BEE KEEPING...
written by Sergio Caggìa with Paul Gwynne for © Nerone the Insider's Guide to Rome

 

Last month we wrote an itinerary including some of Bernini's lesser known works, including the church of Santa Bibiana, near Termini Station, whose feast day falls 2 December. The church was Bernini's first major commission when he was asked by the Barberini Pope, Urban VIII, to remodern the ancient Basilica for the Jubelee of 1625. The coat of arms of Urban VIII is everywhere visible inside the church. Urban VIII, like so many popes before him, used his family coat of arms to mark the monuments which he had patronized.    The Barberini family crest consists of three bees. Perhaps you have seen them swarming upon other monuments around the city? Let's see if we can find a few of the delicate flowers on which these papal insects have alighted. This would be a good game for children as the huge Barberini bees can easily be spotted... Let's start in the Barberini precinct at the top of Via del Tritone where we will find two sets of bees. In the centre of the busy Piazza Barberini stands the Fontana del Tritone which depicts the huge merman, or triton, blowing upon a conch shell trumpet. Underneath this figure acting as a support for the scallop shell in which the triton sits are the papal coat of arms with the crossed keys of St Peter, the papal tiara and the Barberini bees. Nearby, at the beginning of Via Veneto, is another Bernini Fountain, La Fontana delle Api. Here the three heraldic bees have left their traditional formation to drink at the fountain itself. Each of the three thursty bees are perched over the fountain's spouts in a delightfully realistic composition.    Our bee-keeping itinerary now takes us to the Pantheon where a bee can be seen high up on the capital of the furthest column on the left. This bee was added when Urban VIII replaced this column in the portico. In the rose-window of the church of the Aracoeli the bees can be seen in the beautiful stained glass window in blue and yellow (you need to look at the window from the inside). Nearby along Via dei Fori Imperiali, in the apse of the Church of SS. Cosma e Damiano is a VI century mosaic restored by Urban VIII in the 17th century. His three bees hover above flowers on the far left of the design. Obviously the monuments associated with Urban VIII in St Peter's such as the Baldacchino and his tomb are decorated with bees. Not only on the coat of arms but also more discreetly placed.    You have to look closely at the tomb to find all the bees. Happy hunting!