We ascended a very elaborate staircase up to the first floor. Here we found masterful mosaics and the "Secret Room." The secret room's origin began as the so called sexual and obscene relics sequestered by church authorities. The masses could not be corrupted by exposed penises, copulating humans or animals, or any overtly sexual representation, so these items must be sequestered away. This collection was purchased by a private collector after an extended negotiation and only men with impeccable moral fiber could view the collection. Then we went to the second floor and were blown away by the immensity of this hall. After sitting for a while we saw the weather outside was turning. We had a tea and a coffee in the cafe to let the rain work itself out.
Starting with the mosaics
The skill with which the tiny pieces of stone, cut brick, tile and pottery were arranged is truly astounding
Once again I say woof!
The three graces
A menagerie of sea creatures
Bird watching! In amongst all the sea creatures is a kingfisher
Spineless!
Pete Davidson!
Look Ma, a wrestling match!
Birdwatching #2
Hippo watching #1
Odd dog like creature watching #1
I believe that this is a sphinx from Pompei's House of the Faun
The curious donkey
Do a little dance
Cat vs. Chicken
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me a hand
Large scale mosaic
Getting closer to the secret room
The best mosaic yet
The wild man of Roma
Bird legs
The gate to the Secret Room, as we all have impeccable moral fiber, we are allowd inside
Big rainwater downspouts
Next time you see a statue missing its privates, chances are they are in this cabinet
Knock knock, who's there
A real dick head. The provenance of this one has been challenged
Don't let your guard down while the centaurs are around
Lemon squeezy
Half goat full on with a full goat
This one hardly seems seamy
Party on the couch!
Flying penis with legs and a penis tail, ticking all the boxes
This penis head has teeth
Gives "Five Guys" an new meaning
This looks like it is from India
Voluptuous
If these are oil lamps, the flame emerging from the tip would explain the arm positions and the facial screaming
Back out of the Secret Room
Up top is a wind direction indicator
South East today
Looking down to the stairway
Ta Da! Magnificient
The wind had a magical quality of covering the genitalia in the past.
now the wind seems to do the opposite
The wind direction is different on the inside
Grandiose, fantastic, superb, incredible....
Cheers!
The magic of the wind again
These lines show the astrological zodiac signs
It was spread out
Sagittarius and Aquarius
Prometheus animating a statue
Taurus and Virgo, Leslie and Fritz
I wonder how one reads these indicators
Seen out the window, the tile polishing crew needs to get out here
So very large
Love this painting but it hurts the neck trying to see it
Rain is starting to fall
We hopped into a taxi and went to the train station
Heading back
The seagulls are out
Sunset
It has been 2 years and 327 days since we began our Migration
