RavensburgerViews of Modern Rome 5000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults - Unique Handcrafted Tooling | Premium Durable Blueboard | Frustration-Free Fit | Ideal Gift for Puzzle Enthusiasts

(UPDATE)WARNING: I was reading the reviews and noticed that people who rated it 1 star commented on it being dark, blurry, difficult to do, boring, etc. This is for people who are die hard fans. My mother also struggled with this. There are large areas that are largely one color and very dark. Sometimes pieces that fit were in the wrong place. This is not simply to pass the time. As for it being blurry... I understand what your saying. It does seem blurry close up. It is a blown up image, kind of makes sense, but once complete it looks amazing. And the fact that you put it together gives it sentiment and makes it even more beautiful.(END UPDATE)One of my mother's hobbies is putting puzzles together. She is very particular about brands, claiming there is a large difference in the quality. Of course, one of her favorite brands is Ravensburger. For Christmas I decided to get her this one. She had never done anything larger 2000 pieces. Best gift buying decision I have ever made in my life. She LOVED it!It took almost 4 months and the entire dining room table. Be warned, this thing is huge and will take up a lot of space. My father brought in a huge outdoor table (about/over 7 ft) so she could lay out all the pieces while constructing it on the dining room table. When she finished we flipped it over (not an easy feat. we put a huge cardboard under it, held it tight, and just flipped, sounds easy but be careful) and glued the back with puzzle glue. It took 3 bottles (We did 2 light layers). After it dried (takes maybe an hour but we waited an entire day) we took it to this local store that mounts and frames paintings.The outer frame is a dark rustic goldish hue that made accents in the painting stick out and the inner frame is a dark wood with a barely there tint of red to bring out the curtains and dark edges of the puzzle. If you do get it framed do not get glass over it. Most of these store will have this special gel that they apply over it to protect the painting and it will keep the quality and the this-is-a-puzzle look of it all.It is now the center piece of the living room and one on the first things you see when entering the house. It is absolutely gorgeous and the fact that it is a puzzle adds mystique and originality. People are always fascinated by it. I will try to post a picture of it soon with a link if anyone is interested.

Views of Modern Rome is an excellent and beautiful puzzle for those of you looking for a challenge. After completing several 1000 piece puzzles, each taking no more than a week to finish, I felt it was time to tackle something more complicated so I purchased this puzzle. I immediately completed the border but then was intimidated by the sheer number of pieces and size and consequently did not resume the puzzle until 3 years later. Once I started again it took 2 months working several hours a day to complete, around 200 hours total, so keep that in mind as this is not a short-term project. This puzzle teaches you to have lots of patience organizational skills.Before you even begin you will need a lot of space. I had a spare room and spread all the pieces out on a large carpet on the floor, with the puzzle itself being assembled on a large table. In addition, as others have said strong lighting is a must. I used 3 100-watt equivalent daylight compact fluorescent bulbs which helped bring out the colors of the pieces for easy sorting. As always I sorted the pieces by color and first began by assembling the pieces for the borders of the paintings which were gold in color. Then I treated each painting as a puzzle itself. Because of the puzzle's size, I found it helpful to temporarily tape certain pieces/sections in place to prevent shifting which will invariably occur. That kept the pieces in the right location and orientation. At the end I worked on the curtains, which were not as bad as I initially thought. While there are many red pieces, there are several shades (dark red, bright red, pink) which indicates what part of the puzzle they belong. Since there are so many red pieces I further sorted them by shape: X-shaped, Y-shaped, H-shaped, 2 corners, 3 corners, and 4 corners. This made searching for specific pieces easier.Hanging the puzzle up is a challenge in and of itself. Unless you're willing to spend a fortune to get a frame for a puzzle this size your best bet is to preserve and hang the puzzle yourself. To preserve the puzzle I used 16 oz Mod-Podge with the gloss finish which is just the right amount of glue needed. It works the same as Ravensburger Puzzle Conserver but is much cheaper. I used a foam brush to apply to the whole surface and the crevices. After the puzzle dried I flipped it and used the remaining Mod Podge and Elmer's glue to glue 4 20X30 inch pieces of cardboard to the back which completely covered the 40X60 inch puzzle. Originally I just wanted a single large piece of cardboard to attach to the back but that size is only available over the internet which would result in expensive shipping because of the cardboard's size. Using smaller pieces was an affordable alternative. After the cardboard dried I applied 6 Command Picture Hanging strips to the back, 4 at the top, 2 at the bottom. They hold well and don't damage the wall. I then centered the puzzle on the wall and attached it where its been hanging ever since. The beauty and size of this work of art will make any room look good.