Rome

Gogol is one of the few writers who, during his endless travels, visited the three holy capitals—Moscow, Rome, and Jerusalem—and who experienced these “pilgrimages” with special power and depth. Of the three cities, his favorite—undoubtedly—was Rome: there Gogol spent four and a half years, completed the first part of “Dead Souls,” created and reworked many works.

It is known that at first Gogol intended to write a whole “Roman” novel titled “Annunziata.” However, in 1841 he changes the title to “Madonna dei fiori,” and a year later the story “Rome” is published. Changing the heading testified that the theme had shifted and the center of gravity of the narrative moved—the story is not about a woman, but about a city. Gogol used place names in the titles of his works even before, for example in “Mirgorod” (1835) and “Nevsky Prospect” (1835). “Rome” completes that series.

And if we agree that a work of art is always a picture of the world—an imago mundi—then Gogol’s story will be not only an exploration of the Roman genius of place, framed as a literary work, but also an ideal imago Urbis.