[225] Art & Culture of Rome, 31 Aug 2010

Blasi & Montano Organ (1598)

This organ, found in Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome, Italy, is the oldest organ in Italy.  The organ was engineered by Luca Blasi, and the Giovan Battista Montano decorated it.  The central pipe is 8 feet high and it weighs more than 400 pounds. I am not sure of the dimensions or material for this piece of art, but I do know that the gold that adorns it was part of the booty that Christopher Columbus brought back from America.

This organ was commissioned in 1597 by Pope Clemens VII.  It is located on the right trancept wall of the basilica, right above the entrance doors.  The whole wall is decorated with music related reliefs and stautes, including Ezekial and David playing instruments.

David's song of praise is found in 2 Samuel 22: "Therefore I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations I will sing praises to your name."  With this organ, a congregation of the faithful have ben able to sing God's praises for over 400 years.  The praise David speaks of has been manifest in many ways throughout the years, including an adaptation of sacred songs by Duke Ellington.  As I stared up at this massive organ and the sculpture of David, I remembered the song "David Up and Danced" that I sang in jazz choir this summer. Here is the link, I am the second person in on the right, in the front row.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R25B6toL8Z0&feature=related

The power of worship is not in the size of an organ, or the age and decoration of a church, but in the spiritual connections that people find within its walls.  The instrument that Blasi provided this church brought fruitfulness of worship, and for me, brought me home.

http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/gallery/italy/rome_lateran_alari.shtml
http://www.romeartlover.it/Organs.html

Sculpture at the Shrine of Ardeatine

The Shrine of the Ardeatine was opened in 1949 and serves as a constant reminder of the Nazi massacre in Rome.  On March 24, 1944, in the quaries of Ardeatina Street, 335 men were rounded up and killed as retribution for the deaths of 33 German soldiers, killed by Italian partisans.  The German soliders were killed in a ploted attack because of the devestation they had caused in Rome the months previous.  Upon hearing of his men's deaths, Kesselring decided that ten Italians had to die for each German head.  The victims were mostly civilians and Italian prisoners of war, ranging in age from 14 to 75 years old.

The sculpture that stands outside of the burial site was crafted by Francesco Coccia.  Coccia, a travertine sculptor, completed this work of tufa stone in 1948.  The name of this piece is "Martyrs".  The three men grouped together represent the young people, adults and seniors that were "joined in the Martyrdom of the Ardeatine caves." 

The brutality of this event cannot be adequately captured.  The Nazis dragged the victims into a cave in groups of five.  Lined them up on their knees and shot them in the cerebellum, to ensure that it only took one shot to kill.  It took the entire day to complete this senseless retribution.  Groups being brought in had to knee on top of the bodies of those who had been shot before them.  Not all of the Italians were killed instantly, some met death when the Germans bombed the area to seal the grave. 

When Rome was liberated by the Allies and the cave was exhumed, the bodies of a son, inside his fathers arms, were found.  This image of the father and son bound together, brings me back to the Coccia's sculpture.  Although these men are no longer here, Italy, and the world, can hold them in the arms of our memory.

www.anfim.it/wai/mausoleo.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardeatine_massacre#Preparation_for_the_reprisal