College News

Visiting the Eternal City

Art and Design students from QE recently visited Rome and the city’s major tourist sites and art galleries.

Whilst in Rome, the 35 students embraced the opportunity to record the city through drawing and photography and observed the work of many artists and designers to inform their practical work. They visited galleries and museums, such as the Galleria Nazionale d’arte Moderna e Contemporanea and the Capitoline Museum. One day was devoted to the spectacular gardens at Villa D’Este in Tivoli and the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa, a massive complex in the hills surrounding Rome. The group also took in famous sites such as the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum and the Forum. The city was coping with huge crowds of people during a Catholic ‘Holy Week’ and St Peter’s Square and the surrounding area were very atmospheric, full of queueing people making a pilgrimage to see the embalmed bodies of saints on display in the Basilica.

The students hugely enjoyed the experience and found it to be very memorable and inspirational. Pip Greer said:

“It was really helpful to inform my work for Art Foundation. I am investigating Fashion Photography and ‘Overgrown Fashion’ and I particularly found the Forum and the overgrown statues at Villa D’Este in Tivoli most useful. I love the architecture and would love to return.”

Sophie Tumulty added:

“I loved the architecture, especially the detail and decorative features. It was interesting to see such a diverse range of art, from the contemporary we saw at the Modern Art Gallery, to the traditional at the Capitoline Museum.”