Doing the Vatican Blog

I have no background in art. I went to museums when I was a kid, but I always liked science museums better. The first art show I remember liking was the Picasso exhibit at MOMA around 1980. And I had the usual introduction to French Impressionism and liked Monet. But I never knew enough to put it in context. And I purposely didn''t look at a single art book before we went to view the Vatican art collection. So here's a know-nothing's report.

First off, I did not meet on in any way encounter the Pope. Just wanted to get that settled. Our guide was an art professor for 10 years in the US, so she both knew her stuff and knew how to explain things to people who were knowledgeable (like Ronnie) and not (like me). We had gotten an entry ticket a couple of weeks in advance and sliding past the ticket line was very satisfying. I don't really have a sense for the organization of the place, but there's a museum part and a palace part, the latter including the churches.

The place was mobbed with huge groups. Fortunately, few of them had any interest in the museum part, which was stunning. I've never liked or been interested in medieval art and it seems to be generally considered to be inferior to its renaissance counterpart. Understanding it in context, though, it all makes sense and is very beautiful and meaningful in a glorifying Jesus kind of way. Often the total religious focus irritates me, but having spent the prior day exclusively on secular (or pagan, anyway) Rome, it was fine today, and we're in the Vatican for goodness sake. Of course it's going to be religious. And some of the pieces were stunning. We saw things evolve through the different periods, though after Raphael things started to go in cycles of innovation, adoption, overuse by inferior artists (IOW, bad paintings) and then on to the next innovation.

Then we went to the palace part. They've got serious crowd control here. It's like a long one-way street. You can't double back. We started with an extraordinary collection of mostly ancient Roman copies of ancient Greek sculpture. These were displayed in a way that served only to demonstrate just how much stuff they have. Sculptures are stacked, sometimes with the label for the thing on top stuck in the middle of the thing on the bottom. At this point I am beginning to lose track of what we're doing and where we are. My brain is full and I can't take anything more in without shoving something else out the other side.

We went through what had been the residence of some of the popes, so the walls and ceilings are ornately decorated. A couple were done by Raphael and a few more by his students as he had an overload of commissions at the time. The most memorable was the map room, which is 120 meters (!) long and has wall covered with 16th century topological maps, giving a view, kind of as if you're standing on top of a nearby mountain, of Italy as it was known then. Incredible detail, with many whimsical touches. The ceiling is completely frescoed and the there are ancient sculptures between each map, but it all gets lost in the sauce.

We heard about how one pope hated his predecessor and had to make himself a whole new apartment, how the popes had themselves painted into historical works and lots of references to my favorite pope name, Sixtus the Seventh.

Then we hit the Sistine Chapel, which was at the same time dramatic and awe-inspiring, as well as a bit of a disappointment. Obviously it's hard to keep looking at stuff that's on a very high ceiling, but it was kind of dark and not at all as church-like as I'd imagined. You can tell the paintings are brilliant, but they don't jump out and grab you like I thought they would. You're supposed to be quiet and not take pictures, but people were chattering and flashing away and nobody was stopping them. Maybe it's not the real chapel. Maybe it's the stunt double.

Finally, we stopped into St. Peter's Basilica, which was huge and impressive, and the light was streaming in in a very cool and godlike way. They have the tomb of St. Peter, above bones that have been tested and are as close to being authenticated as Peter's as is possible. There are a couple of popes in glass coffins and other relics. And it's HUGE. Ronnie said to the guide, "And I bet they passed a law after they built this that no church could be built bigger." And the guide said, "Of course."

So that's it. I tried not to overuse any superlative and to give you a sense of the place as it struck an uneducated but interested observer. I'd highly recommend going and having a guide, private or small group if possible. I also feel better prepared for what I'm going to see in Florence and was glad to hear what a cranky guy Michelangelo was. Now excuse me, my brain hurts.

Here are some pictures:

July 4 Vatican