Janus, according to Ancient Roman religion and mythology, rules as the god of beginnings and transitions. The deity is generally depicted as having two faces, looking forward to the future and behind to the distant past. Janus is often affiliated with doors, gateways, passages, and conclusions.
On July 3, 2013, I gathered my freshly sharpened pencils and hurriedly crossed over the Tiber to the Velabrum where I gathered with my classmates for our first drawing session. Behind me, the cloudy water of the river rushed past, its treacherous force contained by thick walls of stone. Below my feet, smooth black cobblestones reflected piercing light and an intense heat rose through the soles of my sandals. The imposing Arch of Janus loomed overhead. The architectural masterpiece, built in the early 4th century using spolia, presides over an ancient crossroads and represents the only quadrifrons, or four-faced triumphal arch preserved in Rome. I gazed enraptured at the bleached marble, attempting to absorb the enormity of the monument and the essence of the Roman deity it commemorates.
On the final day of the Rome Art Program, July 28th 2013, I woke to the ever-present lullaby of the Tiber flowing below my window. Slipping quietly from the room, I opened a pair of great wooden shutters, careful to preserve the cracked and chipping paint, and welcomed another Italian sunrise sitting atop the window’s ledge – my daily ritual since settling into the apartment I shared with those now considered lifelong friends and colleagues.
The transition undertaken by the student of June 3rd was sometimes difficult but more often occurred naturally, easily, and even unnoticed. The passage progressed with each day spent observing the daily encounters of strangers, absorbing knowledge at an alarming rate, visually recording the beauty of picturesque surroundings along with those sights only imagined, and becoming one infinitesimally small line hidden amongst the story of Rome. With charcoal stained fingers, freckled shoulders, and a mind continuously spinning in an attempt to capture the spirit of a city, two months’ time left a fully adapted creative adult where once another had stood.
And just across the Tiber, carved of travertine marble, Janus presided over all.
Rachel Masters, Summer 2013
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Image courtesy of Richard Mortel via Flickr