Roman Holiday Day 3

On Thursday morning, we went to Vatican City. Before 1870, the Pope pretty much ruled all of Rome and his official residence was in a completely different part of the city. But when Victor Emmanuel took over in 1870, the Pope fled to the Vatican and remained there behind its high walls, refusing to recognize the new ruler. It was rather a sticky situation until 1929, when an agreement was reached to allow the Vatican to be a sovereign state.

We wanted to visit the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's cathedral, so we got up early to head out. In the wintertime the Vatican Museums close at 1:30! There are so many things in there that have been collected and commissioned by Popes over the centuries that you could spend a month in there. So we were hard-pressed to see what we wanted.

Before we left, Brian took this shot of me. I wanted to get at least one picture of myself in Roma without windblown hair and a camera and a wallet hanging around my neck!

One of the things that I really wanted to see was this ancient Roman sculpture. It is called Laocoon. It shows Laocoon and his two sons being devoured by serpents. Michelangelo helped to excavate this piece and advised Pope Julius II to purchase it. The movement and musculature on this piece are really amazing. This is quite an advanced piece, and it is very old. I think that works like this argue against the idea of evolution and that men today are smarter and more skilled. We are just "standing on the shoulders of giants", that is working off on the accomplishments that have come before. Our body of knowledge is increasing, but the intelligence of the men who handle that knowledge is the same.

This is part of the courtyard of the Vatican. The weather was fitful our whole trip and this just happened to be a sunny bit.

Here I am in the courtyard of the statues. There were rooms and rooms full of marble statues! Too many to even look at.
One of many beautiful domes in the museum.

This bowl is made of a rare Egyptian red marble. There are no more known sources of this marble left, making it the world's most valuable bowl. Its estimated value: one billion dollars.

This is a detail of one of the many fine floor mosaics in the Vatican. See how fine the pieces are and how detailed the image is? Now this is quality workmanship.

Another intricate ceiling with elaborate paintings running down the entire hallway. And that is just the ceiling. I honestly can't even remember what was in the hall itself.

Here is Brian in the hall of the maps. This entire ceiling is made of different individual paintings down a very long hallway. The walls are frescoed with old maps of Italy. Everything is very detailed.
And here is one of Raphael's most famous works, the School of Athens. It is in one of 4 rooms with all four walls frescoed by Raphael. These are aptly named the Raphael rooms. We sat in these rooms for a long time. We'd read a bit about these works and so they were highly enjoyable to see in person. Oftentimes the immensity of the original painting catches you and you can see all kinds of details so much clearer.

I don't know who did this, but Brian said it was his new favorite painting. We need to do some research on it. I don't know how well you can see it, but there is an idol on the floor smashed and a cross standing alone and triumphant in the center.

And here is the famed Sistine Chapel, with the ceiling and altarpiece painted by Michelangelo.

After the museum closed we got lunch and then headed off to see St. Peter's. This church is believed to be built over the site of Peter's tomb. The old St. Peter's was pulled down to to build a larger and grander church in order to strengthen the catholic church. Ironically, it was the fund-raising for this new church that set fire to the Reformation and the weakening of the catholic church. John Tetzel sold indulgences to raise money for this building. The claims that he made so angered Martin Luther that he wrote his famed 95 theses and nailed them to the door of the Wittenburg church.

This the main dome, which Michelangelo helped to design before his death. There are many other smaller domes inside the church.
Here are my boys in front of the altar.

And here are some views from outside.



I guess the best adjective that I can come up with for the Vatican is overwhelming. The Popes meant to shock you by the grandeur of their buildings and possessions and convince you by the display of this richness and might of the supremacy of the church. But it does backfire a bit. Instead of impressing you with and making you meditate on the glory of God, you marvel at the grasping selfishness that would collect all this to one person and one place. There is more than can ever be absorbed or enjoyed by one person just in the one Vatican museum we were in. In their heyday the Popes had many palaces and churches built, so that would be just a fraction of their holdings. My intention is not to offend anyone who is catholic, these are just the thoughts that struck me while I was there. The remnants of papal abuse are still visible this many centuries later. I think I understand the Reformation just a bit more now.