The Seat of Christianity

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Today I woke up early and well-rested for my tour of the Vatican Museums. Apparently, it’s impossible to go in as an individual; you need to be part of a group. Since I had to pay for a group tour, I decided to upgrade and go with a guided tour. Seeing attractions, it’s sometimes hard to know whether to spring for guided tours or audio tours. #1 - I’m cheap, and on a budget here! But also, it’s just how much can you take in constantly having a voice yapping at you. That said, I’m really glad I had the tour guide here, because the Vatican Museums are a maze! So many rooms, so much stuff. It’s no wonder they say the Vatican is so rich, with so much art and priceless artifacts it’s unbelievable. And of course, the heart of it all - Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. It really was breathtaking to see. When Michelangelo unveiled the frescos in 1512, Pope Pius II fell to his knees. Competely understandable!!! Michelangelo, who didn’t even consider himself a painter! In fact, he wasn’t familiar in the medium at all. Since seeing his ‘David’ sculpture in Florence, and now this, and knowing he was a great architect as well, it’s amazing to see how well-rounded he was - able to move from marble sculptures to fresco ceilings, both pulled off superbly. Apparently, it took him four years to paint the ceiling. And I never thought about it before, but painting in an arch isn’t the same as painting on a flat canvas. Looking at the ceiling from the ground, the people need to look realistic, so you need to know how to paint. I guess if you looked at the ceiling close up, it’d look like one of those circus-fun mirrors, where everything is distorted. I think I understand, because I’ve seen pictures of this guy, Julian Beever, who does realistic sidewalk chalk drawings, where if you look at it one way, it looks 3-D, but seen another, it’s all distorted. (http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm)
Anyways, we had about 40 minutes to stay in the chapel, and believe me, I could have stayed longer! Something else I didn’t know - when the church commissioned a work or art, the artist wasn’t allowed to sign his work. That seems pretty unfair to me! But Michelangelo tried to get around that, by painting a self-portrait somewhere in his paintings. That would act as his signature.
Both the Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment have been restored a couple of years ago. I remember all the uproar about it, but I was under the impression it had actually been repainted. It hasn’t though. It was just cleaned with a soapy water mixture, and that got rid of over 500 years of dirt and grime, bringing the paintings back to their original glorious coloring. Apparently, though, there was some kind of wax on it that was removed and the wax was actually protecting the color, since that time, it’s been fading. Oops! Well, I’m definitely glad I got to see it when I did.
After that, we wandered around the museum a bit more, and then the tour ended. Went to a couple of gift shops - got some great blessed gifts - can’t wait to pass them out at Christmas! 😊 I’ll have to remember to ask dad what exactly “blessed” means? So the pope blesses something and we care because… ? Anyways, I’m sure my gifts will be appreciated.
Anyways, I walked to St. Peter’s Basilica next, which is still in Vatican City. It seats 60,000 people! This is the spot where Peter, the apostle, is buried. He was crucified in Rome, martyred for being an apostle by Nero, emperor of Rome at the time. He was buried at the spot where St. Peter’s Basilica is now. Constantine, (who if you remember your history lesson from yesterday, was Rome’s first Christian emperor), built a church on the spot to honor St. Peter. Or perhaps just Peter - because I’m a bit hazy on this, but I don’t think I consider him a saint because I don’t believe in saints. I actually got to see his tomb, which was pretty cool! I can’t believe I was that close to where one of Jesus’ apostles was buried. Inside the Basilica are the tombs of many popes as well, including the last one, Pope John Paul II. There was also Michelangelo’s sculpture, “Pieta,” which was of Mary cradling a dead Jesus on her knees. Remember how I said earlier that artists couldn’t sign any work commissioned by the church? Well, after the Pieta was installed, Michelangelo overheard some people talking about his sculpture and attributing it to another sculptor. He was upset, so he snuck into the church at night and chiseled on a sash running across Mary’s body, “Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made it”. So there! LOL.
A lot of famous artists helped to build the current basilica. Donato Bramante was the main architect, but Raphael and Michelangelo also helped. There were Bernini sculptures. There was also a statue of St. Peter in the Basilica that had the toe completely worn down by centuries of pilgrims kissing it, and rubbing it. I don’t really like that idea, I don’t believe that saints, or especially, statues- images- of saints, should be immortalized like that. They shouldn’t be made more important than God or Jesus. I don’t know, though. Maybe I just don’t completely understand why saints are supposed to be held in such high regard. I mean, I hold them in high esteem, but I don’t believe they should be prayed to. Whatever, just my idiosyncrasy of the day.
After the Basilica, I left the Holy See and went back to Rome. Walked around… found the Piazza della Repubblica and a pretty fountain, the Fountain of the Naiads, in the middle of it. Then I went to the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which was built by Michelangelo. There are the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, which were baths built 1700 years ago and are the largest in Rome. Michelangelo used the ruins when building the church. There were some great mosaics in the church. After that, I just bought some clementine oranges, bread and cheese, ate back at the hostel and called it a night. The oranges were the freshest and tastiest I’ve ever had. So fresh they still had leaves from the trees. Yum!
Oh, P.S. I also saw the spot where Julius Caesar was murdered. Between that and the Apostle Peter, talk about bringing history alive!

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Photos

Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo's Ceiling

Sistine Chapel
The Last Judgment by Michelangelo

Statue of St. Peter
People rubbing his toe as prayers to him

The Swiss Guards
Guarding the Vatican, in uniforms designed by Michelangelo

Comments

[Dad]

Michelangelo and the Pope
Everything about Michelangelo completely blows my mind. How could one person have the talent and the ambition to do all the things he did? On the Pope, he is the direct descendant of the process that created an unbroken line of heads of the Catholic Church starting with St. Peter. All Christian religions are offspring of the Catholic Church. People praying to saints do not put them ahead of God. As the most pious of all christians, saints are prayed to to intervene or help your prayers get to God.