Safety first when it comes to the Domus Aurea!
This is the cryptoporticus of the Domus Aurea. A cryptoporticus is a covered passageway that is either fully or partially subterranean. The arch you see in the middle carried water from a near by aqueduct into the octagonal room.
Here is the famous octagonal room, one of the grandest spaces in the Domus Aurea, which originally had a spinning ceiling. For a room that is now underground, it was pretty bright!
Here is the large central oculus with its modern adjustments.
This picture shows how the opening splits to create the central oculus and the skylights in the secondary spaces.
The arch that carried water (in one of the previous pictures) released the water down this ramp and into the octagonal room.
Desk space in studio is unfortunately limited so we have to be creative on how to maximize working space.
Shoutout to my great group for working well together and getting the job done!! I'm extremely proud of our efforts!
A post review, Colosseum celebration!
The courtyard of San Giovanni in Laterano with lots of crazy and interesting columns!
Me peering through the keyhole of the gate of the Knights of Malta
The view of St. Peter's dome through the keyhole!

It was deadline week! Basically, Monday and Tuesday were work-all-day kind of days. On Wednesday my drawing class was in Piazza Navona to sketch the human figure from one of the representations of the four famous personified rivers depicted in Bernini’s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (the Fountains of the Four Rivers). We did the exercise as a regular graphite sketch and then again on black paper using white pencil! I really enjoyed that class! I completed my out-of-class assignment, sketching a female figure from the Trevi Fountain, VERY early on Thursday to beat the massive crowd in such a dense space.

My class on Friday was fascinating! We visited the Domus Aurea (AKA the Golden House of Nero), a palace Nero built on the Oppian Hill overlooking a massive private garden and manmade lake that was where the Colosseum now stands. After Nero’s death, Trajan built his vast bath complex on top of the palace in order to erase any memory of Nero. We got to tour the remains of the palace which are now underground! Some areas of the Domus Aurea are well preserved because they were filled with earth as time passed. Some original murals can still be seen on the walls and ceilings! Rumour has it that great Renaissance painters like Pinturicchio, Raphael, and Michelangelo descended into the newly rediscovered palace to study and be inspired by the artwork. The particular style of painting is now called grotesque because during the Renaissance the subterranean palace was thought to be a grotto or cave. One of the most amazing spaces is an octagonal room that had an intricate network of skylights, water features, and a ceiling that revolved! Not only were the ruins incredible, the tour experience was awesome! In one room we stopped and were given a virtual reality headset to wear as we watched an interactive video that showed the history of the site and gave a tour of the domus as it would have looked in all of its glory! It was one of the coolest experiences yet!

Saturday was work all day, although a group of us celebrated my friend MG’s birthday at a restaurant that apparently Anthony Bourdain highlighted on one of his shows! It was definitely small, locally run, and very chaotic – but its good reputation was proven with a huge crowd waiting to be seated!

Our deadline was Sunday at midnight so we worked all day! Monday was the first day of our project reviews, but my group presented on Tuesday. Reviews went well and, as always, we got very helpful feedback. Afterward, my friends and I did a little celebratory photo shoot in front of the Colosseum, which you can see more pictures of here! On Wednesday we had a nice Drawing class and were assigned our next design project during Studio. My History class on Thursday was in San Giovanni in Laterano and its Baptistry and my Italian Experience was walking around the Aventine Hill, the highlight of which was peaking through the famous keyhole of the gate to the Knights of Malta’s complex to see the dome of Saint Peter’s! On Friday our class presented our historically layered model of the Caelian Hill, ate lunch, went to Studio, and then I departed for my Fall Break adventures!!