the Vatican!

Hi everybody, how have you been? 

Today I’m going to report on the Vatican City.  It is a tiny city-state within Rome where the pope lives.  For the most part it is walled in & contains a vast array of interesting sights including:  St. Peter’s Basilica & square, the Vatican museums, the pope’s apartment, Vatican post office (manufactures it’s own stamps & sending p-cards from here is a tourist hit), radio station, gardens, etc.  Apparently a lot of money in Rome & in Italy in general are tied up in the Vatican.  Some here would say its more about business than religion. 

Pope JP II was much loved by people & was considered a humanitarian.  Current pope Benedict XVI is German & had served as an advisor to Pope JP for many years.  The people in general aren't as excited about Benedict because he is more of a theologian, very conservative & not as personable.  Also, unfortunately, it seems like he is in poor health.  You can sign up for a free ticket to have a papal audience, I think he just comes out & waves at people, more of a viewing.  I think he probably needs a chiropractor!!!  Right?  (ME!!)

So, the other day I cued up to visit St. Peter’s, the most fantastic church on earth!  You are required to wear modest clothing, no leg showing above the knee & no shoulders exposed.  Everyone herds along to pass through a security checkpoint that includes a metal detector & sending your bag through on a conveyor.  The church is simply magnificent.  Pope JP II commissioned Michelangelo to work on it & this became one of his most amazing works & took many, many years to complete.  The main nave is the length of 2 football fields.  All of the sculptures are huge to agree with the scale of the place.  Bernini, father of Italian baroque style added many fantastic art/design touches including the altar, golden dove window & many sculptures. 

Michelangelo’s pieta (Mary & Jesus) is just in the entryway.  Mike completed it when he was only 25, I think it was his first major work.  It is the only piece of his art that he signed.  After someone else tried to take credit for it he chiseled his name on Mary’s sash.  It is enclosed behind bulletproof glass because once a madman came in & tried to destroy it with a hammer or something.  Whoa!

A mass occurred while I was in there & the music was very pleasant and created a feeling of peace and serenity.  The church is so big, it was roped off about halfway up to the altar so that tourists couldn’t interfere with the mass & literally it was like the service was going on in another church, way up at the front.  

(i was trying to post a video of this here but...  i think my connection is too poor for it to work :(

The Vatican museum is incredible.  It is the most awesome collection of art that I have ever seen, spanning from ancient to modern.  The only bad part of the experience is the CROWDS, which you will see here in my photos.  You either cue up like crazy or pre-purchase a ticket online with an extra fee so that you can skip the cue.  They only let a certain # of people in at a time because too many people would simply overwhelm the capacity of the place.  And it is still way too crowded & hot!  Very many people are taking guided tours & they all have a headset on to listen to their own particular guide, also, you can rent a headset from the museum for a guided tour.  So virtually everyone is zoning out to their own headset.  I probably should have done that but, I just read along in my guidebook & also the posted signage.

This was the pine cone courtyard, there was this big ball of modern art in the center which seemed a bit out of place.  (you can't see the giant pine cone)

You then enter a hall FILLED with ancient sculpture & heads.  Simply chock full of it.

Artemis

This was one of my favorite parts, the octagonal courtyard.  Along the sides & in niches are particularly nice pieces, interspersed with big bathtub looking things.  These bathtubs may or may not have all been sarcophagi. (burial vessels)

Here is the Belvedere Apollo, considered the ideal human form.  Notice the graceful position & smooth musculature.  He used to be holding a bow & arrow.

This was something I had been really looking forward to seeing….  The Laocoon!  Laocoon was a priest who tried to warn Troy about the Trojan Horse.  The gods favored the greeks & didn’t like that Laocoon had warned the Trojans so, sent these serpernts up to kill he & his two sons.  Michelangelo was inspired by this sculpture & it was supposedly around at the time of Pliny the Elder.  Who is Pliny the Elder?

Here is an ancient Roman river god.  Michelangelo based his figure of Adam in the creation on the Sistene ceiling after this guy.

and here is a figure of Hermes.

Here is the Belvedere Torso! Michelangelo would caress this one & say "i am the pupil of the torso."  funny guy!  I am really into Michelangelo, a couple years ago I read "the agony & the ecstasy" a historical based novel about his life.  It's a good book!

Then we passed through the hall of animals.

Then we (me & 100 other tourists) proceeded into the round room.  The centerpiece was a huge jasper bathtub that used to be in Nero’s palace.  Purple jasper was rare & a sign of great wealth.  Another highlight here was this huge bronze of Hercules.

And on into a hall of tapestries designed by Rafaello, look at this crowd!!!  

In the hallway of the maps, VERY old maps of Italy & the surroundings.  There is a sheen of sweat on me!

Then on into Raphael's rooms.  Raph was such a hit with Pope Julius II (the same pope who commisioned Michelangelo to do St. Peter's, the sistene chapel, his tomb) that he asked him to paint the walls of his papal rooms.  Wallpaper by Raphael!  

the liberation of St. Peter

the dispute.  church vs. paganism (classical thought)

the school of athens.  this was my favorite, wish i'd gotten a better shot of it.  here you see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euclid, Pythagoras & others, including Michelangelo there in the foreground.  

Then I proceeded through many rooms of more modern art.  It was funny, most people seemed to be there just to see the Sistene Chapel & were just breezing past all this stuff.  Granted it was hot & I did spend 3.5 hours in there but I think it was worth it to not over look things like:

something cool by Dali

Rodin's "the thinker"

Are you still with me???  Finally, the tired museum goers went up & down stairs, around corners, through hallways to see the grand finale.....  the Sistene Chapel!  Michelangelo didn't initially want to paint it, considering himself a sculptor but, Pope Julius made him do it.  He built a scaffolding & spent about a million hours up there, probably with heinous neck pain, painting that ceiling.  It was truly astounding & beautiful.  About 15 years ago the chapel was cleaned & restored to it's original colors.  I spent about half an hour sitting on a bench & looking up as I viewed his story of creation & portrayals of prophets.   All the while listening to museum guards yelling out NO PHOTO & NO TALKING!  how rude.

One whole wall is taken up by his painting of the last judgement, which was done a while after the chapel ceiling.  When it was unveiled it knocked people's socks off.  I managed to get one photo before I realized a guard was speaking to me... NO PHOTO.  Here you go:

wow!

Well, that was a good day.  If you ever visit Rome, go to the Vatican Museum!  I felt like I had stepped through a time portal into history!

xoxo