I am in the Eternal City at last. It is exciting and surreal. There is so many layers of classical, renaissance, and modern all compacted together.
I toured the Vatican yesterday. It is a country in and of itself, less than a mile square. There is so much to see, it would be impossible to really appreciate it all. The guide said that if you spent 1 minute in front of every item, you still be looking at things in 12 years - I did a 3 hour tour, so it was the drive-through version, which only caught the highlights.
By far my favorite thing was seeing Michelangelo's Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica. This sculpture has been a favorite of mine for a very long time. A Pieta is a picture of Mary with Jesus. Sometimes Jesus is shown as child or it shows Mary holding the body of her son just after the crucifixtion. There have been many pietas painted and sculpted by various artists, but this one is (to me) the most moving. It captures an emotion that is so poignant - sorrow combined with accepting serenity in Mary's face, and the realistic slack body of Christ in her lap. This was one of Michelangelo's earlier pieces, yet he shows such an astounding ability to make marble breathe. The heaviness of Mary's clothing adds to the weight of her grief, her hand outstretched as if giving an offering or prayer.
The Sistine Chapel was amazing as well (also Michelangelo). No one is allowed to take pictures of it, but it truly was unbelievable what Michelangelo did to accomplish the ceiling as well as the scene of the Last Judgement. The ceiling took him 4 yrs; he worked 14 hr. days standing on scaffolding about 60 feet in the air, looking up to paint. The painting is a fresco, which is when you paint right onto wet plaster. The colors absorb into the cement and stay permanently. However, it is a difficult process and you can't make an error or you have to wait for the cement to dry, then chip it off, then start over. The Last Judgement (on the wall behind the priest) took him an additional 5 yrs. Plus, he didn't like painting, it took him away from sculpting.
The artist Raphael also did some frescos for private rooms, plus some designs for tapestries with hung in the Vatican. His work was bright and had many symbolic images in them. St. Peter's Basilica was full of enormous statues and huge vaults supported by tall columns. It was awe inspiring. I couldn't take pictures of all of what I saw - there was too much.
The last thing I'll mention is the statue of Laocoon. It is one of my favorite classical statues - again because of the emotion and movement that is shown. This was uncovered I think from Nero's Domus Aurea (Golden house) during the time of Michelangelo. Laocoon was a priest in ancient Troy. He warned the Trojans not to take the wooden horse into the city. (He called them crazy to even think about it.) He thought it was a Greek trick or a some machine of war. He thought it might have the enemy hidden within the belly or it might be able to spy on the people from the inside of the city. He struck his spear into the side of the horse's belly, and there was a groan heard. Soon two serpents came from the sea and killed Laocoon and his two sons. The Trojans thought this was a punishment from the gods because he had caused harm to the horse (which was supposed to be an offering for the Goddess Minerva/Athena). So the Trojans wheeled the horse into their city, and were then destroyed by the Greeks hiding within it.
I toured the Vatican yesterday. It is a country in and of itself, less than a mile square. There is so much to see, it would be impossible to really appreciate it all. The guide said that if you spent 1 minute in front of every item, you still be looking at things in 12 years - I did a 3 hour tour, so it was the drive-through version, which only caught the highlights.
By far my favorite thing was seeing Michelangelo's Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica. This sculpture has been a favorite of mine for a very long time. A Pieta is a picture of Mary with Jesus. Sometimes Jesus is shown as child or it shows Mary holding the body of her son just after the crucifixtion. There have been many pietas painted and sculpted by various artists, but this one is (to me) the most moving. It captures an emotion that is so poignant - sorrow combined with accepting serenity in Mary's face, and the realistic slack body of Christ in her lap. This was one of Michelangelo's earlier pieces, yet he shows such an astounding ability to make marble breathe. The heaviness of Mary's clothing adds to the weight of her grief, her hand outstretched as if giving an offering or prayer.
The Sistine Chapel was amazing as well (also Michelangelo). No one is allowed to take pictures of it, but it truly was unbelievable what Michelangelo did to accomplish the ceiling as well as the scene of the Last Judgement. The ceiling took him 4 yrs; he worked 14 hr. days standing on scaffolding about 60 feet in the air, looking up to paint. The painting is a fresco, which is when you paint right onto wet plaster. The colors absorb into the cement and stay permanently. However, it is a difficult process and you can't make an error or you have to wait for the cement to dry, then chip it off, then start over. The Last Judgement (on the wall behind the priest) took him an additional 5 yrs. Plus, he didn't like painting, it took him away from sculpting.
The artist Raphael also did some frescos for private rooms, plus some designs for tapestries with hung in the Vatican. His work was bright and had many symbolic images in them. St. Peter's Basilica was full of enormous statues and huge vaults supported by tall columns. It was awe inspiring. I couldn't take pictures of all of what I saw - there was too much.
The last thing I'll mention is the statue of Laocoon. It is one of my favorite classical statues - again because of the emotion and movement that is shown. This was uncovered I think from Nero's Domus Aurea (Golden house) during the time of Michelangelo. Laocoon was a priest in ancient Troy. He warned the Trojans not to take the wooden horse into the city. (He called them crazy to even think about it.) He thought it was a Greek trick or a some machine of war. He thought it might have the enemy hidden within the belly or it might be able to spy on the people from the inside of the city. He struck his spear into the side of the horse's belly, and there was a groan heard. Soon two serpents came from the sea and killed Laocoon and his two sons. The Trojans thought this was a punishment from the gods because he had caused harm to the horse (which was supposed to be an offering for the Goddess Minerva/Athena). So the Trojans wheeled the horse into their city, and were then destroyed by the Greeks hiding within it.
I also got to see several statues of Bernini that I like - Apollo and Daphne and his David. (Again pictures weren't allowed - sadly enough) Also his statue of Aeneas fleeing Troy with his father and son. I got to see a several Roman mosaics, hundreds of Roman statues, and a giant bath tub from Nero's Golden House. I haven't seen the Colesseum yet - not even a glimpse. Hopefully I will tomorrow.
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