Millions of people, religious and not, flock to the Vatican each year. In fact, 22 000 people pass through the Vatican each day and tourism is the Vatican’s single biggest source of income. Individual travelers stand in a line for up to two hours waiting for admittance. However, the cruise ship tours bypass the lines. They pay five euros more per person and have a direct access point into the Vatican.
We were told by friends and “The Lonely Planet Guidebook” to get to the Vatican early. “Arrive early” is even plastered all over the Internet. However, nowhere is it written why one must arrive early or when “early” starts. So, like most days when we get up early and move quickly, we arrived to the Vatican after noon. And, predictably, it was crammed with people.
When we arrived to the Vatican, I was stunned by the line that snaked around St. Peter’s Square. Our bewildered group of four was immediately pounced upon by an advertiser for a guided tour saying that we could bypass the milling mobs. We skeptically took the tour and “prayed” that our guide would be interesting.
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| The Line |
I am saying this now for other similarly disorganized travelers: arrive early to avoid the crowds! And if you can get a good guide, it is worth it, or else the antiquities are endless, without meaning, and the Sistine Chapel has too much art. We had an excellent, very irreverent tour guide. From her, we heard the rough side of Vatican history and learned many new details that aren’t present in other straight historical tours.
The site of the Vatican has been sacred since pre-Christian times. First it was a place where one could receive prophecies by the banks of the Tiber River. Then it was a Roman Temple and a place where the Romans martyred Christians. St. Peter was killed on the site of modern St. Peter’s Square and was buried in a pagan cemetery underneath a smallish rock. St. Peter = St. Pedro = St. Rock. The original St. Peter’s Basilica was 1200 years old and decrepit, when Pope Urban VIII had it replaced with the new, grander cathedral that we see today.
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| St. Peter's Basilica in 1630 |
To enter the Sistine Chapel, one must first go the through the Vatican museums. These are not, as I had thought, museums of the Church’s history, but are instead the private art collections and buildings of the Popes. Each Pope had different artistic sensibility—one liked Greek statues, another had people make him maps. Pope Pius IX had all the genitalia knocked off the statues because they were too suggestive. Now there are restorers trying to affix the offending pieces back to the poor marble men.
Like the Louvre, each room of the museum is a piece of art itself. The ceiling of one is completely flat, yet I could not make my eyes believe it. According to optics, the columns were “real”, they were casting a “shadow”, and that was “definitely” a bas-relief. Yet all this was created just to house the art inside.
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| Mosaic of Minerva |
Red porphyry marble columns stand as sentinels at the doorways and gold glitters on the walls. The sources for red porphyry marble are now exhausted. The floors are as vibrant and textured as the ceilings, even while covered in feet. We were walking on priceless mosaics. Many of these mosaics were originally found in other places and brought to the Vatican. Each stone was numbered and ordered in relation to its surroundings. Then the mosaic was dismantled and reset in the floor of the Vatican according to the numbers. The stones extend an inch down into the floor, thus feet pose no threat of rubbing away the colorful marble.
In 1861 AD, Italy became an independent country and all the city-states lost their autonomy—including the Vatican. It was still a city, but it was under the control of the Italian government. When Mussolini came to power in the 1930’s, he made a deal with the Vatican. They could become completely autonomous with one condition: the private art collection and their buildings had to be opened to the public.
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| The Room of Maps |
Before 1932, what is today the Vatican museum would have been empty of people—all the art was the Pope’s private collection. The Pope and his friends would have seen all these rooms still, silent, and with dust motes hanging in the sunshine (well maybe not, but I have always wanted to write that). The long chambers would have echoed with his footsteps. I would find the empty museum slightly creepy, but I can see how it would promote quiet contemplation of life.
National Geographic estimated that if you looked at each piece of art in the Vatican Museums for 20 seconds, it would take 12 years, day and night, to see everything. Yet the art does not seem to be preserved carefully. Measures are taken to promote tourism, but the tapestries hang in full sunlight. The map room is also flooded with direct sunshine—presumably so that tourists can see well. The art itself is also disorganized. The room of busts is long chamber with rows of heads extending down the walls. They are organized, somewhat arbitrarily, based on their size, hairstyle, and facial expressions.
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| God and Adam |
We had originally gone to the Vatican just to see the Sistine Chapel. I seem to remember learning in school that the Sistine Chapel was the epitome of the Renaissance and the magnum opus of an artistic genius. Images from the Sistine Chapel are used as synonyms for perfection and beauty, in particular that of God creating Adam.
Michelangelo was a sculptor in Florence, until he was commissioned by Pope Julius II to repaint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He originally refused, but was ordered by Florentine officials to obey the Pope. When Michelangelo arrived to the Vatican, he was presented with Pope Julius’ grand scheme for the ceiling consisting of many life sized figures and intricate details all done as frescoes.
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| Part of the Sistine Chapel's Ceiling |
Fresco means “fresh”. One paints fresco by laying seven layers of plaster and then painting into the top one while it is still wet—but not too wet. It is a difficult technique that takes experience to gauge the proper dampness of the plaster.
The chapel’s ceiling was the first time Michelangelo had ever attempted to paint fresco. Furthermore, he had to paint standing on scaffolding five-stories off the ground. After working steadily for a couple of months, he examined the work from the perspective of someone standing on the ground. The heads were too long, the feet were too wide, and the angels were fat. Michelangelo threw a fit; he fired his expensive advisors, spattered paint all over the ceiling, and left for Florence vowing to never set foot in the Vatican or to paint fresco again.
Well the Pope wasn’t too happy about this. He complained to Florence and they sent a protesting Michelangelo back to the Vatican. I picture the next conversation between the Pope and Michelangelo happening in the Sistine Chapel. I think they stood meters apart, feet spread, and with fire shooting out of their eyes. Perhaps Michelangelo was covered in rock dust, and presumably his hair was standing on end. By the end of their “conversation” Michelangelo had agreed to paint the Sistine Chapel again, on two conditions. One, Michelangelo would never have to paint fresco again, and two, Michelangelo could choose the subjects and design of the ceiling.
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| Missed it by That Much |
The Sistine Chapel’s ceiling is organized in a series of panels, or scenes from the Old Testament. Michelangelo apparently studied Greek statues for inspiration of the perfect human form and the incorporation of motion into art. Therefore, Michelangelo’s frescos seem to be caught in the midst of an action and seem like they pop from the ceiling. There are so many fine details that reflect Michelangelo’s genius. In the first panel, God seems to be one-dimensional while the angels and world he is creating are full of life. The creation of Adam is also brilliant. Adam is still and doll-like while God is vibrant and bright. Yet as Adam reaches for God, his skin takes on more details and appearance of life.
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| The Chapel Sans People |
As single images, the panels of the Sistine Chapel are spectacular. However, the combination of the ceiling and walls was too much for my eye to absorb. I expected to love the art and to want to stay in the chapel indefinitely. However, after a mere ten minutes of awe I was ready to leave. If there had been less people, or a more reverent crowd, I think I would have been more inclined to stay. But as it was, I like the Sistine Chapel more as an idea and as a memory than I did in person.
The images are from these links, in order of appearance:
http://www.roninrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/stpeter.jpg
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-st-peters-basilica-photos/slides/1630-painting-by-viviano-codazzi.jpg
http://i.pbase.com/o3/67/871967/1/117176693.5aVzoutj.vaticanmosaic.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Vatican_Museum_-_Gallery_of_Maps.jpg/450px-Vatican_Museum_-_Gallery_of_Maps.jpg
http://riflettiamo.eldy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/god2-sistine_chapel3.pnghttp://www.destination360.com/europe/italy/images/s/italy-sistine-chapel.jpg
http://www.emotiontours.it/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/sistine-chapel.jpg
http://mahan.wonkwang.ac.kr/lecture/renaissance/art/michel/1chapel.jpg
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