A Troubled Bridge Over Water

I was all fired up for more Rome after Brian's one-day marathon, so I covered a lot of ground today. When I woke up it was raining, which, as far as sightseeing goes, means pretty much any indoor attraction is going to be packed with wet people. Which means that I will be avoiding indoor attractions if possible.

Poor Souls

I was really enamored with the Ponte Sant'Angelo today. The P. St. A, as I now call it in my head, is a bridge that was built by the Emperor Hadrian in 134 AD. It's gone through some revisions since then, but apparently the supporting arches are still the originals. Good old Roman construction. Many centuries after Hadrian, the bridge was used to display the bodies of executed people. In 1669, the Pope decided the bridge needed some new angel statues, so he asked sculptor/architect Bernini to make a set of ten, each holding an instrument of Christ's passion. I know, there seems to be an execution theme going here. I'm assuming it's coincidental.

P.S. The bridge crosses the Tiber right in front of the Castle San Angelo, which happens to be topped with a very dramatic Archangel Michael

It's very easy to overdose on baroque angels in Rome, so I have to admit that I have never really paid much attention to these statues. Usually, they look kind of snooz-ish standing there in the sun. But today, with the clouds and the rain...

LOOK OUT!

I love how he looks like he's running right out of the clouds. Cover up the pedestal with your thumb, that's kind of how the view is looking up at him from the ground. This is the angel with the Superscription, by the way (his scroll says "INRI").

So I spent some time walking up and down the bridge, obsessing over the angels. They really are all beautiful. Although most of them are pretty standard, graceful heavenly hosts.

There are a couple in the group, however, that are definitely more...intense than the others. This one is my favorite:

I love that he's so fierce and full of pollution!

I mean, just look at how his fingers are gingerly holding the crown around the thorns.

I found out that this guy is one of only two angels that Bernini finished before he died (he designed the others but they were sculpted by someone else). And actually, the statues on the bridge are copies. The originals are in a church somewhere in Rome. I'm going to have to go visit them after a High Mass, when it's dark and smokey.