotes innovative research of contemporary art. Via Gabrio Serbelloni 124, tel. 0645435662, www.wunderkammern.net.

Z20 Galleria Sara Zanin

Started by art historian Sara Zanin, Z2o Galleria offers a range of innovative national and international contemporary artists.

Via della Vetrina 21, tel. 0670452261, www.z2ogalleria.it.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 27

where to go in Rome

WHAT’S ON Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna dedicates an exhibition to Antonietta Raphaël, page• 30.

Wanted insee Rome December 2021 | 29

EXHIBITIONS From 6 December museums and archaeological sites in Rome are open only to visitors who show proof that they have been vaccinated or recovered in the last six months from covid-19, under Italy's new socalled Super Green Pass system.

Access will no longer be given to those who provide a negative covid test alone (as per the “basic” Green Pass system which changes after 5 December).

Most venues require advance booking and the wearing of masks is obligatory. Weekend visits to the more popular sites such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon must be booked at least one day ahead. For visiting details check websites in advance.

100 PRESEPI 5 DEC-9 JAN

This year’s edition of 100 Presepi, Rome’s international Nativity crib exhibition, takes place under the colonnade of St Peter’s Square. A firm fixture on Rome’s Christmas calendar, each year 100 Presepi hosts some Nativity scenes from across Italy and dozens of other countries.

In addition to contemporary replicas of traditional 18th-century Neapolitan and Sicilian cribs, and

Caravaggio and Artemisia exhibition at Palazzo Barberini.

19th-century Roman mangers, there are modern versions made from wood, papier-mâché and terracotta, as well as unconventional materials such as sand, rice and metal. Now in its 46th year, 100 Presepi was established in Rome in 1976 and took place in Piazza del Popolo until four years ago. Today it is organised by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. For visiting details see website, www.100presepi.it.

CARAVAGGIO AND ARTEMISIA 26 NOV-27 MARCH

Caravaggio and Artemisia: Judith’s challenge. Violence and seduction in

100 Presepi at St Peter's Square.

painting between the 16th and 17th centuries is the title of a new exhibition at Palazzo Barberini. The show takes as it starting point Judith who decapitates Holofernes in Caravaggio’s masterpiece which was rediscovered 70 years ago before being acquired by the Italian state. Evaluating the impact the powerful painting has had on the art world over the centuries, the exhibition comprises 31 works, mostly large format, from important national and international institutions, including the Prado and the Thyssen Museum in Madrid, the Capodimonte Museum in Naples and Rome’s the Borghese Gallery in Rome. The show is curated by Maria Cristina Terzaghi and features works by artists including Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, Pietro Novelli, Mattia Preti and Giuseppe Vermiglio.

Palazzo Barberini, Via delle Quattro Fontane 13, www.barberinicorsini.org.

ANTONIETTA RAPHAEL 17 NOV-30 JAN

The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (GNAM) presents Through the Looking Glass, an exhibition dedicated to Antonietta Raphaël (Kaunas 1895 – Rome 1975), the Lithuanian- born artist who was a leading exponent of the Scuola Romana movement. The show comprises paintings, sculptures and works on paper, accompanied by documents, family photographs, letters

30 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

and pages from her diaries. Also on display is a selection of works by artist Mario Mafai – her lifelong partner – along with a specially created video documentary. The gallery says the exhibition’s title alludes to Raphaël’s “ability to transform artistic practice into a tool for investigating her own inner world and evokes dreamlike and imaginative dimensions in which the female figure is the main protagonist.” Curated by Giorgia Calò and Alessandra Troncone, the show is held in collaboration with the Lithuanian Institute of Culture and the embassy of Lithuania in Rome.

GNAM, Viale delle Belle Arti 131, www.lagallerianazionale.com.

KLIMT: LA SECESSIONE E L’ITALIA 27 OCT-27 MARCH

Palazzo Braschi presents an exhibition of paintings by Gustav Klimt, including Portrait of a Lady, which went missing for almost 23 years after its theft from a gallery in Piacenza. The painting was stolen in 1997 before being rediscovered in the gallery’s garden, in mysterious circumstances, in 2019. The works on show feature some of the Austrian artist’s masterpieces from the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, the Klimt Foundation and public and private collections such as the Neue Galerie Graz. Highlights among the paintings, sculptures and drawings on display include Judith I, Lady in White, Friends I (The

Sebastião-Salgado at MAXXI. Indiana Yawanawá, Stato di Acre, Brasile 2016.©-Sebastião Salgado Contrasto.

Sisters), Amalie Zuckerkandl and The Bride. The exhibition focuses on the artist’s relationship with Italy and the influence he had on other artists working in the country. Museo di Roma, Piazza Navona 2, tel. 060608, www.museodiroma.it.

INFERNO

15 OCT-9 JAN

The Scuderie del Quirinale marks the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri with an exhibition based on the first book of The Divine Comedy. The show comprises more than 200 artworks on loan from 80 museums, public collections and private collections from Italy, the Vatican and across Europe. Inferno documents hell-related iconography from the Middle Ages to the present day, in what is hailed as the first major art exhibition dedicated to this theme.

Curated by Jean Clair, the show takes visitors on a journey into the depths of hell, as imagined by artists through the centuries, accompanied by the

words of Dante. These visions range from the tormented and nightmarish to the romanticised, from Mediaeval to Baroque, up to psychoanalytic interpretations from the 20th century.

See review on page 3. Scuderie del Quirinale, Via XXIV Maggio 16, www.scuderiequirinale.it.

SEBASTIAO SALGADO 1 OCT-13 FEB

Photojournalist Sebastião Salgado provides a black and white photographic journey through the Brazilian Amazon, after he spent six years capturing images of the forest, the rivers, the mountains and the people who live there. MAXXI, Italy’s national museum of 21st-century arts, presents Salgado’s 200 photographs against a soundscape of sounds recorded in the forests and created

by Jean-Michel Jarre – feauring the rustling of trees, birdsong, the shrieks of animals, and the roar of waterfalls.

The exhibition highlights the fragility of this ecosystem, showing that in the protected areas where the indigenous communities live the forest has suffered almost no damage. MAXXI, Via Guido Reni 4A, www.maxxi.art.

ALL ABOUT BANKSY: EXHIBITION 2 5 MAY-9 JAN

Klimt exhibition at Palazzo Braschi.

Chiostro del Bramante presents ALL about BANKSY, an exhibition dedicated to the anonymous British street artist whose satirical murals are celebrated around the world. The show, which follows an earlier Banksy exhibition, features about 250 artworks from private collections. Chiostro del Bramante, Via Arco della Pace 5, tel. 0668809035, www. chiostrodelbramante.it.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 31

ART NEWS

Tear Along the Dotted Line by Zerocalcare.

NETFLIX TOASTS SUCCESS OF ZEROCALCARE

Netflix is celebrating its gamble on Rome cartoonist Michele Rech, better known as Zerocalcare, whose new animated mini-series has become Italy’s most watched show on the streaming platform. The series Tear Along the Dotted Line (Strappare lungo i bordi in Italian) was launched in mid-November in 190 countries around the world, in various languages including English.

Netflix describes the six-part series as “offbeat, irreverent”, and introduces it like this: “A cartoonist in Rome with his armadillo-for-a-conscience reflects on his path in life and a would-be love as he and his friends travel outside the city.” The episodes, which each last about 15 minutes, feature anecdotes, reflections and flashbacks by Zerocalcare who credited Netflix with giving him “absolute freedom” in the project. “A few years ago I had the desire to try to tell a story not in comics but in cartoons” – Zerocalacare said after the premiere at the recent Rome Film Fest – “because it is a more direct, more accessible language.”

In addition to writing and directing, Zerocalcare narrated the animated series in his Roman dialect.

The linguistics have caused problems for some Italians outside Rome, amid claims the show verges on incomprehensible at times, leading to much debate on social media. Zerocalcare, from the Rebibbia suburb, is not perturbed by the controversy. “For me, Romanesco is the language of the comfort zone”, he said at the show’s premiere. “I speak more Romanesco in interviews than with my mother” – he noted – “not because I have to flaunt it but because it’s a question of my identity, it makes me feel entrenched in my fort.”

CASA BALLA TO STAY OPEN IN 2022

Rome celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Italian painter and Futurist master Giacomo Balla by opening his former home to the public for the first time, after being closed up for 30 years. Casa Balla, the painter’s kaleidoscopic vision of art and colour on Via Oslavia, opened in June with visits scheduled to end in December. However due to popular demand and sellout tours, it has been decided that Casa Balla is to stay open to the public throughout 2022.

32 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Born in Turin in 1871, Balla lived and worked in his extraordinary Roman home from 1929 until his death in 1958. His daughters Luce and Elica, also painters, stayed living in the house until the 1990s. The opening of Casa Balla is thanks to a collaboration between MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st-Century Arts, and Rome’s special superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape, with the support of the Italian culture ministry and the Bank of Italy.

Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, MAXXI art director and curator of the project explains: “The house with its decorations, furniture, works of art expresses the artist’s personality in all its forms and represents one of his greatest masterpieces.” Reservations are required and can be made via MAXXI website, www.maxxi.it.

See also Inferno review page 3.

Casa Balla, former home of Giacomo Balla, on Via Oslavia 39/B.

SHELLEY IN ROME

The Keat-Shelley House presents a video story called Shelley in Rome, directed by Giulio Boato and produced by 313 films. The film, premiered on 1 December, provides a “psychogeographical take” on Percy Bysshe Shelley’s time in Rome, exploring the poet’s relationship with the city and Roman locations that inspired his poetry. The video offers “evocative visuals and three-dimensional audio” and the narration of the story revolves around Shelley’s three masterpieces inspired by his time in Rome: Prometheus Unbound, The Cenci and Adonais, his elegy on the death of his friend John Keats. For details see the Keats-Shelley website, www.ksh.roma.it.

Andy Devane

OPERA MILAN MACBETH

BY GIUSEPPE VERDI 7-29 DEC

Verdi’s Macbeth conducted by Riccardo Chailly opens La Scala’s new season. The new production for Milan’s opera house is by director Davide Livermore. Anna Netrebko sings Lady Macbeth, Luca Salsi Macbeth, Francesco Meli Macduff and Ildar Abdrazakov as Banquo. Teatro alla Scala, Via Filodrammatici 2, www. teatroallascala.org.

I CAPULETTI E I MONTECCHI

BY VINCENZO BELLINI 18 JAN-2 FEB

Evelin Pidò conducts a new production of Bellini’s version of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Adrian Noble, who was the head of the Royal Shakespeare Company until 2003.

This is Noble’s debut at La Scala.

Marianne Crebassa sings Romeo and Lisette Oropesa Giulietta. Bellini composed the opera in 1830 for the Venice Carnival and given that he had little over a month to deliver the

composition he used material from Zaira, his fifth opera which had been a flop in Parma the previous year.

I Capuletti e i Montecchi became an immediate success and made Bellini’s reputation. Teatro alla Scala, Via Filodrammatici 2, www. teatroallascala.org.

Opera House, conducted by Paolo Arrivabeni, with Saioa Hernandez as Tosca, Vittorio Grigolo as Cavaradossi, Roberto Frontali as Scarpia. Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli, www.operaroma.it.

ROME

KAT’A KABANOVA

BY JANACEK

ACQUAPROFONDA 3-7 DEC

A new opera with music by Giovanni Solima and the libretto

by Giancarlo De Cataldo. The opera, about the pollution of the sea, is dedicated to young children and has been commissioned by the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and the Teatro Sociale di Como as part of the Progetto Opera Domani.

Conducted by Carlo Donadio and directed by Luis Ernesto Donas.

Piazza Beniamino Gigli, www. operaroma.it.

TOSCA

BY PUCCINI 4-12 DEC

Alessandro Talevi’s production of Tosca returns to the Rome

18-27 JAN

This is the first time that Janacek’s opera has been performed at Teatro Costanzi, in a co-production with the Royal Opera House. It is conducted by David Robertson and directed by Richard Jones who has directed five Royal Opera House productions and is considered one of the best British opera and theatre directors. The opera will be sung in Czech with Italian and English surtitles. It tells the story of a woman living in a small bigoted community. She is trapped in a loveless marriage, bullied by her mother-in-law and spied on by her neighbours, as she searches for something better. Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli, www.operaroma.it.

Janacek's Katya Kabanova, performed at the Royal Opera House in 2019, debuts at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in January.

34 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Classical

Lang Lang is back touring after his tendonitis in 2017.

ACCADEMIA FILARMONICA ROMANA

MUSICA E LETTERTURA MORPHE, LA FORMA DEL MONDO

BICENTENARY CONCERT

Lang Lang is back touring after his tendonitis in 2017.

Cultural and social change, from Americanisation to industrialisation.

Sala Casella, Via Flaminia 18. www. filarmonicaromana.org.

4 DEC

Daniele Gatti conducts the Orchestra Mozart for the Accademia’s 200th anniversary concert. Music by Rossini, Stravinsky, Aperchis (premiere commissioned by the Filarmonica) and Mozart. Rossini was an honorary member of the fledgling academy and Stravinsky taught at the Filarmonica. Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, www.filarmonicaromana.org.

FESTA FILARMONICA 8 DEC

The Accademia S. Cecilia and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma join with the Accademia Filarmonica Romana to mark its 200th anniversary. Music by Rossini.

Sgambati, Casella, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Stranvinsky. Teatro Argentina, Largo Argentina, www. filarmonicaromana.org.

10 DEC

PIETRO DE MARIA 16 DEC

Pianist Pietro de Maria plays music

by Beethoven, Sgambati and Liszt.

Teatro Argentina, Largo Argentina, www.filarmonicaromana.org.

ASSOLI VI FRANCESCO GRANATA 19 DEC

The Assoli series of concerts are dedicated to contemporary music.

This season the opening concert of the series is dedicated to music by Fabio Vacchi, performed by pianist Francesco Granata. Other concerts in the series will be on 28 Jan, 25 Feb, 1 April, 8 April, 20 May. Sala

36 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Casella, Via Flaminia 18. www. filarmonicaromana.org.

ACCADEMIA S. CECILIA LANG LANG IN RECITAL 6 DEC

Lang Lang will play music by Schumman and Bach’s Goldberg Variations. The star pianist had severe tendonitis in 2017 and had to take a break from his heavy schedule of concerts. He is back with performances in Jan, March and April in Europe and the USA. His recording of the Goldberg Variations in 2020 did not get a good review in The Guardian: “There are flashes of perfectly weighted, stylistically appropriate playing, but too much of Lang’s performances seems to squeeze all the energy out of the music, with tempi that are achingly slow and phrasing that is so mannered it sometimes seems more appropriate for Rachmaninov than Bach.” Auditorium Parco della Musica, Via P de Coubertin 36, www.santacecilia.it.

MARCUS STENZ ANDREI KOROBEINIKOV 10 DEC

Marcus Stenz conducts the S. Cecilia Orchestra and pianist Andrei Korobeinikov performing music by Debussy, Rachmaninov, Busoni and Scriabin. Auditorium Parco della Musica, Via P. de Coubertin 36, www.santacecilia.it.

FAIRY TALES IN MUSIC 1 16-18 DEC

This series of concerts performs Tchaikovsky’s Snow Maiden, conducted by Stanislav Kochanovsky, with the mezzosoprano Agunda Kulaeva, tenor Alexander Mikhailov and narrator Milena Vukotic.

Auditorium Parco della Musica, Via P. de Coubertin 36, www. santacecilia.it.

CARUSO 100

Aula Magna Sapienza, Piazziale Aldo Moro, www.concertiiuc.it.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the great tenor’s death in Naples.

Music by Donizetti, Gounod, Bizet, Verdi, Puccini, Leoncavallo, sung by the tenor Javier Camarena.

Auditorium Parco della Musica, Via P. de Coubertin 36, www. santacecilia.it.

SAINT-SAENS AND FRIENDS

22 DEC

INSTITUZIONE DEI CONCERTI

UNIVERSITARIO

VALENTINA LISITSA 4 DEC

Valentina Lisitsa, who is among the best known pianists to perform on YouTube (aka as the Queen of Rachmaninoff), debuts in Rome with a programme of music by Rachmaninoff and Chopin. She has recently also performed in Palermo.

14 DEC

Steven Isserlis violin and pianist Connie Shih mark the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death with two of his violin and piano concertos, as well as music by his contemporaries. Aula Magna Sapienza, Piazziale Aldo Moro, www.concertiiuc.it.

ZLATOMIR FUNG 18 DEC

Cellist Zlatomir Fung debuts at the IUC with Richard Fu piano, performing music by David Popper, Schubert, Salonen Knock and Schostakovich. Fung won the Tchaikovsky Prize in 2019. Aula Magna Sapienza, Piazziale Aldo Moro, www.concertiiuc.it.

Valentina Lisitsa is sometimes known as the Queen of Rachmaninoff because of her YouTube success.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 37

DANCE

Giuliano Peparini's sumptuous adaptation of The Nutcracker at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

MILAN

TEATRO ALLA SCALA LA BAYADERE RUDOLF NUREYEV 15 DEC-8 JAN

This ballet, which Nureyev made his own, opens the new season at La Scala, with new sets and costumes

by Luisa Spinatelli. It is a return to purity of classical ballet with the whole of La Scala Ballet Company on stage and the participation of some of the ballet school’s students.

Kevin Rhodes is conducting. Teatro alla Scala, Via Filodrammatici 2, www.teatroallascala.org.

ROME

TEATRO OLIMPICO

LO SCHIACCIANOCI

LO SCHIACCIANOCI RUSSIAN CLASSICAL BALLET

TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA 19 DEC-2 JAN This

5-7 DEC Peparini’s

The Russian Classical Ballet was

sumptuous adaptation of the old

formed in Moscow in 2005 to

Christmas favourite, with dancers

promote the traditions of classical

Alessandra Amato, Susanna Salvi,

Russian ballet. It has chosen to

Claudio Cocino and Alessio Rezza

perform one of the great traditional

in the main roles. Teatro dell’Opera

Christmas ballets, in classical style.

di Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli,

Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da

www.operadiroma.it.

Fabriano, www.teatroolimpico.it.

38 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

is

Guiliano

A FOOTBALL GAME UNLIKE ANY OTHER GET YOUR

TICKETS ON YOUR

MOBILE PHONE

asroma.com/en/ticketing

OR SIMPLY SCAN THIS CODE WITHWanted YOUR PHONE in Rome • December 2021 | 39

lassical lassical

The following is a list of the main musical associations in Rome but it is not a definitive list of all the music that is available in the city.

The following is a list of the main musical There are also concerts in many of the associations in Rome but it is not a definitive churches and sometimes in the museums. list of all the music that is available in the city.

There are also concerts in many of the Auditorium Conciliazione, Via della churches and sometimes in the museums.

Conciliazione 4, www.auditoriumconciliazione.it Auditorium Parco della Musica, Viale Auditorium Conciliazione, ViaP. de della Coubertin 30, www.auditorium.com Conciliazione 4, www.auditoriumconciliazione.it Accademia Filarmonica Teatro Auditorium Parco della Romana, Musica, Viale P. de Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, Coubertin 30, www.auditorium.com www.filarmonicaromana.org. The new season Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Teatro starts on 15 Oct Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, Accademia S. Cecilia, www.santacecilia.it.

All www.filarmonicaromana.org.

The new season concerts Parco della Musica. The startsat onAuditorium 15 Oct newAccademia season startsS. on 5Cecilia, Oct www.santacecilia.it. All

concerts Universitaria at Auditorium Parco della Musica.

Istituzione dei Concerti, AulaThe newUniversità season starts on 5 Oct www.concertiiuc.it Magna, la Sapienza,

Istituzione Universitaria deiGonfalone Concerti,32a, Aula Oratorio del Gonfalone, Via del Magna, Università la Sapienza, www.concertiiuc.it www.oratoriogonfalone.com Oratorio delMethodist Gonfalone, Via delPiazza Gonfalone 32a, RomeConcerts, Church, Ponte www.oratoriogonfalone.com S. Angelo, www.romeconcerts.it RomeConcerts, Piazza Ponte Roma Sinfonietta, Methodist AuditoriumChurch, Ennio Morricone, S. Angelo, www.romeconcerts.it Torvergata, www.romasinfonietta.com Roma Auditorium Roma Tre Sinfonietta, Orchestra, some concertsEnnio are atMorricone, Teatro Torvergata, www.romasinfonietta.com Palladium, Piazza Bartolomeo Romano 8, teatropalladium.uniroma3.it, while others at Roma Tre Orchestra, some concerts are are at Teatro the Aula Magna, Piazza Scuola Lettere Filosofia Lingue, 8, Palladium, Bartolomeo Romano Universita Roma Tre, Via while Ostienze teatropalladium.uniroma3.it, others234, are at www.r30.org the Aula Magna, Scuola Lettere Filosofia Lingue, Universita Tre,festivals Via Ostienze 234, There are oftenRoma concerts, and opera www.r30.org recitals in several churches in Rome.

often concerts, festivals and153, opera All There Saints' are Anglican Church, Via Babuino recitals in several churches in Rome. www.allsaintsrome.org All Saints' Anglican Church, Via Babuino 153, Ponte S. Angelo Methodist Church, Ponte S. www.allsaintsrome.org Angelo, www.methodistchurchrome.com Ponte S. Angelo Methodist Church, Ponte S. Oratorio del Caravita, Via della Caravita 7 Angelo, www.methodistchurchrome.com

Oratorio del Caravita, Caravita St Paul's Within the Walls,Via Viadella Nazionale and7 the corner of Via Nazionale, www.stpaulsrome.it St Paul's Within the Walls, Via Nazionale and the S. Agnese Sagrestia del Borromini, corner ofin ViaAgone, Nazionale, www.stpaulsrome.it Piazza Navona S. Agnese in Agone, Sagrestia del Borromini, Palazzo PiazzaDoria NavonaPamphilj hosts a series called Opera Serenades by Night with Dinner throughout Palazzo Doria Pamphilj hosts a series called the year.

There is a concert, a tour of the museum Serenades

by Night Dinner throughout and Opera dinner afterwards.

Viawith del Corso 305, the year. There is a concert, a tour of the museum www.doriapamphilj.com and dinner afterwards. Via del Corso 305, www.doriapamphilj.com 5040 | Oct 2018 • Wanted Rome in Rome | December 2021 •in Wanted

MUSIC MUSIC THEATR THEATRE CINEMA CINEMA VENUES VENUES

cc

MUSIC THEATRE CINEMA DANCE OPERA

c

inema inema

The following cinemas show movies in English or original language, and sometimes foreign film festivals.

See Wantedshow in Rome website for The following cinemas movies in English weekly updates. or original language, and sometimes foreign film festivals. See Wanted in Rome website for Adriano, Cavour 22, tel. 0636767 weeklyPiazza updates.

Barberini, Piazza Barberini 24-26, tel.

Adriano, Piazza Cavour 22, tel. 0636767 0686391361 Barberini, Piazza BarberiniMastroianni 24-26, 1, tel.

Casa del Cinema, Largo Marcello 0686391361 tel. 06423601, www.casadelcinema.it

Casa del Cinema, Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, Cinema dei Piccoli, Viale della Pineta 15, tel. tel. 06423601, www.casadelcinema.it 068553485 Cinema dei Piccoli, Viale della Pineta 15, tel.

Farnese Persol, Piazza Campo de’ Fiori 56, tel.

068553485 066864395, www.cinemafarnesepersol.com Farnese Persol, Piazza Campo de’ Fiori 56, tel.

Greenwich, Via G. Bodoni 59, tel. 065745825 066864395, www.cinemafarnesepersol.com Intrastevere, Vicolo Moroni 3, tel. 065884230 Greenwich, Via G. Bodoni 59, tel. 065745825 Lux, Via Massaciuccoli 31, tel. 0686391361 Intrastevere, Vicolo Moroni 3, tel. 065884230 Nuovo Olimpia, Via in Lucina 16/g, tel.

Lux, Via Massaciuccoli 31, tel. 0686391361 066861068 Nuovo Olimpia, Via in Lucina 16/g, tel.

Nuovo Sacher, Largo Ascianghi 1, tel. 065818116 066861068 Odeon, Piazza Stefano 22, tel.

Nuovo Sacher, LargoJacini Ascianghi 1, 0686391361 tel. 065818116

Space Moderno, Piazza della 44, tel.

Odeon, Piazza Stefano JaciniRepubblica 22, tel. 0686391361 06892111 Space Moderno, Piazza della Repubblica 44, tel.

Space Parco de’ Medici, Viale Salvatore Rebec06892111 chini 3-5, tel. 06892111 Space Parco de’ Medici, Viale Salvatore Rebecchini 3-5, tel. 06892111

dd p p 38

Wanted in Rome | December 2017

t

Teatro 06684000314, ww T Teatro Belli, 06684000314, ww ww T Teatro ww Brancaccio, ww T Teatro ww Ghione, ww T Teatro ww 06684000311, ww T 06684000311, ww

WANTED junior inROME Holiday Writing from St. Stephen’s School The Creative Writing and Visual Arts Classes at St. Stephen’s understand the beautiful chiaroscuro that occurs when the brightest lights shine during the darkest nights. Teachers Ms Egan, Ms Fedich, and

Ms Guerra hope that you will enjoy these works by students, celebrating the wonders of the season and the ways in which we continue to light our paths through darkness, literal and metaphorical.

A Collaboration by Natalie S. and Ilaria C., Grade 12 Pulp Serenity The hill was plastered with bright orange trees, peeling tambourines like skins of mandarins.

The wind rumbled the trees and ruffled the waves.

I foraged for you.

The fire of this year burning out, creating a blazing next year, A celebration filled with the next chapter of our lives, A time of joy and of new beginnings, the new year’s celebration.

Esmeralda I., Grade 9 Snow lights Snowflakes were falling down on the frozen lake covered with frost, creating a soft and white carpet. You could hear the laughter of the children in the distance that got lower and lower and farther as the sun went down over the vast hills. You could still hear the Christmas carols of the stalls not far from there and the rustle of the skates of those who skated on the lake, creating intertwined lines on the white carpet that covered the majestic lake. The chestnut smell became lighter and lighter as the ovens were turned off and the windows of the houses were closed and the only ones remaining outside under the night sky were those full of snow, looking at the snowflakes covering even the flashing colored lights that covered every corner and wall that kept the city alive.

Uma S., Grade 10 The end of another year Lights, everywhere.

Decorated on the balconies of apartments.

On the door frames, and windows of houses.

Constantino M., Grade 10 A New Year The evergreen leaves forever stuck to the ground, Frozen branches stiffly swaying in the icy wind, As the match brings flame to the dry logs inside, a pink warm scent flows through the home.

Torn paper and ribbons left behind by eager children everywhere, Cold white snow falling from the gray cool sky, A picture perfect moment during the years first and final frost, with the wheel of the world turning again to a new year.

Illustration by Milena A., Grade 12.

42 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Illuminating the tiny cracks and crevices of even the darkest spaces.

Sparkling stars, A grand mystical, moon, lighting the way for the ones who thrive at night.

Laughter, breaking across the world.

In warm houses, filled with the sweet and savory aroma of spices and confectionary dishes.

Giggling children, crowding the streets, Playing with fire.

Small, sizzling sparklers, in the little hands of kids.

Big fireworks in the hands of the elders.

Pink, purple, orange, blue.

Every color and every hue.

Loud music in the streets, the melodies and tunes from singers, and from those who think that they are singing.

Basking in the snugness of familial, familiar love.

Bathing in the warmth of the quiet, crackling, fireplace.

Eating salty, sugary treats until you lose fervor, and your stomach trembles.

Seeing smiling faces, and those same twinkling stars which decorate the night sky, in their eyes.

Those few blissful days make up for those many months in isolation.

Unable to see our loved ones, because of the raging dangers of the outside world.

Tears forming in your eyes, as the glee engulfs you and makes you feel light.

Like lying on a delicate cloud of pure joy.

The sore ache in your stomach keeps that memory fresh for days.

Love, so much love.

Why can’t it always be like this?

Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, or any other celebration which you commemorate, wherever in the world it be; you will surely feel the beauty and true essence of the Holidays.

Riccardo C., Grade 10 Taciturn joy The sun, ever-present in the nooks and crannies between the buildings, shining its gold on lunging leaves and piercingly red petals.

Only tainting some parts of the sky,

Illustration by Esma G., Grade 11.

something so beautiful it closes your throat up as if you were about to cry, left to dwell on the melancholies of lives you never lived.

What a lucky little secret part of the world that is.

The lucky blind muse opened my eyes to it.

Christmas-y cute lil thing: A little green world, developed on a branch of a christmas tree.

Enveloped in silence it seems to be, yet everything on it moves, talks and sings.

They even have carols to celebrate. And sure, squirrels don’t really have a voice, but all that birds do is chant.

That really makes me think, do they sit on a little table, ants, worms and all, exchanging gifts and feeling that warmth only family can give?

Asia M., Grade 10 The people walking down the roads Became far less and less, As December spreads its icy breath Amongst the city houses, penetrating the barrier of the chimneys That crack and extinguish under its frigid grasp.

The buildings, and streets, now coated white Glimmer underneath the pale moonlight, Whilst the town’s roads are adorned with sparkling bulbs, And colorful tents that line the sidewalks, Offering mulled wine, hot cider vinegar, and candied treats for the children.

The festivities have begun in december’s last days, And the Christmas tree is decked with evergreen leaves, Sparkling red glass balls, and twinkling lights.

It stands tall, above all, those who are lost searching for their way home, those who have found the pieces of themselves broken, those who have retrieved their butchered hearts, bloody and cold They wander adrift in the still cold of December's farewell snow.

WANTED IN ROME JUNIOR: For young writers and artists Wanted in Rome accepts creative contributions from students in all international schools in Rome. Articles on topics related to either the student’s life in Rome or their school projects can be submitted by their class teachers. The work should be no more than 1,000 words and we also accept illustrations.

Teachers who would like to propose a project can contact editorial@wantedinrome.com.

Wanted in Rome • December 2021 | 43

TEATRO NAZIONALE DECEMBER 4 -5

GIOVANNI SOLLIMA

Acquaprofonda CONDUCTOR CARLO DONADIO DIRECTOR LUIS ERNESTO DOÑAS TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA ORCHESTRA WITH THE PARTECIPATION OF THE TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA SCHOLA CANTORUM NEW PRODUCTION, COMMISSION AND COPRODUCTION TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA AND ASLICO/TEATRO SOCIALE DI COMO – PROGETTO OPERA DOMANI

TEATRO COSTANZI DECEMBER 4 - 12

GIACOMO PUCCINI

Tosca

CONDUCTOR PAOLO ARRIVABENI DIRECTOR ALESSANDRO TALEVI TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS WITH THE PARTECIPATION OF THE TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA SCUOLA DI CANTO CORALE

TEATRO COSTANZI DECEMBER 19 JANUARY 2

PËTR IL’IČ ČAJKOVSKIJ

The nutcracker CONDUCTOR NIR KABARETTI CHOREOGRAPHER GIULIANO PEPARINI TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA ÉTOILES, PRINCIPAL DANCERS, SOLOISTS AND CORPS DE BALLET WITH THE PARTECIPATION OF THE TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA BALLET SCHOOL A TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA PRODUCTION

operaroma.it

FOUNDERS

PRIVATE SHAREHOLDERS

PATRONS

Ettore Festa, HaunagDesign - IIllustration by Gianluigi Toccafondo

A TEATRO DELL’OPERA DI ROMA PRODUCTION

ddance oopera p pop r ock r ance

Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli 1, www.operaroma.it

Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, 17, www.teatroolimpico.it Piazza Beniamino Gigli 1, www.operaroma.it Teatro Vascello, Via Giacinto Carini 78, Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano www.teatrovascello.it 17, www.teatroolimpico.it Teatro Vascello, Via Giacinto Carini 78, www.teatrovascello.it

pera

Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli 1, www.operaroma.it Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli 1, www.operaroma.it

op

ock

Concert venues ranging from major pop and rock groups to jazz and acoustic gigs.

Concert venues ranging from major pop and Alexanderplatz, 9, tel. 0683775604 rock groups to Via jazzOstia and acoustic gigs. www.alexanderplatzjazzclub.it Alexanderplatz, Via Ostia 9, tel.

0683775604 Angelo Mai Altrove, Via delle Terme di www.alexanderplatzjazzclub.it Caracalla 55, www.angelomai.org Angelo Mai Via Atlantico delle Terme di Atlantico, VialeAltrove, dell’Oceano 271d, Caracalla 55, www.angelomai.org tel.

065915727, www.atlanticoroma.it

Atlantico, Viale Atlantico Auditorium Parcodell’Oceano della Musica, Viale 271d, P. de tel. 065915727, www.atlanticoroma.it Coubertin, tel. 06892982, www.auditorium.com Auditorium della Viale de Casa del Jazz, Parco Viale di PortaMusica, Ardeatina 55,P.tel.

Coubertin,www.casajazz.it tel. 06892982, www.auditorium.com 06704731,

t

Casa del Jazz, Viale di Porta Ardeatina 55, tel.

06704731, www.casajazz.it

heatre heatre

Teatro Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina 52, tel.

06684000314, www.teatrodiroma.net Teatro Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina 52, tel.

Teatro Belli, Piazza di S. Apollonia 11, tel. 065894875, 06684000314, www.teatrodiroma.net www.teatrobelli.it Teatro Belli, Piazza di S. Apollonia 11, tel. 065894875, Teatro Brancaccio, Via Merulana 244, tel. 0680687231 www.teatrobelli.it www.teatrobrancaccio.it Teatro Brancaccio, Via Merulana 244, tel. 0680687231 Teatro Ghione, Via delle Fornaci 37, tel. 066372294 www.teatrobrancaccio.it www.teatroghione.it Teatro Ghione, Via delle Fornaci 37, tel. 066372294 Teatro India, Lungotevere Vittorio Gassman 1, tel. www.teatroghione.it 06684000311, www.teatrodiroma.net Teatro India, Lungotevere Vittorio Gassman 1, tel.

06684000311, www.teatrodiroma.net 50 | Jan 2019 • Wanted in Rome

Lanificio 159, Via di Pietralata 159, tel.

0641780081, www.lanificio159.com Lanificio 159,ViaVia di Pietralata 159, Live Alcazar, Cardinale Merry del Valtel.

14, 0641780081, www.lanificio159.com tel.

065810388, www.livealcazar.com Live Alcazar, Merry del 35, Val 14, Monk Club, Via ViaCardinale Giuseppe Mirri tel. tel. 065810388, www.livealcazar.com 0664850987, www.monkroma.it Monk Club, ViaPiazzale Giuseppe Mirri 35,1, tel.

PalaLottomatica, dello Sport tel.

0664850987, www.monkroma.it 06540901, www.palalottomatica.it PalaLottomatica, Piazzale Sport 1, tel.

Rock in Roma, Via Appiadello Nuova 1245, tel.

06540901, www.palalottomatica.it 0654220870 www.rockinroma.com Rock in Roma, Via Appia Nuova 1245, tel.

Teatro Quirinetta, Via Marco Minghetti 5, tel.

0654220870 www.rockinroma.com 0669925616, www.quirinetta.com Teatro Quirinetta, Via Marco Minghetti 5, tel.

Unplugged in Monti, Blackmarket, Via 0669925616, www.quirinetta.com Panisperna 101, www.unpluggedinmonti.com Unplugged in Monti, Blackmarket, Via Panisperna 101, www.unpluggedinmonti.com

Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, tel.

063265991, www.teatroolimpico.it Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, Teatro S. Genesio, Via Podgora 1, tel. 063223432, tel. 063265991, www.teatroolimpico.it www.teatrosangenesio.it Teatro S. Genesio, Via Podgora 1, tel. 063223432 Teatro Sistina, Via Sistina 129, tel. 064200711, www.ilsiwww.teatrosangenesio.it stina.it Teatro Sistina, Via Sistina 129, tel. 064200711, Teatro Vascello, Via Giacinto Carini 78, tel 065898031 www.ilsistina.it www.teatrovascello.it Teatro Vascello, Via Giacinto Carini 78, Teatro Vittoria,www.teatrovascello.it Piazza di S. Maria Liberatrice 10, tel. tel. 065898031, 065781960, www.teatrovittoria.it Teatro Vittoria, Piazza di S. Maria Liberatrice 10, tel. 065781960, www.teatrovittoria.it Wanted 51 in |Rome • December | 45 Oct 2018 • Wanted2021 in Rome

46 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

By Kate Zagorski

PANGIALLO: ROMAN CHRISTMAS CAKE PANGIALLO HAS BEEN A TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS TREAT IN ROME SINCE ANCIENT ROMAN TIMES

Literally meaning “yellow bread,” pangiallo is a traditional Roman sweet eaten at Christmas.

It is made from a mixture of dried and candied fruit, nuts, citrus peel, honey and dark chocolate which are combined and formed into a dome shape.

The cake is brushed with a saffron glaze and baked in the oven to create a golden yellow outer crust and a dense, rich, sticky interior.

Pangiallo is originally an ancient recipe from the Roman Imperial age when it was made and gifted during the winter solstice to wish for the return of the sun, hence its colour and round shape.

Nowadays pangiallo is harder to track down than the more diffused festive treats such as panforte or panpepato, yet it can still be found in some of the artisanal bakeries of the city around the yuletide period.

However, preparing pangiallo at home is very simple and will fill your house with a delicious warm aroma. The recipe below is a basic guideline, but you could also add dried figs, pine nuts or spices such as nutmeg, ginger or cinnamon according to your own taste. Once made it keeps well so it makes an excellent homemade Christmas gift for friends and family.

Ingredients PANGIALLO 80g almonds 80g hazelnuts 80g walnuts 40g pistachios 100g sultanas

40g mixed candied fruit 100g honey 100g dark chocolate Grated zest of 1 lemon Grated zest of 1 orange 80g flour 00

FOR THE GLAZE 2 small sachets of saffron (2 x 0.1g bags) 2 tbsp flour 00 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the dark chocolate into a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water and melt until smooth. While the chocolate is melting roughly chop the almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and pistachios and put into a large mixing bowl.

Add the grated lemon and orange zest, the sultanas and the candied fruit and combine everything together well using a fork. Add the honey and continue to mix as you gradually pour in the melted chocolate. Lastly add the flour and, once combined, use your hands to push down and form a compact dough.

Place the dough on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and use your hands to mould it into a dome shape. To make the golden glaze put 2 tablespoons of flour into a clean bowl, add the olive oil and saffron and mix. Then gradually add cold water, bit by bit, until you have a thick, creamy texture. Brush the glaze over the top of the dome until it is completely covered then bake in the oven at 180°C for 35-40 minutes until the outer crust is firm.

Kate Zagorski has lived in Italy since 2000. Married to a food-obsessed Roman chef, she leads food tours and also works as a freelance food and travel writer.

The best wine bars in Rome: ten of our favourites that also serve food Sometimes an excellent wine bar can be even better than a good restaurant, and for this reason we have put together a definitive list Brylla – Trieste Brylla is a modern wine bar with a a very smart idea: Coravin. Thanks to an unusual contraption, the bottles can be opened but still keep well. The outcome is extraordinary, you can try a glass of anything on the menu. And that’s hundreds of different grapes, from a more modest wine to a Chateau Lafitte, either for a taster, by the glass, half bottle or bottle. There’s a fairly good menu too (but you could find better). Via Chiana 77, tel.

0685355669.

Fafiuché – Monti Fafiuché is a small sanctuary, a haven, a shelter from life’s chaos. On a backstreet in Monti is the wine bar where you’ll find high quality Piedmont wines and also delicious dishes, such as braised meat, mixed plates of meats and cheeses accompanied by preserves. If you are lucky you might be able to nab one of the (few) tables outside. Via della Madonna dei Monti 28, tel. 066990968.

Litro – Monteverde Litro has much to say for it and little wrong with it: the location is great with a lovely outdoor space.

The staff are passionate and attentive. The wine list (all organic) is excellent. The wines are made with the highest quality ingredients, unlike other wines you might find round and about. Via Fratelli Bonnet 5, tel. 0645447639.

Sogno Autarchico – Prati Near the Sorpasso house, this venue isn’t particularly nice indoors – the room is crammed with a large bar, a few tables and a lounge area. But this wine bar earns a prized place on our list, thanks to Gianni Ruggiero, who is also the sommelier at Simposio. You’ll find regulars here spanning all sorts of ages, who hold this bar in high regard. Via Properzio 32, tel. 0668801310.

Il Sorí – S. Lorenzo Small and cosy, an oasis in S. Lorenzo, hidden amongst an array of fast food eateries with outdoor seating. Sorì really knows its stuff about wines, and also about cooking. As well as other delicious dishes you can try the excellent Gallega octopus (€15), the crispy toasted patanegra (Spanish ham, the beef tartare or wild boar cheek.

Via dei Volsci 51, tel. 3934318681.

Remigio Champagne e Vino – Appio Remigio is a hidden gem between via Tuscolana and Appia. There’s a wide variety of champagne and sparkling wines available, but there are also

a great number of still wines to choose from. We recommend pairing a glass of wine with the steak tartare, which is one of the best around. All the dishes are excellent, especially the crostini, pastrami, and salted cod. Also open at lunchtime. Via S. Maria Ausiliatrice 15, tel 06789228.

La Barrique – Monti At this very popular bar you can have an enjoyable meal alone, at one of the wooden tables, gazing at the shelves that show off the many wine bottles. The array of wines is truly excellent, and includes some organic bottles. They also offer wine by the glass, and you can choose between slightly cheaper wines or some rather special ones. There aren’t many dishes on offer, but there’s always something tasty. Via del Boschetto 41/b, tel 0647825953.

Il Goccetto – Historical centre An institution, one of the city’s first wine bars, a cult spot for Romans and tourists looking for a touch of the gourmet. They both sit by the bar waiting for an extraordinary platter of meats and cheeses which they wash down with a glass of wine. Cosy and intimate, il Goccetto is a perfect mix between a wine bar offering 800 bottles and a Venetian bacaro (the venetian word for wine bar). Truly one of the best wine bars in Rome. Via dei Banchi Vecchi 14, tel 066864268.

Al Vino al Vino – Monti While there might not always be an enthusiastic and jolly atmosphere it’s definitely worth a visit.

The owner Giacomo is a man of few words, who watches football games on the television while preparing the cheese and meat boards. Unfortunately these are the only things on the menu, other than a very saucy aubergine parmigiana.

We recommend taking your glass outside and watching passersby. There is a good selection of wines on offer. Via dei Serpenti 19, tel.

06485803.

Trimani Wine Bar – Fiume Trimani has just celebrated its 25th birthday, and at this respectable age has certainly become one of Rome’s most classic wine bars. Elegant and a little formal, there’s an intimate atmosphere and an excellent kitchen. They serve an age-old dish, crostino with lard from the butcher Silvio Brarda and mozzarella. You can also enjoy carpacci, buffalo mozzarella and many other dishes. It is filled with tables, there are no stools at the bar.

Via Cernaia 37, tel. 064469630.

www.puntarellarossa.it

Associations American International Club of Rome tel. 0645447625, www.aicrome.org American Women’s Association of Rome tel. 064825268, www.awar.org Association of British Expats in Italy britishexpatsinitaly@gmail.com Canadian Club of Rome canadarome@gmail.com Circolo di Cultura Mario Mieli Gay and lesbian international contact group, tel. 065413985, www.mariomieli.net Commonwealth Club of Rome ccrome08@gmail.com Daughters of the American Revolution Pax Romana Chapter NSDAR paxromana@daritaly.com, www.daritaly.com

International Women’s Club of Rome tel. 0633267490, www.iwcofrome.it Irish Club of Rome irishclubofrome@gmail.com, www.irishclubofrome.org Luncheon Club of Rome tel. 3338466820 Patrons of Arts in the Vatican Museums tel. 0669881814, www.vatican-patrons.org Professional Woman’s Association www.pwarome.org United Nations Women’s Guild tel. 0657053628, unwg@fao.org, www.unwgrome.multiply.com Welcome Neighbor tel. 3479313040, dearprome@tele2.it, www.wntome-homepage.blogspot.com

Books The following bookshops and libraries have books in English and other languages as specified.

Almost Corner Bookshop Via del Moro 45, tel. 065836942 Anglo American Bookshop Via delle Vite 102, tel. 066795222 Bibliothèque Centre Culturel Saint-Louis de France (French) Largo Toniolo 20-22, tel. 066802637 www.saintlouisdefrance.it La librerie Française de Rome La Procure (French) Piazza S. Luigi dei Francesi 23, tel. 0668307598, www.libreriefrancaiserome.com Libreria Feltrinelli International Via V.E. Orlando 84, tel. 064827878, www.lafeltrinelli.it

Libreria Quattro Fontane (international) Via delle Quattro Fontane 20/a, tel. 064814484 Libreria Spagnola Sorgente (Spanish) Piazza navona 90, tel. 0668806950, www.libreriaspagnola.it Open Door Bookshop (second hand books English, French, German, Italian) Via della Lungaretta 23, tel. 065896478, www.books-in-italy.com Otherwise Via del Governo Vecchio, tel. 066879825, www.otherwisebookshop.com

Religious All Saints’ Anglican Church Via del Babuino 153/b tel. 0636001881 Sunday service 08.30 and 10.30 Anglican Centre Piazza del Collegio Romano 2, tel. 066780302, www.anglicancentreinrome.com Beth Hillel (Jewish Progressive Community) tel. 3899691486, www.bethhillelroma.org Bible Baptist Church Via di Castel di Leva 326, tel. 3342934593, www.bbcroma.org, Sunday 11.00 Christian Science Services Via Stresa 41, tel. 063014425 Church of All Nations Lungotevere Michelangelo 7, tel. 069870464 Church of Sweden Via A. Beroli 1/e, tel. 068080474, Sunday service 11.15 (Swedish)

50 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

Footsteps Inter-Denominational Christian South Rome, tel. 0650917621, 3332284093, North Rome, tel. 0630894371, akfsmes.styles@tiscali.it International Central Gospel Church Via XX Settembre 88, tel. 0655282695 International Christian Fellowship Via Guido Castelnuovo 28, tel. 065594266, Sunday service 11.00 Jewish Community Tempio Maggiore, Lungotevere Cenci, tel. 066840061 Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas Largo della Sanità Militare 60, tel. 067726761 Lutheran Church Via Toscana 7, corner Via Sicilia 70, tel. 064817519, Sunday service 10.00 (German) Ponte S. Angelo Methodist Church Piazza Ponte S. Angelo, tel. 066868314, Sunday Service 10.30

Pontifical Irish College (Roman Catholic) Via dei SS. Quattro 1, tel. 06772631. Sunday service 10.00 Roma Baptist Church Piazza S. Lorenzo in Lucina 35, tel. 066876652, 066876211, Suday service 10.30, 13.00 (Filipino), 16.00 (Chinese) Roma Buddhist Centre Vihara Via Mandas 2, tel. 0622460091 Rome International Church Via Cassia km 16, www.romeinternational.org Rome Mosque (Centro Islamico) Via della Moschea, tel. 068082167, 068082258 St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Via XX Settembre 7, tel. 064827627, Sunday service 11.00 St Francis Xavier del Caravita (Roman Catholic) Via Caravita 7, www.caravita.org, Sunday service 11.00

Support groups Alcoholics Anonymous tel. 064742913, www.aarome.com Archè (HIV+children and their families) tel. 0677250350, www.arche.it Associazione Centro Astalli (Jesuit refugee centre) Via degli Astalli 14/a, tel. 0669700306 Associazione Ryder Italia (Support for cancer patients and their families) tel. 065349622/06582045580, www.ryderitalia.it Astra (Anti-stalking risk assessment) tel. 066535499, www.differenzadonna.it Caritas soup kitchen (Mensa Giovanni Paolo II) Via delle Sette Sale 30, tel. 0647821098, 11.00-13.30 daily Caritas foreigners’ support centre Via delle Zoccolette 19, tel. 066875228, 06681554 Caritas hostel Via Marsala 109, tel. 064457235 Caritas legal assistance Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano 6/a, tel. 0669886369 Celebrate Recovery Christian group tel. 3381675680

Transport • Atac (Rome bus, metro and tram) tel. 800431784, www.atac.roma.it • Ciampino airport tel.06794941, www.adr.it • Fiumicino airport tel. 0665951, www.adr.it • Taxi tel. 060609-065551-063570-068822-064157066645-064994 • Traffic info tel. 1518 • Trenitalia (national railways) tel. 892021, www.trenitalia.it

52 | December 2021 • Wanted in Rome

St Isidore College (Roman Catholic) Via degli Artisti 41, tel. 064885359, Sunday service 10.00 St Patrick’s Church (Roman Catholic), Via Boncompagni 31, tel. 068881827, www.stpatricksamericaninrome.org Weekday Masses in English 18.00, Saturday Vigil 18.00, Sunday 09.00 and 10.30 St Paul’s within-the-Walls (Anglican Episcopal) Via Nazionale, corner Via Napoli, tel. 064883339, Sunday service 08.30, 10.30 (English), 13.00 (Spanish) St Silvestro Church (Roman Catholic) Piazza S. Silvestro 1, tel. 066977121, Sunday service 10.00 and 17.30 Venerable English College (Roman Catholic), Via di Monserrato 45, tel. 066868546, Sunday service 10.00 Comunità di S. Egidio Piazza di S. Egidio 3/a, tel. 068992234 Comunità di S. Egidio soup kitchen Via Dandolo 10, tel. 065894327, 17.00-19.30 Wed, Fri, Sat Information line for disabled tel. 800271027 Joel Nafuma Refugee Centre St Paul’s within-the-Walls Via Nazionale, corner Via Napoli, tel. 064883339 Mason Perkins Deafness Fund (Support for deaf and deaf-blind children), tel. 06444234511, masonperkins@gmail.com, www.mpds.it Overeaters Anonymous tel. 064743772 Salvation Army (Esercito della Salvezza) Centro Sociale di Roma “Virgilio Paglieri” Via degli Apuli 41, tel. 064451351 Support for elderly victims of crime (Italian only) Largo E. Fioritto 2, tel. 0657305104 The Samaritans Onlus (Confidential telephone helpline for the distressed) tel. 800860022

Chiamaroma 24-hour, multilingual information line for services in Rome, run by the city council, tel. 060606

Emergency numbers • • • • • • •

Ambulance tel. 118 Carabinieri tel. 112 Electricity and water faults (Acea) tel. 800130336 Fire brigade tel. 115 Gas leaks (Italgas-Eni) tel. 800900999 Police tel. 113 Rubbish (Ama) tel. 8008670355