are they baths or coffins ?

Santa Maria della Vittoria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_St_Theresa

of course, a real gentleman would instinctively understand how to operate this

fifth century mosaics high up in santa maria maggiore

in the gallery beneath the dome of saint peter's, just before the ascent to the cupola

the messengers

manzu's doors ... just about everything else in saint peter's seems to be presented as some sort of monument to the vanity of the popes

http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Interior/DoorofDeath/DoorofDeath.htm

these noble dudes were absolutely ready to party on in to the next world

a horse startled by an elephant

i should imagine that italian social workers will take a dim view of this kind of informal fostering arrangement

on their way to the fancy dress ball

proof, if it were needed, that the romans introduced cricket to the ancient britons

the self-appointed chairman of the jockey club

if you have tears to shed ...

just cos its amazing

when we close our eyes

bernini's "four fountains" in piazza navona ... with that crocodile drain, the fountain seems nicely allegorical of time's flow and renewal

ourselves when younger

oh, my aching feet !

the worst bit is coming down all those stairs from the cupola of saint peter's

we're flouncing off for a bit of spiritual edification in rome ...

and if we play our cards right ... i may come back with the franchise for the purveyance of papal indulgences in battersea and nine elms