"This is where the cardinals walk to get to the conclave during a papal election," our guide explained as we navigated the winding tunnels of the Vatican Museums. We approached a door, and I held my breath as it creaked open. Suddenly, I was face to face with Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel—accompanied by just 15 other Dartmouth students, our professor, a tour guide, and a few security personnel. The ceiling frescoes I had only read about and seen online now stretched above me, vibrant and timeless. Centuries of art and church history felt almost tangible. Yet the Sistine Chapel was just one of the extraordinary highlights of my Art History Foreign Study Program in Rome, Italy.
Our first class set the tone for the entire experience. We gathered on a rooftop cafe atop the Capitoline Hill—one of Rome's legendary seven hills—sipping cappuccinos and eating cornettos (Italian for croissants) as we discussed the concept of a city. Below us, the ancient city of Rome unfurled in a breathtaking panorama. Afterward, we wandered through the Capitoline Museum, encountering masterpieces like the original Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius and the Lupa Capitolina, or Capitoline Wolf—a sculpture depicting the mythical founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. Seeing these artworks in person, rather than in a textbook, brought their significance to life.
What struck me most about my time in Italy was experiencing firsthand the art and architecture I had studied in Hanover. During my sophomore fall, I took Italian Renaissance Architecture with Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, who later led our program in Rome. In that class, I learned about Michelangelo's famous staircase in the Laurentian Medici Library in Florence. A year and a half later, I was walking up and down those very steps, appreciating how Michelangelo's design guided my movement and perspective. As Professor Camerlenghi put it, we were "understanding how Michelangelo would have wanted us to experience these stairs."
Beyond the classroom, I embraced opportunities to connect with Italian culture and people. One unforgettable experience was the soccer match I attended in Naples with several classmates. The stadium buzzed with energy and the fans' passion for the game was electric. In Rome, I volunteered at the Missionaries of Charity house next door to the Vatican, serving meals to the homeless and practicing my Italian in conversations with them. These moments grounded my experience, blending art history with the lived reality of contemporary Italy.
The 10 weeks I spent in Italy were nothing short of life-changing. I swapped Hanover's classrooms for Rome's streets, museums, and churches. I traced the layers of history beneath my feet and felt part of a narrative that spanned millennia. From masterpieces to everyday interactions, this journey deepened my understanding of art, culture, and the world beyond Dartmouth.
