Exploring The Vatican

 Today's adventure took us to Vatican City, for a tour of the Vatican Museums.  We left our hotel, by taxi, at 6:30 am and traveled to a plaza nearby, where we were scheduled to meet with our tour guide, Laura, who was with City Walks in Rome. 

Needless to say, breakfast was not an option at our hotel prior to us leaving, so it was a pleasant surprise to find a small cafe at the plaza, where we had plenty of time to enjoy a Cappuccino and split a delicious croissant before meeting our guide. 

Once we were set up with our group, we hiked up several sets of steps that led to the walls that surround the Vatican.  Although our scheduled tour time was 7:15, it turns out that the Vatican Museum doors don't open until 8:00, so we spent the time standing outside while Laura gave us the detailed history of Vatican City and explained how it was granted the status of a country in 1929 after the signing of the Lateran Treaty. 

She also handed each of us a schematic of the Sistine Chapel which detailed the various artwork adorning the ceiling and walls, as guides are unable to give any details while in the chapel.  She explained that much of the original work by Michelangelo had featured angels without wings, saints without halos, and men painted nude.  But over time, this was considered to be distasteful, so fig leaves were painted to impose modesty.  I found it amusing that she referred to it as censorship.  

Finally, it was time to enter, and after going through security, we made our way up a set of stairs, and then outside to a beautiful plaza that featured an awesome view of the dome of St. Peter's.  

As you can see, we were blessed with a gorgeous day, temps in the mid 70's and brilliant sunshine.  You really can't beat that, can you? 

Our next stop was the Pinecone courtyard, and looking at this photo, you can probably easily figure out why it was named such. 

A large bronze fountain, in the shape of a pinecone, adorns the center of this alcove. It dates back to the second century.  On either side of the base of the fountain stands an ancient Egyptian Sphinx.  I find it amazing that items of such age have been preserved over the centuries.

Yesterday's tour guide had explained to us that many statues had been erected as adornments during the time when Nero served as the Roman Emperor.  But, during the decline of the Roman Empire, many of these statues had been lost as the city began to decay over time, and in the 13th century, the Roman Forum was used as a dumping ground for old medieval buildings. 

In the early 1800s, excavations were initiated,  and these statues that had once stood on temples, were uncovered, sometimes in pieces, and delicately restored and safeguarded in this museum.  

Laura headed over to the Laocoon, excited to give us its history. 

This statue is believed to have originated in Greece, prior to 40 B.C.  It was discovered in 1506 on Esquiline Hill.  The sculpture represents the story of the Trojans, from Virgil's Aeneid. 

When the statue was uncovered, the right arm was missing. Michelangelo determined that the arm should be bent from the position of the shoulder.  Later, in the 15th century, the arm was located, and the museum connected the arm to the back of the statue. 

We crossed the plaza that featured the arts

And came to the Marforio,  depicting Oceanus.  It is believed to have been sculpted in the 2nd century.  It was discovered in the Forum of Augustus and is believed to have once been part of a water fountain.   

There were theatrical masks

And an original mosaic floor.

And statues just about anywhere one turned. 

This one is called The Torso, found in the late 15th century. The sculptor engraved his name:  Apollonius, son of Nestor.

We walked into a room designed to represent the Pantheon.  Standing in the middle is the "Bath of Nero", which is also believed to be a fountain. It was found near Nero's house on Esquiline hill. It is carved from purple marble known as Red Porphyry.  It originates from Egypt, and, due to its scarcity, was strictly reserved for emperors .

Along the perimeter is a  statue of Hadrian

Moving on, we saw the sarcophagus which had been carved for Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. She died in 335 and had been buried in a mausoleum which was located just outside the city of Rome.  It, too, is made of Red Porphyry. It was brought to the city in 1777 and restored by Gaspare Sibilla and Giovanni Pierantoni. 

There was beauty to behold at every turn: adorned hall ceilings,

statues along the walls of the Gallery of The Candelabra

as well as painted ceilings to admire. 

There was this unusual statue of Artemis, the goddess of fertility which would have originated in Ephesus.

Our guide had us walking through the gallery at a pretty fast pace, so it was difficult to stop and admire much of what there was to behold. Which was probably a good thing, because I would more than likely have way too many photos to share. 

We entered a hallway with walls covered by tapestries.  This particular one was Flemish, made in the 1500's in Belgium.

And this tapestry was unique, in that the eyes of Jesus followed one as you walked along the hall.  I inspected it closely, and, sure enough, it looked like the eyes were staring at me from every angle. 

Isn't it fascinating that someone could manage to achieve that affect with woven fabric so many centuries ago? 

Walking through the ornate hallways, I glimpsed some of the beauty outside the windows. 

The hallway of maps featured large paintings of maps from every area of Italy.  But it was the ceiling that really caught my attention!

From here we moved onto the papal apartments. There was a room devoted to the Immaculate Conception.

This room was painted by Rafael,  and it featured  Pope Julius II, painted as if he was looking back in time over two hundred years. 

This painting shows Julius II in the left hand corner, as if he is watching a scene depicted from the Bible.  Rafael was quite clever the way he used the medium to highlight the stories of the Bible while bringing it to a more recent perspective. 

The ceiling in this particular room was extremely colorful and ornate. 

I soon found myself fascinated by the amount of decoration on the ceilings of the various rooms that we walked through. 

Finally, we were in the Sistine Chapel, where no photos are permitted, due to it being a sacred papal place.  It was nice to take a seat along the side wall and admire the works of art covering nearly every section of wall and ceiling, and having the schematic was a huge help in understanding the meaning behind the paintings. 

Now, one would normally exit the Sistine Chapel and head to St. Peter's Basilica.  But, it was Wednesday.  And, unbeknownst to us, the Pope has a papal audience on Wednesday mornings, and entrance to the Basilica is not permitted.  We had hoped that since our tour was SO early in the morning, that we would be given the opportunity to visit the basilica prior to our tour, but apparently the touring system is not designed to accommodate visitors of any kind on Wednesday mornings, except on rare occasions when the Pope does not grant an audience. Today was not one of those days. 

So, we exited out the opposite door, and headed to the Vatican Painting Gallery, which, as you can well imagine, had countless works of preserve art. 

The Stefaneschi Triptych was commissioned as an altarpiece for the high altar in the old basilica of St. Peter in the 1300's.  It is painted on both sides so it could be seen by both the priests and the congregation on a free standing altar. 

The left side shows the crucifixion of Peter and the right, the beheading of St. Paul.  In the center  Christ sits in Majesty, surrounded by angels. 

We were moving along at a fast pace again, but I did manage to get a photo of this beauty, but I can't give you a detailed explanation regarding it history. 

Laura then led us to the tapestry room, which featured huge, ornate tapestries, woven in fine filament, some sections highlighted with gold.  They were held behind glass, and kept in a relatively dark room to preserve their color. 

Finally, we made our way to the religious paintings.  This is the Madonna of Foligno, painted by Raphael in 1512.  It was originally painted on wood, but transferred onto canvas.

Another famous painting attributed to Raphael is this one entitled, The Transfiguration.

Here you see  La Nativita.  I so loved the smiling child and the beautiful colors.

And finally, this is a painting of the Annunciation.   I cannot tell you the artist, but I was captured by the delicate nature and serene calmness that I felt while admiring it. 

At this point, our tour concluded, and considering that we had been with Laura for well over four hours, I was happy to end the day visiting the museum.  We would have been permitted to stay as long as it was open, but, there were scores of tours coming and going, and we really felt that we'd seen enough for sensory overload!

So, after exiting the building, we headed around the walls to St. Peter's Square, which was packed with people in hopes of seeing the Pope pop his head out. 

Within short time, the barriers came down, and people could explore the square at leisure. 

We gave some thought to standing in line to see if we could gain entrance to the Basilica, but, once again, it was obvious that we would have had to wait for a very long time, and my knee was at its limit.  So, we managed to catch up with our tour group from the hotel, who had a later scheduled tour through their agency, and we took the bus with them back to our hotel. 

I'll admit...I was exhausted, and we decided to just relax in the room for a bit to give my knee a break from all of the extra activity over these past two days. 

We then met up with our new found friends and headed a few blocks to a nearby restaurant, where we were ushered to an outside terrace to enjoy dinner together.  I must say, we had a blast, and the staff was probably grateful that they sat us away from the other customers as we had some pretty entertaining conversations and lots and lots of laughs.  It's as if we've known each other for years.  

And, it looks like Marty has managed to entice some future fans to follow his Yinzerfishing channel.  So, you know he's happy!

Tomorrow we head to Tuscany which will involve a four hour bus ride.  I sure hope the driver is ready for this entertaining group of travelers!

Until next time...