Clerisseau at the Convent

It took three trips to Rome, but we finally managed to see the Salle des Ruines at Il Conventa de Trinite de Monte. It's a room painted by Clerisseau in false ruin style, which makes it romantic and charming. The first lodger was a priest named Thomas LeSeur.

The convent gives tours of their cloister and artworks. They are famous for a refectory with some charming trompe l'oeil paintings of the wedding at Cana. They also have several "perspective" paintings in upper hallways, paintings that appear as one thing at one end of the hallway and as another when you stand in front of one. They were restoring one of them, but the one we saw appeared to be St. Francois de Paule praying below a tree. When you stood in front of it, however, it became a hillside dotted with small reminders of the Saint's life. (The nun, who was charming and lively and intelligent made a joke about one incident where he is said to have cast his cloak on the water and walked out of a sinking boat. "He was the first surfer." We had the tour with a large group of french students, however, so she didn't show us the room. I asked after the tour and she said to come back in the afternoon at three and that she would have 30 minutes of spare time.

So we went to view some wonderful churches that we happened upon, then had a delicious lunch, and then went back for our appointment. The nun was clearly busy, but just as charming as before and delighted to show off the room to fans. As she was opening the window she said, "it's transformed by natural light." And she's right! It was painted to look like a crumbling stone ruin, converted to a shack. There was a wooden door, a big hole in the roof "to let in more light" as Goethe remarked when he visited the room. There's even a parrot perched on one of the roof beams. The pictures aren't great because there wasn't a lot of light for picturetaking, but we we had so much fun I had to share the experience.

And just to satisfy the foodies, we had an incredible meal at Armando al Pantheon, which is just on the other side of the piazza from our hotel. I started with a spaghetti alla verde (arugula, lemon, and parmesan). Ira had the spaghetti alla Claudio (oil, garlic, mushrooms, and saffron). Both were cooked to perfection and both will make their appearances at Shrader Street soon! My secondi was anchovies over a bed of cabbage and it was superb. Ira had a pepper steak that was tasty but a little too ordinary (i.e., he could have had it in the States). Still, it was a tremendous meal and we love eating in Rome.