2004 Europe

Diana and Mario our at the Vatican Museum



May 27 – It’s up and at them this morning at 6:00 and down to breakfast starting at 6:45. The breakfast buffet is included so we weren’t worried about the price. It had assorted meats and cheeses, cereals, pastries, juices and very runny scrambled eggs. I had to skim some off the top and edges to get anything really done. I collected some meat and cheese and made a couple little breakfast sandwiches on the rolls they provided. The eggs were the only weak point. Then at 7:30am it was on to the bus for the first time and across town to the Vatican.



We met our local guide, Marco (above), in a small square a couple of blocks from the Vatican. He provided little radio receivers with earphones that would allow us to hear his presentation at distances up to 200 feet. They are called ‘Whisper Radio’ and I love them. They allowed me to roam looking for pictures while still hearing the information he gave us. Usually I have to sacrifice some of the info to get the pictures I want. Not this time.



There was a huge line at the Vatican Museum, waiting for it to open. Because we had a local guide and reservations we skipped this line entirely and went straight into the museum. It’s in a part of the Vatican that used to be living and working quarters for the Pope so the ceilings and walls are lavishly decorated. First we viewed a hall of ancient sculpture from Greece, Rome and other Mediterranean areas that were all in BC times. Of course, the goddess Diana (below) was well represented with her obligatory hunting dog and bow. There were some sarcophagi of Roman soldiers, as well as some burial urns that were very interesting.



Next we toured a hall of tapestries that all had strong Christian themes. They were really great but the light was low and no flash allowed to protect them so I’m not even sure the video will come out. After that it was into the Hall of Maps where there are maps of the Mediterranean area done with ceramic tiles down the entire length of the 20-yard hall. They were great but very hard to photograph. This hall way connected the Pope’s residence with his offices before they built the Pope’s current residence on the North side of St. Peter’s Square. The ceiling is gorgeous (below). It has painted panels that show events in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Smaller panels are very much like Audubon sketches, showing birds, insects and plants, very much in the style of Portmerion pottery.



Then it was into the Sistine chapel. I was here in 1968 while I was stationed on Crete. It was the only leave I was able to get while I was on ‘The Rock’. Back then the chapel was dark and the ceiling and walls were coated with grime and candle soot from several hundred years of abuse. Even with a large telephoto lens I was only able to make out the outlines of the images and see faintly some of the colors, mostly gray and brown. I am here to tell you that the cleaning and preservation work of the 1990s was a complete success. The colors are bold and the images are striking. It hardly looks like the same place. I could have sat there for hours to take it all in. We spent at least an hour in there and it was not nearly enough. Of course, now that it’s restored you are not allowed to take any video or pictures. Figures. I have a lot of slides from before the cleaning. This is one place the Whisper Radios really paid off. You are not allowed to talk in the Sistine Chapel. Every few minutes the guards would remind everyone to be quiet. Mario was able to go to a corner of the chapel, far from the guards and whisper into his microphone. He was able to give us a great presentation on the history and artwork and we could hear every word. Brilliant!!



The ceiling is just beyond words. Keeping in mind that very few people were literate when it was painted, the purpose is clear. It was a teaching tool for the Scriptures. The main panels in the ceiling are in this order. The first panels are about God and the things he did. The next panels are about man and our interaction with God. The next panels are about the final judgment. Around these main panels are Bible characters and stories. The front wall of the chapel is entirely covered with Michelangelo’s ‘Final Judgment’. It’s great because he uses the faces of real people for some of the images. He has included himself as one of the saints who was martyred by skinning alive. He has shown himself holding up his own skin. The pope that forced him to return to Rome to paint the wall is the face of Satan. Pretty cool. Never tick off the artist.



After that we went to St. Peter’s Basilica (below). Of course the Pieta is there and always draws a crowd. I saw it in New York at the world’s fair in 1964. One of the few times it has left the Vatican. The huge gilded bronze canopy at the front of the church was cast using bronze from the Pantheon ceiling. They gilded it by mixing the gold with mercury to make a paste and then painting it onto the canopy. The canopy was then heated to evaporate the mercury leaving the gold coating. No telling how many people’s lives were shortened due to mercury poisoning.



Then we went to a church that is not as often visited as the last two, the Church of St. Peter in Chains. Michelangelo’s Moses is there and it’s a real masterpiece (below). It was supposed to be one of the statues on the crypt of a pope but the pope died before it was finished and it was put into this church. There are chains under the altar that are supposed to be the ones that held St. Peter in jail. They were miraculously opened allowing him to escape.



After that we went down to the Coliseum, Constantine’s Arch and up the Sacred Way to Titus’ Arch. Titus’ Arch was built to commemorate the subjugation of Israel. It is covered with carvings depicting scenes celebrating that event. One of the carvings on Titus’ arch contains the oldest existing depiction of a menorah (below). The panel shows the Jewish captives of Titus and they are pictured carrying the menorah. The sculpture is from the first century AD. As we walked past the coliseum Diana was attacked by a Roman Centurion. Fortunately, she survived to tell the tale (below).



This was the first day in Europe for most of the people on the tour so it was an early evening and then to bed. Diana and I are still recovering from our sinus problems to we took advantage of the opportunity to rest up.

(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger