A Taste of Italy- Day 2, Tuesday, September 17

Rome, Tuesday, Day 2
From whatever place
I write you will expect that part of 
my 'Travels' will consist 
of excursions in my own mind.
-St. Coleridge (1772-1834)

We are in Rome, Italy, today.  Our sightseeing today concentrates on religious Rome.  We started with the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.  One of the highlights was the world famous Michelangelo's ceiling paintings on the Sistine Chapel and The Last Judgement.  Today is Doug and my second wedding anniversary.  What a wonderful gift for us.  The day was amazing.  It was one of our adventures that we wanted to share with each other.  I had wanted to travel to Italy to see the art work that I had studied in college.  And, 40 years later, I am traveling with my husband on this amazing trip.  We are blessed.

We had a substantial complimentary breakfast.  As you can see, we did not go hungry.

Patio at the Cicerone.

We had an early start today.  Our sightseeing tour appointment was scheduled for 8:00 AM.  We were so glad that we were scheduled with a tour.  The lines were very long, even early in the morning.  Without a tour reservation, you may have to wait in line up to 3 hours.  We can't be late for Michelangelo.  What a great way to spend our Second Anniversary.

The Vatican
Vatican City it the smallest state in the world.  The state was founded in 1929.   Its head of state is the pope, who is also head of the Catholic Church.  Currently, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the newly elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church.  He took the name of Francis after St. Francis of Assisi.  He became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism, and a commitment to social justice.  A simple lifestyle has contributed to his reputation for humility.  Living in a small apartment in the Vatican, he eschews the typical palatial bishop's residence.  He gave up his chauffeured limousine in favor of public transportation, and reportedly cooks his own meals. (www.catholic.org)  Our tour guide said the people of Italy love him, he is a pope of the people.

The lines are long to get into the Vatican.  Our tour guide, Stefano, pointed out repeatedly- glad line, sad line.  Without a tour, you waited in line a long time.  Our guide was very knowledgeable.  He told us many interesting things that we would not have known without a guide.  As you can see from some of the pictures, Rome is full of traffic.   The streets are congested with  motorcycles, scooters, compact cars, smart cars, and lots of tour buses.  There is not much parking, so vehicles are parked close to each other on both sides of the streets, making narrow passage ways for driving.  When crossing the streets, our guide said, "Be brave."  "When in Rome...do as the Romans do."  

The Vatican is impressive, as is all of Rome.  It is a trip back in time.  This is a view of the 20' thick walls at the base surrounding the Vatican.

This is the glad line we are in waiting to see the Sistine Chapel.

This portal is the old entrance with the arms of Pius XI
flanked by statues of Michelangelo and Raphael, depicting the two great artists who spent a great part of their lives adding to the richness of the Vatican and the city of Rome.
The statues above the entrance were sculpted by an artist named Pietro Melandri around 1932 when this entrance was built.  (www.touritaly.org)

On the left is the genius of the Renaissance, Michelangelo, represented with the sculptor's mallet in his hand; on the right is the young painter, Raphael, with his palette and brush. (www.stmary'spress.org)

The Vatican Museums

The Belvedere Torso
The Hellenistic sculpture fragment of a male in the Vatican Museum.  The work is signed by the Athenian sculptor Apollonius.  It was long thought to be a 1st-century BC original, but now believed that Apollonius copied a 2nd-century original.  (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/60217/Belvedere-Torso)

This is the spiral staircase located in the Vatican Museums designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932.  If you go up this spiral ramp, you will be moving from the street level up to the floor of the Vatican Museums.
We did not use the staircase, so I had no idea how magnificent it was
 until I was doing some research for this blog.


The staircase is shaped like a double helix:  It is made of two intertwined spirals; one leads down and the other goes up.  The stairs are beautifully decorated. (photo from: vatican.com)

We entered the Vatican and then went out to the courtyard.

The Courtyard of the Belvedere was cut into three parts when Sixtus V built his library across the court:
Courtyard of the Belvedere, Courtyard Pigna and Courtyard Biblioteca.
(rometour.org/cortile-della-pigna)

This is the entrance to the Chiaramonti Museum & Brasccio Nuovo (New Wing).
This museum houses a collection of Roman busts and statues lined up on either side of the corridor.



One of the most impressive is the AD 1st-century Augustus of Prima Porta.
(photo from: www.reidsitaly.com)

There is continual scaffolding around Rome and the Vatican in particular.
The city seems to be undergoing perpetual restoration.

In the middle of the courtyard is a beautiful sphere by Arnaldo Pomodoro (1990).
The Sphere within a Sphere is also known as "Sfera con Sfera".  The statue depicts a huge fractured orb.  Inside the cracked orb you can see another one.  It symbolizes the fragility and complexity of the world.
(vatican.com)

Cortile della Pigna

The upper terrace is called the Cortile della Pigna because of the colossal Roman bronze pinecone, once a fountain, that occupies the center of the niche.   It dates from 1 century a.C., starting in the zone of the Pantheon, then moved to the hall of ancient St. Peter's and finally has its present position here in the court of the Vatican.  It is covered by a big arch designed by Bramante.  (rometour.org)

The pine cone was cast out of bronze and there are two bronze peacocks which are copies from the ones from Roman Emperor, Hadrian's tomb.  (vatican.com)

Museo Pio-Clementino

The Pio-Clementino Museum houses some of the most important Greek and Roman
pieces in the Vatican collections.

On the left is the red marble sarcophagus at the Museo Pio-Clementino.
The Egyptian statues are in the middle of the hall on either side of
Colossal Gilded Bronze Hercules.  Late 2nd century.  Discovered in 1864 near the Theatre of Pompey.
(www.ancientrome.ru)
For more on the Museo Pio-Clementino see: http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MPC/MPC_Main.html


Gallery of the Candelabra

Originally an open loggia built in 1761, the gallery was walled in at the end of the 18th century.
It is a long narrow gallery 262 feet long.
The name comes from the marble candelabra from Hadrian's villa in Tivoli.
The ceiling was painted in 1883-87.  The gallery contains Roman copies of Hellenistic statues (3rd -1st century BC.) And eight great 2nd century candelabra made from white marble.
(from Vatican, Edizioni Musei Vaticani, copyright 1999)

Artemis from Greek mythology.

Diana was the Roman goddess for wild nature and forests, but was later associated
with hunting, and as a protector of women, with chastity, marriage, and childbirth. (sights.seindal.dk)

 Coat of Arms of Pope Leo XIII.

Pope Leo XIII commissioned the artist Ludwig Seitz
and Domenico Torti for the frescoes on the ceiling (1883-87).
Various artists are responsible for the walls. (www.idlespeculations-terryprest)

The various frescoes in the gallery are derived from the ideas of Pope Leo XIII and his desires that
St. Thomas Aquinas and his philosophy should have primacy in catholic theology.
(idlespeculations-terryprest)

More statues lining the hallway of the Gallery of the Candelabra.

Gallery of Tapestries

Bust of Leo XIII in the lunette of the entrance to the Gallery of Tapestries.

Trompe l'oeil ceiling paintings in the Gallery of Tapestries.
It literally means, "fools the eye".  The two-dimensional paintings appear to be three-dimensional.

Detail of the ceiling.

The Slaughter of the Innocents.
Flemish tapestries, realized in Brussels by Pieter van Aelst's School from drawings by Raphael's pupils,
 hang on the walls.  They were first shown in the Sistine Chapel in 1531,
and arranged for the exhibition in this Gallery in 1838.

Detail of a tapestry of the Resurrection of Christ, based on a cartoon by the school of Raphael
and created in the workshop of Pieter van Aelst in Brussels, 1524-31.  Part of the Scuola Nuova series.
(www.sacred-destinations.com)

Detail of the Resurrection of Christ.

The Birth of Christ Tapestry.

Adoration of the Shepherds Tapestry.

Tapestry of Christ appearing before disciples of Emmaus or
Emmaus Disciple with Jesus.

Painting over doorway appears three-dimensional but is two-dimensional.
Trompe l'oeil.

Gallery of Maps

Ceiling of Gallery of Maps.
This gallery was named after the 40 topographical maps of the regions of Italy.  These maps constitute an extremely important record of 16th century geography and cartography.
The Map Room is 120 m. long and 6 m. wide.

Every inch of the gallery's barrel vault is covered with dazzling frescoes.

This is the Winged Dragon Crest of Gregory XIII
in the lunette inside the entrance to the Gallery of Maps.

Closer view of Winged Dragon Crest of Gregory XIII.

Tapestry of the Last Supper.

We found our way to the Sistine Chapel.
We have a date with Michelangelo.

 The Sistine Chapel is next!