This unpreposessing building didn't look much like the 'Stables of the Quirinale' to me.
Once inside, I realised that the 'Quirinale', now the official home of the Presidents of the Italian Republic and the former home of many Popes, is located over many acres on the highest of Rome's seven hills. And while it may have originally been a wonderful summer palace as envisaged by its builder Pope Gregory XIII in 1583, it is now criss-crossed by roads and traffic. So now I see how the building we are in was probably once the stables or carriage house.
Quirinus was a sabine god of war - appropriate me thinks!
No photos were permitted in the exhibition entitled 'Matisse Arabesque'.
So I have had to resort to the information pamphlet.
There were 90 paintings, drawings and theatre costumes reflecting the life of Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) drawn from museums in Europe, America and Russia.
Matisse was drawn to the Orient and to Morocco. His work was independent of the main historical and avent-garde movements of his day.
The exhibition included costumes for the Ballets Russes performance of Stravinsky's Little Nightingale in 1920. Unfortunately no photos on the leaflet but they were gorgeous, and I'm a sucker for fabric and costumes.
This was my favourite - glorious colours. It is called 'Zorah on the terrace - 1912', so it is an early work.
His later work is much more lineal. This is 'Ivy in flower - 1941'.
And Paul snapped this one in the Vatican Museums the other day. A master of the drawn line.
We exited the gallery through a modern rear stairway and spent half an hour gazing over the rooftops of Rome.
Not a skyscraper in sight in any direction.
Talk about having a bit of history in your backyard!
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