ROME,  JANUARY  2015.

In January I took a quick weekend trip to the eternal city in winter. Low crowds, crisp, wet and cool weather; great clouds and light.  See my photos below.

Roman busts in the Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican Museum.

View from Vatican balcony.

Statue of The River God Tigris or Arno, Hadrian period, Vatican Museum.

The statue of Laocoön and His Sons, has been one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever since it was excavated in Rome in 1506.

The Room of the Animals, with a collection of Roman statues and animals, heavily restored at the end of the 18th century.

Dog sculpture in the Pius-Clementine Museum, Vatican.

Mosaic tiled floor, Vatican Museum.

Greek inscription in the Vatican Museums.

Bust of Emperor Claudius as Jupiter, from the Imperial Period.

Smiling Sphinx in pink granite, 1st century AD.

Cupids in the Vatican Museums.

"The Persian Warrior," wearing a Phrygian beret, is shown in an extremely defensive movement away from the enemy, his body moving backwards and raising his right arm which wields his sword.

Tapestry in the Vatican Museums.

Painted ceiling medallion, Vatican Museums.

Detail from Vatican map rooms.

Thin, stacked Italian bricks.

Inside the massive St. Peter's Basilica.

The Pietà by Michelangelo Buonarroti, his only signed work.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica.

Swiss guards at Vatican City.

St. Peter's Basilica.

Mosaic artist's tools.

The symbol of Rome: Romulus and Remus nursed by an Etruscan she-wolf.

The Circus Maximus.

Kolbe Hotel courtyard.

San Francesco in the Kolbe Hotel courtyard.

Piazza Campo de' Fiori.

Roman road.

Entrance door #53.

Face of the Colosseum.

Inside the Colosseum.

In the Colosseum.

Colosseum brickwork.

Passageways at the Colosseum.

Translated: "Decius Marius Venantius Basilius, high-ranking senator, prefect of Rome, patrician, ordinary consul, restored at his own expenses the arena and the podium which had been destroyed by a terrible earthquake."

Stairwell at the Colosseum.

The Arch of Titus, a 1st-century honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, near the Roman Forum. It was constructed in c. AD 82 by Emperor Domitian after the death of his older brother Titus.

Outside the Colosseum.

Ceiling under the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum. It was dedicated in 203 to commemorate the Parthian victories of the Emperor Septimius and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta.

Mossy examples of Roman engineering in the Forum.

Piles of marble in the Roman Forum.

TheTemple of Vesta, 3rd century BCE. It was an important sanctuary dedicated to Vesta, the Roman goddess of the hearth, and over whose cult the Vestal Virgins presided.

Roman Forum.

Roman Forum.

Roman cat in Ostia Antica.

Necropolis in Ostia Antica.

Sun decoration above a door in the necropolis at Ostia Antica.

Brick detail in Ostia Antica.

Original tile floor of a Roman bath at Ostia Antica.

Marble floor in Ostia Antica.

Drama masks at outdoor theater in Ostia Antica.

Ancient theater steps.

Original road in Ostia Antica.

Apartments in Ostia.

Ancient Menu in Ostia Antica.

Ancient food storage jugs in Ostia Antica.

Tile floor of a merchant's stand in Ostia Antica.

Marble flower in a coffer detail.

The Altare della Patria, also known as the Victor Emanuel II Monument, built to honor the first king of a modern, unified Italy.

Santa Maria di Loreto, a Baroque church in Rome, located near the giant Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II.