Our European Holiday Day 3 - The Vatican

Today was another dreamy day in Rome. We have absolutely loved our few days here! Today was a really early morning – we had to meet a tour group at 6:45 AM to explore the Vatican, so we were out of our hotel a little before 6:30 to meet our group.

The Vatican was incredible. I love visiting places of faith – it’s awe-inspiring to see people’s devotion and worship. It also taught me how little I know about the Catholic Faith. I decided I needed to buy a book about the Vatican so I can figure it out a little more. I’ve been to Mass a few times, but I honestly can’t tell you what it is… It’s pretty sad.

Our first stop on the tour was a quick jaunt through a few of the Vatican Museum galleries to get to the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican has an incredible amount of visitors each day, so our goal with this tour was to be one of the first groups into the Sistine, so we could enjoy it with fewer crowds. It worked and we were able to move around the chapel. I love art history and I’ve studied Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the front of the Sistine Chapel in every textbook or art book I’ve ever read. I’ve seen many pictures of them, but nothing can do justice to the magnitude of these amazing works of art.

Michelangelo was truly a genius. In the Vatican alone, he contributed the two most famous paintings, a sculpture in St. Peters Basilica, and architected the dome of St. Peters. Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor and didn’t want to paint the Sistine Chapel. In fact, he left Rome for 2 years to try to get out of it, but the Pope tracked him down and made him do it. He finished the work on the ceiling in 4 years, working mostly alone. He painted the center panel depicting scenes from Genesis from the back forward. After he finished the first 3 panels, he realized that from the floor to the ceiling you couldn’t see the amazing details he added. His figures in the remaining 6 scenes are much larger and easy to see from the floor. His talent is incredible – the figures almost look like they are popping off of the ceiling to join you on the floor. When Michelangelo finished the ceiling, he signed the work Michelangelo, sculptor as an act of defiance.

The Last Judgment is larger than life. I love all the details of the Saints. An interesting detail that I didn’t realize is that 30 years passed between the ceiling and The Last Judgment. During those 30 years, Martin Luther posted his theses and launched the Reformation and subsequent Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Last Judgment is a Counter-Reformation piece, which means that the Church demanded that most of the figures be clothed, a stark difference from the ceiling. Additionally, you can begin to see Baroque influences in The Last Judgment with the amount of twisting, contortion, and motion. Needless to say, I enjoyed my time in the Sistine Chapel.

After the Sistine Chapel, we enjoyed more of the Vatican Museums. There was a lot of Ancient Roman Art around the Vatican, so as excavations were done, the art was placed around the Vatican. There were statues from Ancient Greece and Rome. Additionally, a lot of work has been donated to the Vatican and they have also commissioned work for several pieces. One of my favorite sculptures was Laocoon and His Sons. This is an original Greek Sculpture, which is pretty incredible. Most Greek Sculptures that we have are actually Roman imitations of Greek Statues. However, this one is truly Greek from the Hellenistic period. I love the twisting and sense of motion in this sculpture.

We also discussed how there were a lot of Ancient Rome excavations happening at the time of Raphael and Michelangelo and they were very much students of their time. There were a few statues where it was easy to see the influence they had on later works. In the Rafael Rooms, we saw another one of my favorite paintings The School of Athens. In this Renaissance painting, you can see the Roman influence – there are arches used to create proportion and a vanishing point. Additionally, the figures are dressed in Roman clothing. One interesting thing is that Raphael painted his contemporaries in this painting – Michelangelo is painted in the front, Leonardo da Vinci depicts Plato and Raphael even drew himself on the far right side of the painting.

Throughout the Vatican Museum, there were original mosaic floors discovered around Rome and repurposed in the Vatican for the pleasure of the Pope. They were gorgeous, but it scared me to be walking on them! I felt like they should be better preserved. Incredibly, these floors have lasted to modern days. The architecture and design around the Vatican are beautiful and serene, typical of the Renaissance when it was designed. I was constantly in awe of the tapestries, sculptures, and paintings. However, the architecture and design of the buildings were the perfect frames for these timeless pieces.

I could have spent hours in the Vatican Museum with the art, but the tour had to progress. We went through the Borgia Apartment where the Borgia Pope lived during the Middle Ages. The Borgia Pope period was surrounded by scandal, and so when the Pope following Borgia was elected he locked the Borgia apartment and it stayed locked until the early 1900s. This meant that a lot of the art was preserved and stuck in time from the 14th century. It was fascinating to walk through it. Many of the rooms in the apartment have been turned into galleries for Modern Art. We walked through it faster than I would have liked, but we did see some paintings by Salvador Dali which was interesting. Additionally, there was Pop Art similar to Andy Warhol with the Sistine Chapel as the focus. It was fascinating. Seeing Modern Art in a religious setting was very interesting. I wish we could have spent more time there, but it just means we will have to return to Rome someday.

After the Museum we visited St. Peter’s Basilica. This is the largest Catholic Church in the world. The Church was gorgeous and full of light. Bernini designed the canopy for the Pope and it’s 10 stories tall. My favorite part of the Basilica, however, is Michelangelo’s Pieta. When I first saw this sculpture in an art history textbook nearly 10 years ago, it took my breath away. Seeing it in real life brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Michelangelo somehow made marble into people. I love how peaceful Mary looks knowing that Jesus’ work is done and he is at peace. Additionally, I love the sense of weight you can feel in the sculpture with Jesus’ body on her lap. His hands and feet are in perfect proportion and show signs of the Passion. It’s easily my favorite sculpture in the world, and maybe a large part of the reason I wanted to come to Italy to see it in person.

After a jaunt through the Basilica, our tour ended and we were on our own. We spent more time in the Basilica and then decided to climb over 500 steps to the Dome. We started our climb and about halfway through we made it to the inside Dome. It was amazing to see the Basilica from above. The canopy looked so huge. We continued climbing and then we saw the outside. The beautiful view of Rome was well worth the climb. I loved seeing St. Peter’s Square from above.

We came down from the dome and needed a snack. Fortunately, on the top of St. Peters, there was a small snack bar where we could purchase Magnum Bars. We found a shady spot to sit down and enjoy our ice cream. It was delicious. We finished our climb down, wandered around the square, and found some lunch. I had ravioli, lasagna, and spaghetti, while Eric had a pizza. It was a delicious meal. We talked with our neighbors at the next table quite a bit at the end of our meal. It was a mother-daughter team from Austin, Texas. People from Texas are always nice, so we enjoyed talking to them. The daughter recently graduated from Texas State with a minor in Art History, so her graduation present was a trip to Italy with her Mom. It sounded like they were having a wonderful trip.

After lunch, we visited the Castle San Angelo. Emperor Hadrian originally designed the castle in the first century as a mausoleum for himself and his family.  However, it was redesigned as a fortress and apartment for the Popes in later years. The first part of the Castle showed the Fortress – there were tall walls with places for archers with arrows to stand, a drawbridge, a moat, and a trap door. It was interesting. The more interesting part came later, however, when we saw the Papal Apartments. Several Popes stayed here during the middle ages and Renaissance when Rome was attacked. They commissioned beautiful works of art and décor. It was fascinating to see.

After the castle, we had accomplished our agenda for the day but still had several hours before our train to Florence. We decided to go back to the Piazza del Novara. This was such an interesting and fun Piazza we wanted to visit again. There are beautiful fountains, one designed by Bernini and featured in Angels and Demons. Additionally, there are many street vendors and musicians creating a delightful environment. We sat by one of the fountains and enjoyed the ambiance for a few minutes.

After the Piazza, we enjoyed a short walk to the Pantheon. It amazes me how Christian this Ancient Roman Temple is. I knew it had been turned into a Church (and thank goodness or otherwise it would have been destroyed like so many other Ancient Roman buildings). However, I was surprised by how many religious sculptures and paintings are in the Pantheon. It is a Church in every sense of the word.

After the Pantheon, we decided to find some dinner. We found a delightful restaurant where Eric had gnocchi and I had ravioli. We loved the food here in Italy.

After dinner, we decided to find a church to see another Bernini Sculpture St. Teresa in Ecstasy. This isn’t my favorite sculpture. I like the Baroque influence and the different mediums in the sculpture. The sculpture itself is made out of marble, but Bernini used metal to show artificial light and then placed a window above the sculpture to let in natural light. It’s very interesting.

After the church, we headed over to the Borghese Museum. It’s closed on Mondays, but there is a nice garden next to the museum. It was nice to sit for a minute and enjoy being in Rome. This museum is a must-see next time we are here. It has works by Poussin, Titian, Caravaggio, and Bernini.

After the garden, it was time to call it a day. We headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags, and hopped on a train to Florence. We can’t wait to see what Florence has in store for the next few days.