Domus Aurea: Nero and his golden house

(Vatican Radio) The news is that the house  the Roman Emperor Nero once lived in is finally open to the public. An occasion  that  provides Veronica Scarisbrick with an opportunity to listen to our popular 'Latin Lover' Carmelite Father Reginald Foster tell of this  Golden house or 'Domus Aurea'.

Listen to our popular 'Latin Lover' in a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick: 

While Fr. Foster highlights how  the word 'grotesque' derives from this house simply because the paintings therein of gargoyles, masques and strange faces were discovered underground in grottoes, he also explains how Raphael perpetuated these paintings in replicas in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

In this programme Father Foster also points to the personality of the Emperor Nero whom he describes as a child genius with a reputation for his gift in speaking languages, for his skill as a gladiator and for his mastery as an artist and musician. By the time he was 45, says Fr, Foster, the poor man was burnt out!