F r o m M i c h e l a n g e l o M e r i s i t o C a r a v a g g i o ( 1 5 7 1 - 1 6 1 0 ) Michelangelo Merisi (this was Caravaggio's real name) was born in 1571. Left orphan at a young age moved to Milan to develop his skills as a painter. There, he worked close to Simone Peterzano. At the age of twenty-one he went to Rome where he resided at the house of Pandolfo Pucci. In economic difficulty, he painted under commission still nature in the studio of Cavalier d'Arpino. The fact that Michelangelo met important roman noblemen of the epoch such as the Marchese Vicenzo Giustiniani and the Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte enabled him to obtain commissions and produce art pieces assigned to church altars...

G i a n l o r e n z o B e r n i n i ( 1 5 9 8 - 1 6 8 0 ) Bernini, sculptor, architect, urban designer, playwright and stage designer, was the major artist of the seventeenth century and "creator" of the baroque. He died at the age of 82 and during his life twelve successive popes sat on the throne. Most of them, from Pope Paul V to Pope Clement X, chose Bernini as the official artist of the church. Because Bernini designed so many masterpieces, Rome became the center of a new kind of art, where an innovative aesthetic flavor and formal language developed. Soon afterwards this new artistic language spread all over Europe and even reached Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America. Strolling through the streets of Rome it is possible to discover numerous works of art created by Bernini...

T h e R e n a i s s a n c e The Renaissance in Italy encompassed the 15th and half of the 16th century. It's name represents a time of discovery, awe and re-birth (of the self). The period is characterized by growth and constant experimentation, which led to the development of modern concepts; new forms of economy, great individual and communal wealth, civic pride, and artistic ideas. The shift between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance consisted of a slow evolution of the political and cultural ideas and system. The feudal structure founded under rural economy and developed around fortified castles had to give way to commerce and a market economy, innovative architecture and urbanization, as well as new forms of government involving the participation of citizens...

L'EPOCA PALEOCRISTIANA Nel 313 d.C. Costantino emanò l'Editto di Milano con cui veniva concessa ai cittadini dell'Impero la libertà di professare qualunque culto; terminava così l'epoca oscura delle persecuzioni dei cristiani, finora costretti alla clandestinità e al martirio. L'Editto di Tessalonica, emanato nel 380 d.C. da Teodosio, proclamò il cristianesimo religione ufficiale dell'Impero romano e da allora fiorirono l'arte, la letteratura e la cultura ispirate alla nuova fede, che finalmente trionfava sulla civiltà classica e pagana. Roma perse il suo ruolo di capitale imperiale nell'anno 330 d.C., quando Costantino le preferì l'antica Bisanzio, chiamata da lui Costantinopoli; ma la città divenne un centro universale di spiritualità, in quanto sede del papato, e meta di pellegrini e devoti in tutto il mondo...

Over the years, Julius Caesar developed a brilliant career as consul and builder. He became a dictator for an unlimited period after the triumph with Pompeo and Crasso. The Senate granted him the title of Emperor and it was at this point in time when he decided to build his own forum. He chose to place it inside the previous one, the Foro Repubblicano. At one end of the arcaded rectangular piazza Julius Caesar dedicated a temple to Venus, the celestial mother. In the center he had placed an equestrian statue depicting himself on his illustrious horse. The two front legs of his horse were portrayed as two human legs, therefore allowing some human quality to the beast. In the second century AD Trajan adds to Julius Caesar's forum a "Tabernae" or ancient roman shops, a "Forica" or public bathrooms, and the Basilica Argentaria that served as a moneychanger. In 44 BC Julius Caesar was murdered by Brutus and Cassius. His successor and adopted son Ottaviano Augusto revenged his father's death by having them killed and became part of the Empire. As an ex voto he had his own forum built in the year 2 BC. The complex stands perpendicular and is similar in character to that of his father's. The Temple of Marte Ultore lays on an extremity of the forum and in the center of the square the emperor was portrayed in a bronze equestrian statue. Frequent fires often originated in popular districts, causing severe damage to ancient cities. Ottaviano Augusto protected the forum from fire hazards by placing a "peperino " wall (a volcanic stone wall) called "tagliafuoco" or fire-stopper, which separated the forum from the popular district or Suburbia. The wall was interrupted by two arches that framed the entrance. In 75 AD Vespasiano had a new forum built adjacent to the preceding ones. The piazza occupied the central space, which led to its dominant structure the Temple of Peace. The temple was built to celebrate the Emperor and his son's (Tito) victory over the Hebrews in Jerusalem. Two libraries, a Greek and a Latin one, emerge on each side of the Temple of Peace. Nowadays, it is difficult to trace the huge complex. During the fourth and sixth centuries the Tempio del Divo Romolo and the church of SS. Cosma e Damiano were built. In 97 AD the Foro di Nerva was inaugurated. It is the smallest in size of the five forums and it was also referred to as a transitional forum because it lies between Augusto's and Vespasiano's forums. It is currently being excavated and rediscovered. Efforts are being made to recuperate its remains buried by the street built by Mussolini. The temple built at one of the piazza's extremities venerated Minerva; but in 1600s it was dismantled and its marble was re used in the fountain of Acqua Paola located in the Gianicolo. The latest and the biggest of all the forums is Trajan's Forum inaugurated in 113 BC by Trajan himself. He had his architect, Apollodoro di Damasco, build two public areas that communicated. One served for commercial activities and the other was dedicated to political and judicial activities.