DESCRIPTION

Organised together with the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation the show adopts a novel approach, giving insight into some aspects of Salvador Dalí which have not been shown before. Light will be shed on an aspect that has so far been ignored by exhibitions and research into Dalí, which is his relationship with Italy.

The exhibition will focus on a selection of outstanding paintings, around which a series of other items, including objects, illustrations, and theatre and cinema costumes, will examine every aspect of the Spanish painter’s activities. Documents, photographs, drawings, letters, projects, and objects will all document his journeys through Italy, and his inspirational encounters, like those with Anna Magnani and Luchino Visconti.

The exhibition brings together the figure of the artist and that of the man, giving a complete overview of the genius Salvador, who with his temperamental and biographical eccentricity managed to create a fascinating, intriguing universe of sculptural and literary images that are quite unparalleled.

WHEN

from 2012-03-09 to 2012-07-01

WHERE

Complesso del Vittoriano
Via di San Pietro in Carcere

TICKETS

Ticket: 12,50
Reduced: 10,00

Email: museo.vittoriano1@tiscali.it
Telephone: 0039 06 6780664 – 6780363

HOURS

Monday-Thursday: 9.30 am – 7.30 pm;
Friday-Saturday: 9.30 am – 11.30 pm;
Sunday: 9.30 am – 8.30 pm;
Last admission 1 hour before closing time.

DESCRIPTION

The exhibition begins with the years following World War II, when the United States emerged as a global center for modern art and the rise of Abstract Expressionism drew international attention to a circle of artists working in New York. From this time forward, the postwar era witnessed a rich proliferation of varied aesthetic practices by American artists: from Pop art’s irreverent embrace of vernacular imagery to the intellectual meditations on meaning that characterized 1960s Conceptualism; from the spare aesthetic of Minimalism to the lush visuals of Photorealism in the 1970s. Though resulting in widely divergent artworks, these movements all shared a fundamental commitment to interrogating the nature, purpose, and meaning of art.

As it examines this critical moment in the history of American art, Guggenheim Collection: The American Avant-Garde 1945–1980 also reflects on the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s role in shaping these developments through its long-standing support of emerging artists. Drawn primarily from the museum’s permanent collection in New York, the paintings, sculptures, photographs, and installations on view all embody the specific interests of individual curators, collectors, and scholars who championed the contemporary art of their day and left their stamp on the institution over time. Evident, too, is the Guggenheim’s evolution from its roots as a distinctive showcase for European abstract painting into an international venue for modern and contemporary art, underscored by the important selections of works by Jackson Pollock and Arshile Gorky from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and Robert Rauschenberg’s Barge (1962–63) from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

Sections:

• Beginnings of the American Avant–Garde;
• The New York School In 1942;
• Abstraction in the 1960s;
• Pop Art;
• Minimalism;
• Post–minimalism and Conceptual Art;
• Photorealism.

WHEN

from 2012-02-07 to 2012-05-06

WHERE

Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Via Nazionale, 194

TICKETS

Ticket: 12,50
Reduced: 10,00

Email: info.sdq@palaexpo.it
Fax: 0039 06 48941999
Website: www.palazzoesposizioni.it
Telephone: 0039 06 39967500

HOURS

February 7 – May 6, 2012
– Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10.00 am – 8.00 pm;
– Friday, Saturday: 10:00 am – 10.30 pm;
– Sunday: 10.00 am – 8.00 pm;
Last admission one hour before closing time;
Monday: closed.

Please note: special opening on Monday 20 February 2012, from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm (last admission 1 hour before closing time).

The Borghese gallery possesses no less than six of the master’s works, this is the world’s greatest collection: they are “Giovane con la canestra di frutta”, “Bacchino malato”, “San Girolamo”, “Madonna dei Palafrenieri”, “Davide con la testa di Golia” and finally “San Giovannino”. “San Francesco in meditazione” in the church of the Cappuccini Convento on Via Veneto is also attributed to Caravaggio, while the mythical “Narciso” and the “Decapitazione di Oloferne” are in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini.

Just a short walk from Piazza Venezia in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj on Piazza del Collegio Romano visitators can see the splendid “Riposo dalla fuga in Egitto”, “Maddalena” and “San Giovanni Battista”. Other masterpieces by the great Lombard artist can be found in the Corsini Galleria on Via della Lungara (“San Giovanni Battista nel Deserto”), in the Vatican Museum (“Deposizione di Cristo”), in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Piazza del Popolo (“Converzione di San Paolo” and the “Crocefissione di San Pietro”); in Sant’Agostino on Via della Scrofa (“Madonna dei Pellegrini”).

Finally in San Luigi dei Francesi on the piazza of the same name there is a series of paintings which tell the story of Saint Matthew in the Cappella Contarelli of the church, they are: “Vocazione”, “Il Martirio”, and “San Matteo e l’Angelo”. In the Casino Ludovisi, the last remains of the Villa Ludovisi on Via Lombardia, Caravaggio created frescos in oil on the walls of the alchemy laboratory, painting “Giove, Nettuno and Plutone” in triumph around the sun.

Many of the streets near Campo de’ Fiori are named after the artisans who traditionally occupied them, for example Via dei Cappellari (hatters), Via dei Baullari (trunk makers) and Via dei Chiavari (key makers). Via dei Giubbonari (jacket makers) runs off the southern corner of the piazza and leads to the Chiesa di San Carlo ai Catinari built in the 17th century. The church and the beautiful dome were designed by Rosato Rasati. Inside, there are altarpieces by Pietro da Cortona and Giovanni Lanfranco among others. It is open from 7.30 am to noon and from 4.30 to 7 pm.

The northern corner of Campo de’ Fiori leads to Piazza della Cancelleria which is dominated by the Palazzo della Cancelleria, a Renaissance palace built in the late 15th century for Cardinal Raffaello Riario. At one time it housed the Papal Chancellery and it is still used by il Vaticano. It is thought that Bramante designed the double loggia in the magnificent interior courtyard. Recent excavations beneath the palazzo have revealed ruins of one of the most important early Christian churches in Rome, the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Damaso, which was finally demolished in the 15th century to make way for a new church (of the same name) and the palazzo into which it is incorporated.

Heading towards Piazza Navona, on the corner of Via dei Baullari and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, is a small palazzo known as the Piccolo Farnesina, built for a French clergyman, Thomas Le Roy, in 1523. It is now home to the Museo Barracco, one of the city’s most charming museums. Senator Giovanni Barracco presented his exquisite collection of Greek, Roman, Assyrian and Egyptian sculpture and artefacts to the city in 1902. Underneath the museum are remains of what is said to be a Roman fish shop, complete with counter and a water trough (ask for access). Fresco fragments found there are displayed on the ground floor. The museum is open from 9 am to 7 pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and from 9 am to 1 pm on Sunday.

Opposite the Museo Barracco is the Palazzo Braschi which houses the Museo di Roma (ph 06 687 58 80), founded in 1930 to illustrate the history and life of Rome from the Middle Ages to the present. Many of the exhibits, which include paintings, statues and architectural decorations, came from buildings that have since been demolished.

Heading in an easterly direction along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, you come to the late 16th century Chiesa di Sant’Andrea della Valle. The elaborate façade was completed in the 17th century and is in high baroque style. The church’s dome is the highest in Rome after that of the Basilica di San Pietro and was designed by Carlo Maderno. Frescoes by Giovanni Lanfranco and Domenichino decorate the inside of the dome. Domenichino also did the frescoes around the apse and altar. The competition between the artists was fierce, especially when they were working at the same time, and legend has it that Domenichino once even took a saw to Lanfranco’s scaffold. The church is open from 7.30 to noon and from 4.30 to 7.30 pm.

DESCRIPTION

This exhibition, focusing on the three main themes that distinguish Tintoretto’s work:  religion, mythology and portraiture, is strictly monographic and will be divided into sections comprising a handful of carefully selected and unquestioned masterpieces, beginning and ending with his two self-portraits of himself as a young man, from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and as an old man, from the Louvre.
The first section, on the first floor of the Scuderie del Quirinale, will be devoted to religious themes (which played such a major role in Tintoretto’s artistic output), opening with one of his first acknowledged works, Jesus Among the Doctors (1542) lent by the Milan Cathedral’s Diocesan Museum, and ending with the The Deposition (1594) from the Monastry of San Giorgio Maggiore, possibly the last work in which it is possible to identify the hand of the master.  In between, the exhibition will include such important works as the Madonna of the Treasurers and the Stealing of the Dead Body of St. Mark, both from the Gallerie dell’Accademia, the St Mary of Egypt and the St Mary Magdalen, from the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and the unprecedented and spectacular juxtaposition of the Last Supper from the Venetian church of San Trovaso and another version of the same subject painted five years later, from the church of San Polo, to celebrate one of the Scuole del Sacramento’s favorite themes.
The second floor will house the other two sections of the exhibition, starting with the section devoted to portraits.  Even though he was in competition with Titian, his contemporaries yet recognized his “utterly exquisite eye in portraiture”.  Some of his most famous portraits from leading international collections will be on display in this section.

WHEN

from 25-2-2012 to 10-6-2012

WHERE

Scuderie del Quirinale
Via 24 Maggio, 16

TICKETS

Ticket: 10,00
Reduced: 7,50
Buy online: http://www.pierreci.it/it/acquista-il-biglietto/biglietto-on-line.aspx
Email: info.sdq@palaexpo.it
Fax: 0039 06 6780842
Website: www.scuderiequirinale.it
Telephone: 0039 06 39967500

HOURS

From 25 Feb to 10 Jun 2012
From Sun to Thu: 10.00-20.00
Fri and Sat: 10.00-22.30

It all began in a vineyard. It’s considered the city’s most important green space. Painted by famous artists, the muse and inspiration of writers and celebrated musicians, Villa Borghese is perhaps Rome’s best known ‘villa’, or park. Unique in the world for its concentration of cultural institutions, the park contains five museums and is ringed by a string of foreign academies representing Romania, Egypt, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Britain. Villa Borghese stretches across 80 hectares, including the Pincio area.

It’s history began in 1580 with the planting of a modest vineyard. In the early 1600s Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese, favoured nephew of Pope Paul V, decided to acquire the surrounding land to create a “pleasure palace”. Villa Borghese has now regained its ancient splendour. Recent work – some 20 building projects – have highlighted both its artistic and environmental value, restoring it to how it originally looked in the 16th century.

The Piazzale Flaminio entrance, the Pinciana Gate, Lions Gate, the Piazzale delle Canestre and the temple of Antonio and Faustina have all been restored. Rome authorities have called it the “Park of Museums” and dubbed it the city’s cultural cornerstone. It’s wide variety of plants have also been taken into account. The Valley of Plantains, also known as the Valley of Dogs, still contains some 400 different species.

The “Casina delle Rose” (House of Roses) has been earmarked to become the museum of the Villa Borghese park. Restoration plans intend it to be used to house 150 marble statues taken from the park and replaced with plaster copies. A park information and document centre will be installed in the ‘Giardino della Meridiana’ building and leaflets on the park will be distributed throughout the city’s tourist information points (PIT).

Secret Gardens: Bulbs were removed to make way for pineapples
Old Dutch tulips, citrus fruits, carnations, lichens, roses, sunflowers and peppers, ancient and exotic plants introduced in the 1500s and used to adorn crowns and floral displays. Anemones, narcissi and hyacinths followed. The three secret gardens have been brought back to life and can once again be visited. The gardens were laid out according to prevailing fashion. Historically, this part of the villa functioned as an archive of plants used and introduced over the centuries. For example, the “bulb garden” that took pride of place in the villa during the 1600s, was replaced with a garden of pineapples when this thoroughly American plant became all the rage.

Originally there were three gardens: the “Old Garden”, the “Bird Cage Garden” and the “Meridiana”. The first two were planted in during the early decades of the 1600s, along with the main house, the “Casino nobile”‘. the third dates to 1680. All were destroyed during the second world war when they were turned into “war gardens” for the production of cabbages and potatoes.

Free guided tours, available to the public hourly between 10 am and 1 pm and 3 pm and 6 pm, have been organised by the city council’s environment and farm department,
tel. +39 06770042 or 067004573.

The Lake and Deer Park: for romance or hunting?
There can hardly be a more romantic spot for taking a stroll. The “Lake Garden” was used to site the Borghese family’s historic collection of ancient art. Followng restoration, the historic tree-lined walkways are open once more, complete with new lawns and flowerbeds, a landscape of trees, shrubs and herbaceous borders. The lake is framed by an English-style cast-iron pergola, just as it was at the beginning of the 1900s. Delightful rockeries of tufa rock line the banks of the old stream that feeds the lake.

The “Deer Park” has also been given new life, with restorers removing the asphalt from its paths and avenues. The area where deer and other animals were once fenced in for hunting has also been reconstructed.

The Zoology Museum

Inside the Villa Borghese zoo the “Civic Zoology Museum” houses more than four million examples, including a collection from the Roman countryside of fauna, molluscs, birds and insects as well as recently acquired palaeontological material. It also contains a 15-metre whale and an African elephant. “Animal Love” and “Living to the Limit” are the titles of its two permanent exhibitions.

Information:
Via Aldovrandi 18,
tel. 063216586.

Open: 9am-5pm, Sundays and holidays 9am-2pm.
Closed Mondays

Pietro Canonica: the rooms in his life

The ‘Museo Canonica’ (Canonica Museum), open to the public since 1960, contains a large number of works by sculptor Pietro Canonica. One can visit the apartment that the artist lived in, with its wealth of fine furniture, 18th century Piedmont paintings and Flemish tapestries, as well as his studio, complete with all his work tools, unchanged since his death.

Information: Viale Pietro Canonica 2 (Piazza di Siena),
tel. 068842279.

Open: Tuesday to Sunday 9am-7pm. Holidays 9am-1pm. Closed Mondays.

Titian, Raphael, Bernini and Caravaggio: a gallery of masterpieces

This is one of the most splendid collections in the world. It includes the famous statue of Paolina Borghese by Canova, Titian’s “Sacred and Profane Love” and “Venus blindfolding Love”, Raphael’s “Deposition”, statues by Bernini and six of Caravaggio‘s most significant paintings. And these are only some of the works on show at the Borghese Gallery, a villa acquired by the Italian state in 1902.

The Vatican. Colonnade of St. Peter’s Square. The elliptical shape, symbolising the Church’s embrace of all of mankind, is defined by a series of 284 columns arranged in four rows. lf, however, you stand on one of the two focuses of the ellipse, marked by a granite disk, it seems that the colonnade is made up of only a single row of columns! At the end of the right-hand arm of the colonnade, two Swiss Guards stand watch before the Scala Regia.
Skilfully exploiting the little space at his disposal, the artist managed to give the illusion of a much bigger staircase through the use of optical devices.

Inside the basilica, also, Bernini’s ingenious inventions never cease to amaze. The huge space under the dome was occupied by the gigantic Baldacchino, 29 metres high like Palazzo Farnese and the Louvre, whose twisted columns were cast of bronze taken from the Pantheon, a fact that immediately became the subject of the famous pasquinade “Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini”(What the Barbarians did not do, the Barberini did).

The Baldacchino was erected over the altar, which in turn was placed exactly over the spot where, according to tradition, St. Peter is buried.

On the bases of the bronze columns supporting the Baldacchino, it is possibie to see the shields with the Barberini bees.

A closer examination reveals, however, that in reality they show the sequence of expressions of pain on the face of a woman giving birth. Going around the monument clockwise, seven different moments of pregnancy can be seen, up to the smiling face of a baby. Bernini intended, evidently through the figure of Pope Urban VIII Barberini, to celebrate mankind who suffers while awaiting salvation.

At the back of the apse is the Cathedra, the large bronze chair, supported by four gigantic statues portraying the Doctors of the Church, which was created to hold the episcopal chair where Peter sat.
In reality, the cathedra, kept inside the Baroque monument, dates from the 9th century and is a gift from King Charles I (the Bald) to Pope John VII.

To give an idea of the dimensions of the cathedra, just imagine that 121 tons of bronze were used and that the wingspan of the dove of the Holy Spirit in the stained-glass window is 1.75 metres long. The tiaras of the Doctors of the Church, situated below, are also about two metres high.

The square is dominated by the largest church in the world: St. Peter’s Basilica. The dome was designed by Michelangelo, who also designed the plan of the Renaissance church, rebuilt over the early Christian one as ordered by papal architect Donato Bramante, who had the ancient basilica torn down. For this reason Bramante was nicknamed “Mastro ruinante” (“ruining master”).

By Michelangelo there is also the beautiful Pietà, kept in the first chapel of the right aisle. lt is the only work actually signed by the great artist. lt is said that the sculptor, angry because no one knew who had done the masterpiece, decided to engrave his name on the band encircling the Virgin’s breast. Michelangelo also engraved his monogram “M” in the folds of the Virgin’s right hand, the one turned towards the viewer.

Also from the Vatican Museums, where it is also possibie to see Raphael’s Stanze, painted between 1509 and 1512, and the Borgia Apartment, frescoed in the late 15th century by Pinturicchio, we can arrive in St. Peter’s Square.

Sistine Chapel

Vatican Museums, within which it is possibie to visit the Sistine Chapel, one of the most famous and visited monuments in the world. Ordered in the late 15th century by Pope Sixtus IV, from which it takes its name, the chapel is the most emblematic example of papal patronage during the Renaissance. lt is decorated with extraordinary frescoes executed by Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli, Botticelli and Cosimo Rosselli, who at the end of the 15th century were the most famous painters working between Tuscany and Umbria. Later the chapel, to be used by both the pope and the congregation, was adorned with the extraordinary paintings done by Michelangelo in the 16th century. The great artists – who was also of Tuscan origin – painted the frescoes of the vault between 1508 and 1512, and those of the altar wall, with the extremely famous Last Judgment, between 1534 and 1541. The approximately four hundred characters crowding the judgment scene are almost all naked, and in some cases persons who were the artist’s contemporaries are portrayed. Minos, with his sides encircled by a snake biting his testicles, has the features of Biagio da Cesena, a papai Master of Ceremonies, while in the skin of St. Sebastian, who was skinned alive, it is possibie to recognise the face of Michelangelo. The nudes caused a great scandal at the time and, when Michelangelo was still alive, they were partly painted over with garments by Daniele da Volterra, earning him the nickname of “Il Braghettone” (the “breeches maker”). The restoration work to clean the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was completed in 1999 and made it possibie to rediscover the vivid originai colours, darkened for so many years by soot.

The structure, which will take the name of Sea Life Expo, will cover an area of ​​14 thousand square meters of halls, rooms sealed and watertight, through tunnels and spectacular ocean basins. Traditional Aquarius, which will cover an area of ​​about 4 000 square meters and will host more than 5000 specimens of 100 species, will be operated by Sea Life, British multinational leader in the entertainment field.

In the remaining 10.000 square meters will be built, in addition to the area devoted to services, a permanent exhibition space dedicated to diving, to education and marine research, called “EXPO” and destined to become an important meeting point between scientific research and public. Among the main attractions: the fish robots, jewels of technology that can be “driven” by the public through special touch screen located on the tanks in order to acquire detailed information on the habits and characteristics of the species reproduced, the movie theater – latest generation – which will be screened the spectacular  award-winning films in stereoscopic 3D, made ​​in collaboration with the non-profit association Expomed.

It is being implemented: 4D interactive. A pioneering project which will give the impression of swimming in the waters of the abyss, conceived and produced by XAM Company Ltd

The visit of the Aquarium of Rome is a unique experience for the visitor, who will be immersed in a universe in which ocean sounds, smells, colors and feelings have been designed to recreate the magic of the sea.

The project also includes a parking, adjacent to the Aquarium, which has already been inaugurated and has 600 parking spaces.

The Aquarium of Rome is edited by Mare Nostrum Romae Ltd and its completion is scheduled for the summer of 2012. According to forecasts, the structure will attract around one million visitors a year.

The aquarium can be reached by car along the ring road (GRA) to exit 26 and follow in direction EUR, Viale America; on the subway, take line B to station EUR Palasport. The nearest airport is Fiumicino, linked to the EUR by train line FR1 (up to the station Ostia) and the metro B (up to EUR Palasport).

From Via del Tritone we enter Via della Stamperia, which leads to the Trevi Fountain, certainly the most famous and spectacular fountain in Rome, made even more famous by the night-time wading of Anita Ekberg in Federico Fellini’s film “La dolce vita’. The fountain is the terminai part of the Vergine aqueduct built by Agrippa, a general of Augustus, in 19 B.C. to bring the water coming from the Salone springs, 19 km away, to Rome.

Legend, illustrated in the fountain’s upper panels, has it that it was a young girl who showed Agrippa’s thirsty soldiers where a copious spring gushed forth. Hence the name of the aqueduct which, running underground for a long stretch, is the only one in Rome that has remained in use almost uninterruptedly from the time of its construction to the present day. This is the aqueduct that supplies the water to the monumental fountains of the historic centre, from Piazza Navona to Piazza di Spagna.

The name “Trevi“, on the other hand, allegedly derives from the word Trivium, a meeting point of three streets that form this little widened area.

lt is truly surprising to see such a large fountain in such a small square, but the artist Nicola Salvi, who created it between 1732 and 1762, carefully studied the way to increase the sensation of marvel. Indeed, he set it almost entirely against the face of Palazzo Poli, preceding it with a little balconied scene, almost as if it were a theatre! The artist was, however, disturbed during his work by the continuous criticism expressed by a barber who had his shop in the square. To shut him up, during one night Salvi created the large basin, familiariy calied the “Ace of Cups”, situated on the right-hand balustrade, which completely blocked the view of the fountain from the shop. Everyone knows that, if they want to return to Rome, they have to throw a coin into the basin, but be careful: for the dream to come true, you have to toss it over your shoulder with your back to the fountain!

Chiesa dei Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio.

Across from the Trevi fountain it is possible to admire the lively facade of the Chiesa dei Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio. The building, which was a Papal Parish for centuries, preserves the hearts and lungs of 22 popes who died in the Quirinal Palace standing nearby: from Sixtus V, who died in 1590, to Leo XIII, who died in 1903. Pope Pius X abolished this custom which had prompted Belli, the famous Roman dialect poet, to call the church “museo de’ corate e de’ ciorcelii” (pluck museum), from the popular term used to refer to the viscera of butchered animals.

Construction of the Colosseo (Colosseum) was started by Vespasian in 72 AD in the grounds of Nero’s private Domus Aurea. Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, after the family name of Vespasian, it was inaugurated by his son Titus in 80 AD. The massive structure could seat more than 50,000 (the 4th century figure of 87,000 is disputed), and the bloody gladiator combat and wild beast shows held there. The splendid games held at the inauguration of the Colosseum lasted for 100 days and nights, during which some 5,000 animals were slaughtered. Trajan once held games which lasted for 117 days, during which some 9,000 gladiators fought to the death.With the fall of the Empire, the Colosseo was abandoned and gradually became overgrown. Exotic plants grew there for centuries; seeds bad in advertently been transported from Africa and Asia with the wild beasts that appeared in the arena (including crocodiles, bears, lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos, hippos, camels and giraffes).

In the Middle Ages the Colosseum became a fortress, occupied by two of the city’s warrior families: the Frangipani and the Annibaldi. Its reputation as a symbol of Rome, the “Etemal City”, also dates to the Middle Ages, with Bede writing that “while the Colosseo stands, Rome shall stand, but when the Colosseo falls, Rome shall fall and when Rome falls, the world will end”.

Damaged several times by earthquake, it was later used as a quarry for travertine and marble for the Palazzo Venezia and other buildings. Pollution and the vibrations caused by traffic and the Metro have also taken their toll. Restoration works have periodically been carried out, the latest starting in 1992. Current estimates have a restored Colosseo being unveiled by 2004.

Gladiators

Gladiatorial combat originated as part of Etruscan funerary rites as a form of human sacrifice. By the 1st Century BC, gladiatorial games had far outstripped this ritual context; Caesar exhibited 320 pairs of gladiators in 65 BC, Augustus and Trajan each showed 5000 pairs of gladiators on different occasions. Gladiators were prisoners of war, slaves sold to gladiatorial schools, or volunteers. They were differently equipped, some with heavy swords and shields and others almost naked, armed with a net and a trident. Pairings were made to match a heavily armed gladiator against a lightly armed one. Bouts were not necessarily to the death. A defeated gladiator could appeal to the crowd and the presiding magistrate who could signal that he had fought well and deserved to be spared. Thumbs down, however, meant death, which the defeated man was expected to face with quiet courage. Although gambling was technically illegal in Rome, vast sums were wagered on gladiatorial combats. Successful gladiators were popular heroes and lived to enjoy a comfortabie retirement, with some running their own training schools.