Two different guides, five different venues – a full day! Lets get going. Since it looked like it would be a short walk and we were full of energy, we decided to walk to the Vatican, taking a route along the Tiber river and crossing over the Ponte Sant’Angelo (The Bridge of Angels), then turning left to walk down the Via della Conciliazione (majestic, wide street) towards St. Peter’s Square with St. Peter’s Basilica dead-center against a beautiful, clear, blue sky. Wow!
Bridge to the Vatican
St. Peter Basilica
We met our guide, Dino, by the Museum Entrance and walked right in. Retaining a professional guide makes the whole experience special, no lines, no dealing with tickets, and knowing the best route to see those items which are of greatest interest. We could focus all our energy and attention on enjoying the art rather managing frustrations, maps, and reading explanations.
Candelabra Galley
Candelabra Gallery ceiling.
Statues lining the Candelabra gallery
Once inside, our route began by walking down a 262 ft. hall, the Gallery of the Candelabra, lined with eight large white marble candelabra, as well as many sculptures and artwork dating back to the Roman period. The ceiling has panels of beautiful frescoes by the artist Ludwig Seitz. Engulfed by the tsunami of people constantly moving through the gallery while trying to look straight up, without losing balance, and yet focusing on anything, made it very difficult to examine the panels in detail. Dino pointed out one specific panel. I fought the current and jostling of people around all sides to get right underneath it. He piqued my interest by pointing out that the panel is of St. Thomas Aquinas kneeling and offering his works to the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIII had commissioned Seitz to create this panel in 1883-87, as a signaling of his desire that St. Aquinas’ philosophy should become core in Catholic theology – the melding of reason and science with Catholic theology. I had become acquainted with St. Thomas Aquinas by reading his Summa contra Gentiles in my late teens, driven by my interest in philosophy and a total lack of interest or belief in Abrahamic religions. Later, I enrolled in an in-depth philosophy class in college and even entertained the notion of majoring in philosophy (one of those shiny objects again)– but just briefly, as I realized that engineering would be far more financially sound. I tried taking a photo of the panel, but with all the jostling, the photo is completely out of focus. However, I did find it on the web, and included a screen shot below.
St. Thomas Aquinas offering science to the Church.
Next up was the Gallery of the Tapestries. These large tapestries were woven in the 16th century, and describe various events in the life of Christ. The hangings on the right wall focused on scenes described in the Old Testament, while the left was focused on the New Testament. Some were woven in Flanders, while others were created in Rome. One of the tapestries demonstrated how advanced weaving techniques had developed, as Jesus’s eyes seem to be watching me and following me as I walked down the hall.
Wall tapestry of Jesus – his eyes follow you as you pass.
Gallery of Maps – tapestry depicting the geography of Italy
This gallery led to the Gallery of Maps, which displayed about 40 different wall-sized maps as frescoes. The right wall displays maps of the Eastern Italian coastal area, while the left wall depicts Western Italy and coastal area. They are amazing in accuracy when you consider they were made in the 16th century – without GPS or Google Maps.
All these galleries deserve much more than a drive-through, but honestly, with so much to see and only three hours of time, we had to prioritize. The Sistine Chapel, Basilica of St. Peter, and Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture were on the top of our list.
Sistine Chapel – The Last Judgement by Michelangelo
Dino found a quiet spot to tell us about the Sistine Chapel, providing a handout for each of us with numbered sections to guide us to the areas we should look for. No one is allowed to talk inside the Chapel, so we had to prepare outside. As you walk into the large room (130 ft. long, 43 ft wide, and 66 ft high), it is packed – shoulder to shoulder – with people. Every two or three minutes, the ever-present cadre of guards, yell out a loud announcement – no talking and no photographs, jarring anyone out of a moment of thought and reflection. The main, central wall depicts the Last Judgment by Michelangelo. The creativity, the mastery of art, the details (many very subtle) are absolutely stunning. I wish I could walk up, to see and feel the brush strokes, the genius. With the aid of Dino’s map, we spent close to a half hour, looking and riveting on specific areas. The ceiling, painted by Michelangelo over a two-year period, is equally stunning, but physically challenging in looking straight up for any length of time. A very special place. For me, it’s not the subject of the work but rather the artistry that touches me.
Ready to enter the Basilica St. Peter
Entering via the Porta Santa.
Shuffling out of the Chapel, we make for our next destination, the Basilica of St. Peter. As we’re approaching the entrance, Dino informed us that we are visiting during a very special time, a Catholic Jubilee, which only occurs approximately every twenty-five years, at the Pope’s discretion. The current Pope invoked this year to be a Jubilee Year for the global Roman Catholic church, and it is called the Holy Year of Mercy. I must have asked Dino five times, five different ways – what does this mean? As I understand, it is a year in which sins are forgiven, punishments are expunged, and conflicts reconciled. Five doors lead into the lobby of the church. Dino offered up, with an aura of importance, the opportunity to enter the church through one specific door, a very special door (one of the five entrances) – the Porta Santa, which is never used except as the Papal entrance, and only opened to the public during a Jubilee. Entering through this door is symbolic of forgiving sins and punishments. So we joined the crowd and funneled through this one opening – no trumpets, no lightning bolts, no thunder, no alleluia – we’re in! We’ve been forgiven!
Inside the Basilica St. Peter.
The Papal Altar.
Details of the canopy over the altar.
St. Peter’s dome
Beautiful artwork inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
St. Peter’s was completed in 1626 after more than a century of construction. It is the largest and most lavish church in Italy. It is spectacular. The mere scale of everything is overwhelming. The dome, 450 feet high, was designed by Michelangelo, but construction was not completed until long after his death. Centered underneath the dome is the papal altar, with its 100 ft. high canopy or baldachin designed by Bernini. Only the Pope may celebrate Mass at this altar. As is the custom, the altar reportedly sits over the Tomb of St. Peter, one of Christ’s apostles and first Pope. As a result of some excavation in 1942, archaeologists uncovered a box containing bones near what they believed to be St. Peter’s tomb. The Vatican reportedly tested the bones but never publicized the results, except to say the findings were convincing – whatever that means. They did not mention what tests they ran, nor why they wouldn’t consider testing them again using state-of-the-art DNA instruments.
Michelangelo’s Pieta.
The final stop in the church was Michelangelo’s marble sculpture, the Pieta. Only 25 years old at the time, it was his first major piece of work. It depicts a young Mary, about the age when she gave birth to Jesus, cradling the dead body of her adult son after he had been lowered from the cross. After the Pieta’s unveiling, people had a hard time believing that this youngster could create such beautiful art, and began to pass around the rumor attributing it to someone else. In response, Michelangelo snuck in one night, and chiseled his name on the ribbon across Mary’s chest – and remains the only sculpture he signed. He believed that this sculpture would provide him with credibility so that on returning to his home and family in Florence, he would be showered with commissioned work. Instead he returned to rejection by his family because he worked with his hands, and a society fixated on the venerated Da Vinci. Florence became his stage for conflict and competition with the older Da Vinci, including who would have the right to carve the massive stone that ultimately ended up as David. At the time of Roselie’s first visit to Rome, when Bill was just 10 years old, they were able to get up close and personal with the Pieta. Unfortunately, in 1972, a mentally disturbed visitor snuck into the church after hours and struck it with a hammer. The church repaired it and added very stringent security including a bulletproof glass window.
As we finished our tour, we descended the steps down to St. Peter’s square, which is really not a square but an elliptical area, cupped by hands-like colonnades extending out from the Basilica where the Pope addresses the faithful from a balcony facing the square. At the center of the square sits an obelisk taken and moved from Egypt, in the first century.
Piazza San Pietro
St. Peter’s Basilica with balcony used by the Pope to address the faithful.
Colonnade embracing the Piazza St. Peter
On our way to the square, Dino pointed out a Swiss guard on station. I am Swiss – Roselie and my children are also Swiss citizens – so it was appropriate to check out my fellow country men (where are the women?). The Guard are Swiss, mercenary soldiers who have taken an oath of loyalty to the Pope. They have a reputation for being fierce and effective fighters. Despite the attire, they are reportedly skilled in the use of modern weapons and techniques. Now about that uniform – it doesn’t look all that frightening, especially in contrast to the Italian military personnel scattered throughout Rome in fatigues, carrying machine guns. If I were the Pope, I’d feel a lot more protected if these guards were packing Glock pistols or AK47 machine guns, while sporting these flamboyant garbs. Better yet, why not dress them in dark suits, black ties, white shirts, sunglasses, earpieces, and microphones on their wrists?
The Swiss Guard on duty!
Time to leave the Vatican City nation by crossing over a white line on the pavement, back into Italy – passport not required – to catch a taxi and return to our apartment for lunch and to recharge our batteries for our next tour in the afternoon.
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