Vatican- St Peter
Vatican- St Paul
Another breakfast ensuite. It’s nice to get up and have breakfast served.
Today’s tour was “The Vatican”. Our tour guide, Liz, really made the art and history of the Vatican come alive. Built on the site where St Peter was martyred and buried, it became the residence of the popes who succeeded him.
Vatican Museums
Today’s tour was “The Vatican”. Our tour guide, Liz, really made the art and history of the Vatican come alive. Built on the site where St Peter was martyred and buried, it became the residence of the popes who succeeded him.
Vatican Museums
Photo Courtesy of Flickr
Braccio Nuovo
Augustus from Prima Porta in the Cortile Ottagonale Commissioned in 15 AD by Tiberius.
Apoxymenos A Roman copy of an original bronze by Lysippos, a Greek sculptor. Apoxymenos, a gymnast, is portrayed scraping dusty oil from his right arm with a tool called a strigil. The fig leaf was added later.
Bramante’s Staircase
Braccio Nuovo
Augustus from Prima Porta in the Cortile Ottagonale Commissioned in 15 AD by Tiberius.
Apoxymenos A Roman copy of an original bronze by Lysippos, a Greek sculptor. Apoxymenos, a gymnast, is portrayed scraping dusty oil from his right arm with a tool called a strigil. The fig leaf was added later.
Bramante’s Staircase
Photo Courtesy of Flickr
Apollo Belvedere: A late Roman reproduction of a Greek work from the 4th century BC
Laocoon: From the 1st century BC, it shows Trojan priest, Laocoon, and his two sons locked in an eternal struggle with the serpents.
Apollo Belvedere: A late Roman reproduction of a Greek work from the 4th century BC
Laocoon: From the 1st century BC, it shows Trojan priest, Laocoon, and his two sons locked in an eternal struggle with the serpents.
Belvedere Torso: A partially preserved Greek statue from the 1st century BC, it was studied by the artists of the Renaissance.
Gallery of Tapestries The entire gallery is filled with huge tapestries, many made from 1524-31 in Brussels.
Gallery of Maps: One of the most interesting galleries, it is a record of 16th century history and cartography containing 40 frescoed maps by cosmographer Ignazio Danti (1580-83). .
Raphael Rooms: Commissioned by Pope Julius II, these rooms established Raphael’s reputation as an artist in Rome. In the Room of the Signature, ceremonial signing of papal ordinances took place.
Photo Courtesy of Flickr
The most famous of Raphael’s paintings, School of Athens, depicts ancient Greek philosophers whom Renaissance intellectuals were rediscovering, along with some contemporary heroes. At the top of the steps is Plato (in fact, a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci) discoursing with Aristotle. The solitary seated figure is officially the philosopher Heraclitus, but the head is that of Michelangelo. The bent-over bald man on the right holding a compass is Euclid, but is also a portrait of Bramante.
Sistine Chapel: The walls of the Sistine Chapel were frescoed by some of the finest artists of the 15th and 16th centuries. Since medieval times, the Catholic Church has divided history into 3 periods: the world before Moses received the law from God, the period that followed the law, and the period after the birth of Christ. Michelangelo’s ceiling describes the first era, beginning with the Creation. The frescoes on the side walls depict the other two periods.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
The most famous of Raphael’s paintings, School of Athens, depicts ancient Greek philosophers whom Renaissance intellectuals were rediscovering, along with some contemporary heroes. At the top of the steps is Plato (in fact, a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci) discoursing with Aristotle. The solitary seated figure is officially the philosopher Heraclitus, but the head is that of Michelangelo. The bent-over bald man on the right holding a compass is Euclid, but is also a portrait of Bramante.
Sistine Chapel: The walls of the Sistine Chapel were frescoed by some of the finest artists of the 15th and 16th centuries. Since medieval times, the Catholic Church has divided history into 3 periods: the world before Moses received the law from God, the period that followed the law, and the period after the birth of Christ. Michelangelo’s ceiling describes the first era, beginning with the Creation. The frescoes on the side walls depict the other two periods.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
The Ceiling:
1. The Division of Day from Night
2. The Creation of the Heavens
3. The Division of the Land from the Waters
4. The Creation of Adam
5. The Creation of Eve
6. The Fall of Man
7. Noah’s Sacrifice
8. The Flood
9. Noah’s Drunkenness
10. Zachariah
11. Judith and Holofemes
12. David and Goliath
13. The Punishment of Haman
14. Jonah
15. The Brazen Serpent
Three decades after painting the ceiling, Michelangelo was commissioned by Clement VII to paint the wall behind the chapel’s altar. He painted The Last Judgement over the next 7 years. The nakedness of many of the figures shocked the pious and Biagio da cesena called the nudes “indecent”, “better suited to a bath-house or roadside wine shop than to the pope’s chapel”. Michelangelo, in response, painted Biagio’s head onto the figure with an ass’s ears in the lower right hand corner. Twenty-three years later, Pope Pius IV ordered loincloths painted on all the nudes.
St Peter’s Basilica: The center of the Roman Catholic faith. A shrine was erected on the site of St Peter’s tomb in the 2nd century; and the first great basilica, ordered by Emperor Constantine, was completed around 349 AD. By the 15th century, it was falling down and could no longer handle the crowds of pilgrims; so in 1506, Pope Julius II laid the stone off a new church. It took 200 years to construct this basilica, first according to a design by Bramante, and later by Michelangelo, who added the dome. Finally in the second half of the 17th century, Bernini completed the complex with the colonnaded piazza.
2. The Creation of the Heavens
3. The Division of the Land from the Waters
4. The Creation of Adam
5. The Creation of Eve
6. The Fall of Man
7. Noah’s Sacrifice
8. The Flood
9. Noah’s Drunkenness
10. Zachariah
11. Judith and Holofemes
12. David and Goliath
13. The Punishment of Haman
14. Jonah
15. The Brazen Serpent
Three decades after painting the ceiling, Michelangelo was commissioned by Clement VII to paint the wall behind the chapel’s altar. He painted The Last Judgement over the next 7 years. The nakedness of many of the figures shocked the pious and Biagio da cesena called the nudes “indecent”, “better suited to a bath-house or roadside wine shop than to the pope’s chapel”. Michelangelo, in response, painted Biagio’s head onto the figure with an ass’s ears in the lower right hand corner. Twenty-three years later, Pope Pius IV ordered loincloths painted on all the nudes.
St Peter’s Basilica: The center of the Roman Catholic faith. A shrine was erected on the site of St Peter’s tomb in the 2nd century; and the first great basilica, ordered by Emperor Constantine, was completed around 349 AD. By the 15th century, it was falling down and could no longer handle the crowds of pilgrims; so in 1506, Pope Julius II laid the stone off a new church. It took 200 years to construct this basilica, first according to a design by Bramante, and later by Michelangelo, who added the dome. Finally in the second half of the 17th century, Bernini completed the complex with the colonnaded piazza.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Holy Door: This door is open only during Holy Years, which occur every quarter century.
Inside the basilica and set in the pavement in front of the center entrance doors is a disc of porphyry. Taken from a pagan basilica, it marks the sport where more than 20 emperors knelt to be crowned by the pope.
Michelangelo’s Pieta: Completed in 1499 by Michelangelo when he was only 25 years old. It’s the only piece he ever signed (his name appears as a band across Mary’s breast).
Bernini’s Baldacchino: The canopy of gilded bronze was designed by Bernini in the 17th century. It enshrines the spot where Catholics believe the first pope was buried. The bronze of the four 95 foot columns once covered the cross beams in the portico of the Pantheon, which Pope Urban VIII- the Barberini pope recycled for his own use. This led to the saying, “What the barbarians didn’t do, the Barberini did”.
Holy Door: This door is open only during Holy Years, which occur every quarter century.
Inside the basilica and set in the pavement in front of the center entrance doors is a disc of porphyry. Taken from a pagan basilica, it marks the sport where more than 20 emperors knelt to be crowned by the pope.
Michelangelo’s Pieta: Completed in 1499 by Michelangelo when he was only 25 years old. It’s the only piece he ever signed (his name appears as a band across Mary’s breast).
Bernini’s Baldacchino: The canopy of gilded bronze was designed by Bernini in the 17th century. It enshrines the spot where Catholics believe the first pope was buried. The bronze of the four 95 foot columns once covered the cross beams in the portico of the Pantheon, which Pope Urban VIII- the Barberini pope recycled for his own use. This led to the saying, “What the barbarians didn’t do, the Barberini did”.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Throne of St Peter in Glory: In the domed apse, the window above lights up to reveal the image of the Holy Spirit, shown as a dove amid clouds, rays of sunlight and flights of angels. The altar encases a wooden chair that legend says St Peter sat in while preaching to the Romans.
Pope John XXIV: They recently brought out the body of Pope John XXIV and put him on display.
After another 4 hours of walking, we stopped on a side street outside the Vatican and had a cold beer. The entire area around the Vatican seems to close down after hours. Dinner was back at El Tana for more spicy spags.
Throne of St Peter in Glory: In the domed apse, the window above lights up to reveal the image of the Holy Spirit, shown as a dove amid clouds, rays of sunlight and flights of angels. The altar encases a wooden chair that legend says St Peter sat in while preaching to the Romans.
Pope John XXIV: They recently brought out the body of Pope John XXIV and put him on display.
After another 4 hours of walking, we stopped on a side street outside the Vatican and had a cold beer. The entire area around the Vatican seems to close down after hours. Dinner was back at El Tana for more spicy spags.
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