L'Italo-Americano

LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE A t V i a S i s t i n a 1 2 6 , d o w n a ways from the S p a n i s h Steps but half a block from Piazza Bar- b e r i n i , a s e c o n d - f l o o r apartment displays between two shuttered windows a marble plaque and a bronze r e l i e f o f a s l o u c h e d l i t t l e man with an unruly mop of h a i r a n d a l a r g e h o o k e d nose. Here between 1838 and 1842, proclaim inscrip- tions in Russian and Italian, lived the great writer Nico- lai Gogol. Gogol moved to Rome on March 26, 1837, a week a f t e r h i s t w e n t y - e i g h t h birthday, to recover from the fiasco of The Inspector General. Since it was Easter S u n d a y , h e l e f t h i s b a g s unpacked to attend services at the Vatican and to kneel and be blessed by Gregory XVI. Under his breath, he s t i l l c h a n t e d t h e P a s c h a l troparion of the Orthodox C h u r c h : " C h r i s t i s r i s e n from the dead, trampling down death by death, and u p o n t h o s e i n t h e t o m b s bestowing life!" Gogol had been buried alive in Saint Petersburg, a Ninth Circle of slush and ice. Overnight, however, its bureaucrats and censors, pedants and critics had van- ished like a bad dream, and G o g o l a w o k e i n t h e P r o m i s e d L a n d . " B e l l a Italia!" he cried. "I was born for you!" F r o m M a r c h t o J u n e , Gogol lived near Monastery o f S a n t ' I s i d o r o o n t h e P i n c i a n H i l l b u t b y m i d - October he had relocated to Via Sistina, then known as Via Felice. The street was aptly named, for the next four years were the happiest of Gogol's tragically short life. He not only wrote "The Overcoat" but also the first part of Dead Souls. Ventilated by two high w i n d o w s , G o g o l ' s n e w apartment was furnished w i t h a t a l l d e s k a n d a n antique oil lamp with a beak as pointed as his nose. The mosaic tiles rang whenever he paced the floor, but this exercise was nothing com- pared to his walks in the Villa Borghese gardens. Che fresco! Gogol inhaled deeply. It was if seven hun- dred angels had flown into his nostrils. He felt an irre- sistible urge to transform h i m s e l f i n t o a n i m m e n s e nose. No more eyes, arms, or legs. Nothing but a gigantic nose with nostrils as big as b u c k e t s t o s a v o r t h e f r a - grance of spring. Or the aroma of cooking. W h e n h e w a s n ' t w r i t i n g , Gogol held court in cafés a n d r e s t a u r a n t s . O n c e a finicky eater, whose delicate stomach could tolerate only boiled milk and rice pud- ding, he had developed a wolfish appetite in Rome. At C a f f é G r e c o , w h e r e h e breakfasted daily, he stuffed himself with maritozzi and drank gallons of cappuccino. T h e b r o i l e d l a m b a t t h e L e p r e o n V i a d e i Condotti surpassed that of t h e C a u c a s u s , e s p e c i a l l y w h e n s e r v e d w i t h c h e r r y crostata. But his favorite trattoria was F a l c o n e ' s , near the Pantheon, where he was saluted as Ser Nicò. The waiters loved Gogol. H e m i g h t l o o k l i k e a Neapolitan coffeepot balanc- ing a bowl of polenta, but he spoke perfect Romanesco. After attending recitals of Giuseppe Belli's sonnets at Princess Volkònskaja's salon and studying the billingsgate in Campo de' Fiori, the odd Ukrainian could bully and wheedle like a trasteverino. W h i l e G o g o l b a r k e d orders, waiters scurried to fetch cheese, butter, vinegar, mustard, broccoli, onions, and chicory. Gogol, his face g l o w i n g , s n a t c h e d t h e s e ingredients from their hands until a pile of condiments and vegetables rose to rival the Pyramid of Celsus. His nose quivered as a plate of m a c a r o n i a r r i v e d , f r o m which thick steam escaped a s t h e l i d w a s r e m o v e d . Gogol threw a lump of but- ter onto the noodles, added the greens, powdered the m o u n d w i t h c h e e s e a n d s a g e , a n d v a c u u m e d t h e meal through his nostrils. F a b r i z i o , t h e m a î t r e d , encouraged these excesses. Whenever Gogol ate himself i n t o a s t u p o r , h e o v e r - t i p p e d . T o q u o t e t h e proverb: "Un cojone che viè, le paga tutte." Sometimes, though, Ser Nicò's opinions were insufferable. Like most bohemians, he considered R o m e a p a r a d i s e f o r t h e indolent and the carefree. W h y i s R o m e e t e r n a l ? G o g o l a s k e d . B e c a u s e i t r e j e c t s t h e m y t h o f progress. The city has no trains or street lamps. None of its clocks agree on the time. The descendants of the a n c i e n t Q u i r i t e s h a v e escaped the fever of modern civilization. Their good for- t u n e , w h i c h t h e y f a i l t o appreciate, is to live under t h e d e s p o t i c a u t h o r i t y o f Pope Gregory. Dominated by a finicky administration, deprived of political rights, hounded by the police, their c o m p e n s a t i o n i s t o b e r e l i e v e d o f t h e t e d i o u s o b s e s s i o n w i t h p u b l i c affairs. What could be more enviable in this hectic bour- geois age, than the childlike i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e oppressed? A t t h i s p o i n t , F a b r i z i o s e i z e d G o g o l ' s p l a t e a n d t w i s t e d h i s n o s e . " E v à , Nicò!" he said and cleared the table. Gogol was delight- ed. Being humiliated by a maître d was great honor. This accomplishment made h i s i n e v i t a b l e r e t u r n t o Russia more bearable. Gogol died in 1852, but his ghost haunts Rome. Bar S i s t i n a , t h e c o f f e e h o u s e l o c a t e d b e n e a t h h i s o l d apartment, advertises itself as Caffé Gogol. His corner table in Caffé Greco's Red R o o m i s p r e s e r v e d a s a s h r i n e , c o m p l e t e w i t h a m i n i a t u r e p o r t r a i t a n d a framed autographed letter. A bronze statue, a gift from the sculptor Zurab Tseretel, s t a n d s i n t h e G a r d e n s o f Villa Borghese. Russian tourists are sur- prised and touched; but for Roman residents, these trib- utes to Gogol are all too fit- ting. No other foreigner has better emulated our vanities, vices, and follies. Pasquino's secretary is Anthony Di Renzo, professor of writing at Ithaca College. You may reach him at diren- zo@ithaca.edu. THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano ANTHONY DI RENZO A portrait of Nicolai Gogol, who loved Rome and her food dearly, according to Pasquino (Photo: Dreamstime) E Và, Nicò! Pasquino tweaks Gogol's nose

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