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Depicting Rome, pt. 6


Michelangelo's famous Moses sculpture at San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in chains), inspiration for weirdos as diverse as Sigmund Freud and Cecil B. DeMille (who cast Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments simply due to the actor's physical resemblance to the statue--yes, I see the joke in that statement). The church also houses what are purported to be the actual chains with which St. Peter was imprisoned. The chains were originally housed in two separate locations, and when brought together in their current location miraculously snapped together to form one unbroken chain. Careful observers might see in this story a metaphor about the "unbroken chain" of papal succession dating all the way back to St. Peter, and by extension, Jesus.



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This building was near the Casa Valdese--I was totally enamored with its frescoes depicting flocks of pigeons cavorting around its upper story. Maybe it's like a reverse scarecrow?



The sculpture of Giordano Bruno in Campo de' Fiori marks the spot on which he was burned at the stake in 1600 for heresy. It also features relief portraits of other martyrs to the faith, including Unitarianism's own Michael Servetus, featured below.








Last, the whipped cream and colorful topping of a cup of Roman hot chocolate, which is like drinking boiling pudding. Wow! Super-rich, super-thick, totally perfect on a rainy afternoon.

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