CU Denver offers a unique opportunity to travel and live in Rome for a month where we gained skills in drawing, documenting, and analysis.

After three weeks of going to sites throughout Italy and drawing, we were tasked with choosing a site in Rome to do a deeper analysis on and display that analysis graphically (shown above). I chose the Campidoglio as my site and decided to focus on the statues and their purpose. I discovered that the statues designed by Michaelangelo created axes directed towards St. Peter’s Basilica. The statues that lined the three buildings mirrored the trapezoidal piazza directed outwards and the series of moments from the clocktower statue, Queen Roma and the River Gods below, through the center point of Marcus Aurelius’ statue, to the entrance of the twin statues of Pollux and Castor create an effect of moving the eye outwardly towards St. Peter’s. This analysis drawing is showcased below as well as drawings from the experience.