| Why,one might ask, would modern civilization owe | | | | Aurea featured villas, vineyards, forests, a sacred |
| adebt of gratitude to theunpopular, infamous | | | | grove, pastures for livestock, and an artificial lake. |
| Roman emperor Nero, dead two thousand years | | | | Nero erected a 120 foot bronze statue of himself |
| ago byhis own hand? For those folks not tunedin | | | | in the center dressed as the sun god, Sol, his |
| to their own historicalroots, Nero is an important | | | | Colossus Neronis. The Colossus would be the sole |
| part of your culture, not just a computersoftware | | | | survivor of Nero's Golden House.In 68 A.D. the |
| tool for burning compact disks. Nero gathered a | | | | Roman Senate declared Nero an enemy of the |
| magnificentcollection of classical Greek sculpture | | | | state, adeath sentence, and the emperor |
| from all over the Roman Empire,most of which | | | | committed suicide to avoid execution.Following his |
| was lost following his downfall. Why should you | | | | death, the lake was drained, the Colosseum |
| careabout Nero's story?--because whathappened | | | | constructed in its place, and Nero's colossal head |
| to him influences the way youlook at the world | | | | wasdecapitated from the colossal body of the |
| every day. | | | | Neronis, then replacedwith the heads of |
| You may have heard the tale of howNero fiddled | | | | succeeding emperors. Said to be an |
| while Rome burned in 64 A.D. First, let us lay that | | | | embarrassment to the city, the Golden House |
| storyto rest. Despite the hatred he engendered in | | | | was denuded of its decorations within tenyears, |
| the Roman populace for hismany atrocities, there | | | | and subsequently buried beneath new construction |
| is no evidence to support this rumor. In fact,he | | | | within forty years. |
| appears to have been rather helpful to a | | | | That would seem to be the end of Nero's Golden |
| devastated Rome during thatperiod. No, we | | | | House,but something strange happened to bring it |
| cannot give him credit for the burning of Rome, | | | | back to life at the end ofthe fifteenth century. A |
| but Nerohad many other monstrous acts with | | | | young Roman was walking on the Aventine hillonly |
| which we can credit him--usingChristians as human | | | | to fall into a hole into a subterranean wonderland. |
| torches comes first to mind. | | | | He landed inthe Domus Aurea, buried beneath the |
| One of Nero'schief failings was vanity. Nero | | | | Baths of Trajan. There hesaw incredible frescoes, |
| considered himself to be enormouslytalented in all | | | | appearing to be freshly painted as if new. Thesite |
| things: art, drama, athletics, and, of course, music, | | | | of this accident drew Italian artists from far and |
| afiddler extraordinaire he claimed. Perhaps he was. | | | | wide. |
| We are told that hewon every single competition | | | | Raphaeland Michelangelo visited the site, and some |
| he entered, whether artistic orathletic,from fiddling | | | | artists of the timeinscribed their names into the |
| to chariot racing and every thing in between. | | | | walls. From the depths of Nero'spleasure palace, |
| Weare further told that the reason he always | | | | from the frescoes, mosaics, and sculpture, they |
| won was because reallyunpleasant things | | | | tookinspiration, an inspiration that would be |
| happened to anyone who bested him. | | | | reflected in the art of theHigh Renaissance. As |
| Nero madegood use of the wide-spread | | | | the Domus Aurea with its new antiquesource |
| destruction of Rome. The emperor's ownhouse, | | | | material was explored, one classical Greek |
| the Domus Transitoria, was destroyed in the fire, | | | | sculpture wasunearthed on a day that |
| but free spacewas now available in the crowded | | | | Michelangelo happened to visit. It was the |
| city, now burned out. Nero tookadvantage of that | | | | Laocoon, a marble work by famed Greek |
| space to build a pleasure palace, his Domus Aurea, | | | | Hellenistic sculptors, Athanadoros, Hagesandros, |
| or Golden House. TheDomus Aurea was not a | | | | and Polydoros of Rhodes. |
| place for sleeping, because Nero had other | | | | Laocoon,a mythological subject, depicts the |
| lodgings for that. Nero outfitted hisDomus Aurea | | | | Trojan priest Laocoon with his twosons in a |
| with priceless treasures, including his collection of | | | | struggle against a giant sea snake, a punishment |
| classical Greek sculpture. | | | | from thegods for warning the Trojans about the |
| Described by Pliny the Elder, Nero built the Domus | | | | Trojan horse. Its powerfulemotional content and |
| Aureaof bricks and stucco, lavishly embellished it | | | | vigorous muscularity would soon be reflected |
| with gold-leaf decorationand ivory veneer, and he | | | | inthe works of Renaissance giants Michelangelo |
| studded the ceilings with semi-previousstones. One | | | | and Raphael. This work andothers like it from |
| ceiling actuallyrotated and sprinkled perfume, | | | | Nero's private collection of classical Greeksculpture |
| crankedlaboriously by slaves. The Domus Aurea | | | | profoundly influenced Italian Renaissance art, and it |
| covered350 acres, roughly a third of Rome, | | | | is fromthis art tha{1}t we have developed our |
| spanning fourof the SevenHills of Rome in the | | | | own modern aestheticsensibilities. |
| heart of the city. The grounds of the Domus | | | | |