A day at the museum

It seems like it was years ago that we visited the Vatican.  In reality it was Saturday, March 7.  There were recommendations to stay away from crowds, but museums and restaurants were still open.  Schools had been closed for a couple of days, but life wasn't so bad.  Schools were only closed "until March 15th".  Two days later the whole country and most businesses were shut down.  Now they are saying that schools may open in the fall for online instruction only.  I hope that changes.  Yesterday (April 21), they announced that a few factories and other businesses would be allowed to open in May.  Last week stores that sell children's clothing and bookstores were allowed to open as long as everyone wears masks and gloves and keeps their distance.  It will be awhile before a museum day like this will happen again.

The day before going to the Vatican we avoided the crowds by taking a walk near the Colosseum.  It was deserted, except for a few stragglers and a tour group or two wearing masks.  Saturday we went to the museum to avoid the crowds.  There were people there, but it wasn't crowded.  We were able to walk up to the ticket office without a line.  Normally there would be a line hours and hours long.  It was actually perfect for my crowd-hating family.

There is so much to see it is impossible to describe even a fraction of it.  I loved the mosaic floors.  Room after room had amazing works of art in the tile floor.  The best pieces are fenced off to avoid wear and tear, but for many years this is what was underfoot.  Incredible.

Probably the most famous ceiling in the world is the Sistine chapel.  It is pretty amazing and I did sneak a picture just before the security guard told me not to.  You have to see it, just because it is what it is and it was painted by Michelangelo.  What many do not realize is that the walls were painted by other artists in the late 15th century.  At that point the ceiling was painted as a starry sky.  Michelangelo was commissioned to repaint the ceiling and upper portions of the walls in 1508.  The central panels tell the stories from the book of Genesis.  It took 4 years to finish the work.

 

I forced the kids to stay with me until we had seen the Sistine Chapel.  They were ready to go home by that point.  It had been a couple of hours, but you can't go to the Vatican and not see the Sistine Chapel.  After that I cut them loose to go home and worked by way back through the museum so that I could spend more time with my favorites and take my time with the rest.

I almost hate to say it, but the Sistine Chapel isn't my favorite ceiling in Rome and definitely not my favorite room.  This is an example of the ceiling in a random Vatican hallway.  Just as amazing to me, probably done much later, but not something anyone would have heard of.

I prefer the ceiling at St Ignatius.  The frescoes here are from a completely different time period, the Baroque era of the late 17th-early 18th century.  They have a big mirror on the floor so you don't hurt your neck looking up at the center part of the building.  How kind.  St Ignatius also has a fake dome painted on the ceiling.  I think that is pretty funny.  If you stand in the center of the building it looks quite convincing.  If you are off to the side it still looks, good, but the perspective is off just enough that you can tell something is wrong.

 The fake dome painted on the the ceiling of St Ignatius di Loyola

Photo of the ceiling of St Ignatius in the mirror taken at the end of October, 2019

But really, my favorite type of church ceilings are the old Byzantine style mosaics.  This example is from the Chapel of Venatius in the Lateran Baptistery behind the Basilica San Giovanni in Laterno near our house.  The original baptistery dates from the time of Constantine in the 4th century.  The octagonal building there today is 5th century.  This chapel and the mosaics were added later in the 7th century.  Unfortunately, even later a tall alter was placed in front of the mosaics in the apse so you have to peek behind to get a good look.

So many ceilings, so little time...

Back to the Vatican...

I think that this could be one of my favorite rooms in Rome.  It's probably my favorite room in the Vatican.  It's one of the four rooms called Raphael's Rooms today.  It was painted by Raphael and his crew at the same time Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel down the hall.  It was originally a private Papal apartment.  Can you imagine this as your private study?  This particular room is called the Room of the Segnatura and houses one of Raphael's most famous works, the School of Athens.  This wall features all of the Greats from ancient Greece and represents rational truth and philosophy.

I love that Raphael included a little self portrait off to the side.  He is the young man in the black cap looking out at you.  It reminds me of the image used in the posters for the big Raphael exhibit that opened that weekend.  It was only open for 2 days before the museums were closed in the national shut down.  It looks unlikely that the museums will open any time soon.  The exhibit celebrates the 500th anniversary of Raphael's death.  The big question now is if the pieces on loan will be allowed to stay so that people can see them together after the museums reopen.

On the opposite wall is the Disputation of the Holy Sacraments, or Triumph of the Church, which represents theology.  It includes Christ on his throne, God the Father, the Holy Ghost, as well as many prophets, saints and martyrs.  Figures above represent the triumphant church in the glory of God.  The figures below are those who fought against evil on earth, the militant church.  Interestingly, this included Dante Alighieri.  He is behind the pope in gold robes and is wearing a laurel wreath.

Some of my favorite objects in the museum were these models by Bernini and friends.  He didn't work alone.  They were working pieces made in preparation for later bronze castings.  All of the angels have broken noses.  They are far from perfect condition and I think that is what I like so much about them.  I love that you can see the straw and metal armatures through the broken clay.  They are broken and still quite beautiful.

Toward the end of the museum there is a hall called the Christian museum.  In this hall there are cases of vitri dorati, or gilded glass.  These objects first collected in the 17th and 18th centuries, but made for the early Christians of the 3rd and 4th centuries.  The objects are small glass discs with a thin layer of gold sandwiched between layers.  The images in the gold depict stories from the Bible or wealthy couples and families.  Some of these objects were the bottoms of glasses or bowls.  Others were decorations for glass objects or seals for burial niches in the catacombs.

The miracle at Cana

The Original Sin - Eve, Serpent in a tree, Adam

A bridal couple

I was enchanted by these little gems.  The smaller ones depicting the bible stories are maybe an inch across.  The larger one of the couple is maybe 2.5 inches.

The path through the exhibits twists and turns so many times it is impossible to keep track of where you are.  Somewhere between Raphael's rooms and the Sistine Chapel the walkways detour through a newer addition where more contemporary art is displayed, including a very large work on paper by Matisse and a small painting by Van Gogh.  Other works by Matisse included mock ups for stained glass windows in France.

It was a great day.  I loved visiting the museums.  I hope to go back sometime sooner than later.  

On the way home I stopped by Castroni and bought oyster sauce and a few other hard to find items.  I was quite happy to find it because I wanted to make stir fry.  Sometimes you need a break from the Italian food.