I spent most of my second day in Rome not in Rome but rather in the sovereign state of the Vatican.
Melozzo da Forli fresco
I had booked a tour with Through Eternity to visit the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica. I could have braved the museum and St. Peter’s with my travel guide, or with the Vatican’s audio guide, or with another independent tour group, but I am glad that Through Eternity was my guide to the Vatican. The guide was excellent and the tour a plus for me to appreciate a taste of what the Vatican had to offer. The experience was well worth all 59 euros (14 for the entrance, 41 for the tour minus 10% internet discount, 4 for the headphones).
The tour guide was Nikki, an American art historian who has been in Rome for about three years. The other 14 or so people in the group were American as well.
At about 10:30 am on a Tuesday morning we walked up to the Vatican Museums entrance to buy our tickets. Yes, I missed out on the opportunity to see those legendary lines that hug along the entire length of the city walls or to endure endless hours standing in the heat crawling towards the entrance. But, I am not complaining. Mind you, Through Eternity is not one of those tour groups that claims to bypass lines so I guess we were just lucky that day.
Melozzo da Forli fresco
The collections within the Vatican Museum were magnificent. They are basically the world’s greatest collections of Renaissance and Classical art, plus a bit more. With Through Eternity we did not explore the collections of Egyptian/Assyrian art which I would have done had I been on my own. Nor did we peruse the Etruscan collections.
No, our guide focused on Greek and Roman art, early Christian and medieval art, Renaissance art, the Raphael Rooms, and of course the Sistine Chapel. We briefly passed over the modern religious art. Though I was sorry to miss out on the Egyptian collection, I appreciated our guide’s laid back and detailed approach to the artwork we did see. I certainly would not have wanted to be rushed through the entire museum.
The six hours we spent within the museum flew by. We started in the Pinacoteca with medieval art, namely wooden panels that at one time served as altarpieces. Giotto’s 13th century altarpiece, the Stefaneschi Triptych was our focus. We also saw fragments of a fresco by Melozzo da Forli painted in the 1480s.
Pietà by Carlo Crivelli – Portion of wood panel from 15th century
The beautiful Madonna of Foligno by Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) from the 16th century was also on hand.
Child in Raffaello Sanzio’s Transfiguration (1520)
Raphael’s last painting, the Transfiguration was almost complete when he died in 1520. It is so wonderful. It is supposed to be an altarpiece showing Christ flanked by the prophets Moses and Elijah appearing to three Apostles in divine glory. But in the foreground it also shows what seems to be a possessed child soon to be miraculously cured by Christ. My photo came out so clear because the flash went off unintentionally.
The unfinished St. Jerome by Leonardo da Vinci was gloomy, and my camera did it no justice.
St. Jerome by Leonardo da Vinci
Deposition by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Caravaggio) painted in 1604
The equally stunning Crucifixion of St. Peter by Guido Reni was also painted in the early 1600s. I admit that I knew little about the life of Peter the Apostle before going to Rome, and found it touching that he refused to be crucified in the way Jesus was…hence he is upside down. Gosh, matyrdom!
Crucifixion of St. Peter by Guido Reni (1600s)
After ample time for lunch in the museum’s cafeteria we tackled the mosaics, sculptures, and art of the Greek and Roman times. But first, the Cortile della Pigna – a large bronze pine cone that once stood in the courtyard of the old St. Peter’s Basilica and is now in the courtyard of the Vatican museums.
Statues along the Corridor of the Room of Busts.
I love the afterthought of the fig leavesOops, looks like they missed one.
This is a Roman copy in marble of a Greek original from antiquity which depicts Apollo the sun-god after defeating something I suppose. Shame on me I know. It was discovered in the late 15th century and has been a great hit since!
Apollo del Belvedere
I much preferred the marble sculpture of Laocoön and his sons (? from the 1st century) which depicts his death. Laocoön was a Trojan priest most famous for warning his fellow Trojans against the Greeks bearing gifts – the Trojan horse story. He apparently met his death when the god Minerva who was on the side of the Greeks, sent sea serpents to strangle him. It too made a splash when it was discovered in the 16th century stunning the likes of Michelangelo himself.
Laocoön and His Sons
Look at the detail in the face. Just magnificent.
Next, were a series of ceiling art. One could develop a crick in the neck walking through the halls of the museum, I say! As you can see in the following picture depicting the torso of Hercules, I wasn’t the only one with my eyes on the ceiling!
Sculpture of torso of Hercules
Goodness, I wonder what the poor fellow did to deserve a hammering, and from a woman no less.
In the Chiaramonti Museum there were floor mosaics that were also quite beautiful.
The Raphael Rooms are not to be missed. They were the private apartments of Pope Julius II and he commissioned Raphael and his pupils to decorate them.
In the Room of the Senagnatura are two breathtaking frescoes. The Dispute over the Holy Sacrament shows a consecrated host in the center which links a group of scholars (discussing it’s significance probably) to the saints and the Holy Trinity above. It was the first fresco completed in the Raphael Rooms.
The Dispute over the Holy Sacrament
On the opposite wall, is The School of Athens which is centered around a debate between Aristotle and Plato. Apparently, a lot of the faces represents portraits of Raphael’s contemporaries such as Bramante, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. I don’t remember who is who though.
The School of Athen
The Fire in the Borgo
The Fire in the Borgo which is in the Room of the Fire in the Borgo (naturally), commemorates the miracle of 847 when Pope Leo IV made a sign of the cross and effectively extinguished a fire. I only took a photo of the detail in the foreground which shows Aeneas carrying his father on his back fleeing from Troy.
And finally, the grand finale, drum roll please….
You are not supposed to take photos of the artwork (which people did anyway) or talk (again, people did anyway) inside the Sistene Chapel and since I’m a good girl, I did neither. I just sat myself down and was enraptured. The rest of the tour group did likewise scattered around the room. For about 15 minutes I was alone with Michelangelo’s Last Judgment and his frescoes on the ceiling. Just bliss. But I soon begun to feel very sorry for Michelangelo’s neck. The poor man.
Way before heading in, our tour guide had prepared us for what we would see. She was very animated in her storytelling of the scenes in the artwork and behind the scenes. It was probably the highlight of the tour – both seeing the frescoes for myself and having such an entertaining and detailed introduction. Did I mention how much I appreciated the descriptions of the art work and a history of the Church at the time of each piece as well as the history/biography of the artists, popes, and others involved?
Although I don’t remember seeing the charge for the headphones online (apparently it’s in fine print somewhere) I thought they were fantastic as it allowed me to branch away from the group for a quick second to explore a piece of art on my own…just for a quick second really. Really good tour!
Well, afterwards we were given a 30 minute or so spiel of St. Peter’s Basilica and left to our own to explore it. I didn’t imagine that would happen, but I had such a great time in the museums that I forgave Through Eternity for this. Besides, it was already about 5 pm, and I had to find my way to the Church of Santa Susanna to pick up a ticket for the Papal Audience the following day. Therefore, St. Peter’s Basilica just had to wait!
You are not supposed to take photos of the artwork (which people did anyway) or talk (again, people did anyway) inside the Sistene Chapel and since I’m a good girl, I did neither. I just sat myself down and was enraptured. The rest of the tour group did likewise scattered around the room. For about 15 minutes I was alone with Michelangelo’s Last Judgment and his frescoes on the ceiling. Just bliss. But I soon begun to feel very sorry for Michelangelo’s neck. The poor man.
A lover of mangoes. A woman - smart, without pretense, lefthanded, Afropolitan - navigating this thing called life. An unapologetic believer in social justice and karma. Choosing to radiate positive energy and be true to myself. Here, my musings.
When are you going to take me on adventures such as this??!! You aren’t the only one with a passion for history! So unfair 🙁