Street markets are the settings for the painting sessions during the third week of the program. With the focus being on composition, we visit a number of contemporary and historical sights including the ruins of the ancient fish market in the Jewish Quarter of the city.
Situated in the centre of the Ghetto, Portico d’Ottavia is the only surviving portico in what was the Piazza of Circus Flaminius and was built in honour of Octavia – sister of Augustus and abandoned wife of Mark Anthony.
Erected in around 146BC, Portico d’Ottavia was a imposing structure larger than a football field. Originally two separate structures (Porticus Octavia and the Porticus Metelli), the site was renovated by Augustus and renamed Portico d’Ottavia.
Plagued by misfortune, the Portico was destoyed by fire in 80BC and again 203AD before being damaged by an earthquake in 442AD, each time it was fully restored; it was during the latter restoration that two of the columns which were destroyed during the quake were replaced by an archway which stands to this day.
From the medieval period until the end of the 19th century, the site was used as a fish market and it is this that gives name to the neighbouring church; Sant’Angelo in Perscheria (St Angelus in the Fish Market). The church has a stucco facade and contains a fresco of the Madonna and Angels by the school of Benozzo Gozzoli.
Image: Patrick Rasenberg via Flickr