Endless Possibilities

Today, I woke up not knowing what I was going to blog about. Until about 1:30, I didn't know what I was going to blog about, actually. Then I walked right by the entrance to the Musei Vaticano, or Vatican Museum, and there was no line, a first.

Then I knew what I was going to blog about.

I walked up through St. Pietro's Basilica (if you need reminding what that is, check the post on the 21st. Should ring a bell or two) and saw all the beautiful statues again, but this time saw it from the East side, whereas I usually come at it from the west. Today I saw Pietro, or St. Peter, instead of Paulo, or St. Paul, and these 15 foot sculptures never cease to impress me.

Anyway, I got in through Vatican security (it is, after all, a sovereign nation) and bought my ticket. If you're not a student, it's 14 euro, or 20 bucks. Luckily, io sono studento, and I have a card to prove it, and it was only 8, a much better price. Whatever I would've paid would've been worth it, I just prefer paying less is all. This is the Sistine Chapel I'm going to see, after all, only the most renowned church in the world.

From the inside, past the point you pay, mind you, you're bombarded with sculptures, paintings, ceilings, tapestries, and more artwork that you could possibly absorb in a day. Each hallway has at least 50 artifacts, and each artifact could be looked at for 5 minutes at minimum, but knowing there just isn't enough time in a day to see it all, you almost have to make the whirlwind tour the first time, so the first few halls got exactly that. Oh, and the sign to the right is that of the Vatican, and it's everywhere. The keys signify Peter's keys to the Pearly Gates, etc; Roman Catholicism has so much imagery and lore attatched to it there's a degree specifically for it's artwork, so I won't / can't delve fully into it all, just absorb it for now like I am and come back to anything in particular later.

So I keep going through hallway after hallway of sculptures pretty much as impressive, if not more impressive, than the one to the right. I know I mention this all the time, but the intricacies of each of these works makes them astounding, and if you're curious what I mean, enlarge these and just check the adornments, the little scenes going on on each object, and on the statues, just see their knees, for example. Just so exquisite and mind-blowingly precise that it's hard to keep moving through everything and making sure you see it all (trust me, you can't see it all).

Have you missed video? Well, I took some today. Ignore the sound on this one, it's not the Sistine Chapel, it's the halls leading up to it. I meant to say that when I recorded it, but I got distracted and forget to say "halls of," but beyond that, it gives you a little scope and insight into just how big this place is. This the first of about 20 hallways, so just know that I'm trying my best to include everything I can.

After this, I pressed on into further halls, each one with more excitement and just little things to see than the last. I am just going to throw pictures on here to be viewed whenever you want, since I can't really describe everything, I'll just let you browse as much as you want. I know I've got emails asking for more pictures, and so hopefully this can help that out. The picture to the right shows just the average ceiling panel painting, and there about 5 of these per hallway, and imagine about 20 or more of those hallways, just to get a scope of the amount of invaluable art here. I really liked a lot of the more human, action filled scenes, like the one to the right here, they really just seem to come to live and look so cool.

I really could go on for days like this, but I've got to move on to show it all. There's more good stuff to come, and if you want more, I'll have more time to do so later.

The next hallway was filled with tapestries, or what look like paintings on rugs, essentially, except way cooler than that. Sorry for the low picture quality, it's a low-light room and everything is no flash, as to preserve the artwork, and I can certainly respect that (I'll get to what irritates me about the Vatican a bit later). Anyway, the tapestries are really neat, and very old, and depict only the most crucial and important events of the time, since they were very, very expensive to make and even more so to have done well, which all of these were. I'm not sure how they'll look enlarged, but feel free to take a gander and see up close the texture, it's really something.

The next room literally took my breath away (first of many times today) and I hope my pictures can do it a little justice.

This room is known as the Hall of Cartography, as it is filled with tons of maps, but they're all paintings done by the best cartographers of their time. The maps were used by the Pope to literally divvy up pieces of the world by God's plan as he could divine. There are maps of everywhere they knew of at the time (sorry Western Hemisphere), but equally impressive were the ceilings. The ceilings everywhere here were cool, but this was top three cool there, which is an acheivement in and of itself. I took a video in here and I hope it can help illustrate what I am talking about just a little more.

I'll take a second here just to say something kind of funny: the signs all make it sound like Cappella Sistina is really just around the corner, like you're about to just walk right into it. It does this in every room for about 15 rooms or so. It's really kind of a suspenseful atmosphere, but also kind of irritating since you feel like you're getting close and the Museum just keeps throwing more at you. Not that I'm complaining, I'm just saying, it's kinda misleading.

From there, the hallway spills over into several dimly-lit rooms, making it really hard to describe here. But there were tons of things to mention and of note. Namely, the ceilings keep getting cooler and the paintings keep getting bigger. And bigger. And bigger. It's really crazy to see how huge some of them get to be honest.

I went through another few rooms, most looking more square now rather than hallways like before, with usually about 4 paintings on either wall. It's really tough to take photos here, but trust me, it got even tough for other, let's just say "reasons out of my control." But it's so hard to digest what you're seeing you're seeing so much. You could spend weeks in here and still have hallways left to discover, so I'll press on and mention what I continued to find interesting. Like, for example, there are gift shops lining the walls of the hallways and . . . wait for it . . . that you're forced to go through before you can see the next room (I'll leave it up to you to insert remarks about money and such here, but let's just say the Vatican is making it and knows how to "capture" their audience).

One of the last rooms before actually reaching the Sistine Chapel is Raphael's Rooms, and Raphael is probably the most revered Italian artist after Michelangelo. Frescoes, ceilings, everything is so artistically planned and preordained, the vision and preparation for their work was so insane it's hard to portray with any real hope of accuracy.

Anyway, the ceilings are just so striking, there really is nothing like it that I've ever see. The paintings are just amazing . . . it's pretty awesome to behold.

Now, the famous Chapel. And my mini-rant against Catholicism's ways in their holy land. My video is not great, nor or my 3 (yes, only 3) pictures in the Chapel itself. Why? Because they don't allow ANY pictures whatsoever in the Chapel. It's not to preserve the art, there's no flash on video or anything, and sunlight comes in, which is much, much worse, right? Then why no pictures? Why no video? Because they sell a 50 Euro DVD of the Sistine Chapel to buy at the exit and entrance to the Chapel. Can't have you competing I guess. It's lame. But the video is ok, it shows some of the ceiling, and if you look closely, you can see God Creates Adam on the center-right, and you'll probably recognize that one even if you've never taken any art history.

The Chapel is the most amazing artistically done anything in the limited world that I've seen, bar none, no competition WHATSOEVER. The other rooms? Amateur. Just awe-inspiring, and absolutely breathtaking. I literally felt nervous in there, it was just so . . . perfect. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting says that you can know everything, but you'll never know what it's like to stand under the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, and he's right. You just can't know unless you've been there. Some of the most famous paintings ever are all along the ceiling, and all done by Michelangelo. God Creates Adam. The Temptation of Christ. Scenes from the Life of Moses, they're all here and so beautifully preserved, just so amazing. It's in my top three things since I've come, unquestionably. I guerrilla shot the video and two pictures, but one picture didn't turn out and the other is blurry, so I'm sorry I can't post more. Know that I would've liked to. If you want the 50 dollar DVD, send 75 bucks and I'll go buy it for you and everyone wins, right?

Well, after that, it's tough to be awestruck by anything else you see, but a few things did it. The next room (after the gift shop, mind you) had the second-most beautiful ceilings in the place after the Sistine Chapel. It's just so cool to see the intricate work here. Please, enlarge this picture and see the scale of it all, it's so cool to see it all in size.

The last few rooms show some really cool artifacts, but nothing particularly that I can really write anything about, but it truly is something so beautiful, it just cannot be fully described.

I saw this all alone today, or io solo c'e giorno, and I'm kind of glad I did. I mean, without the people here. I'd love to see it with someone I love, someone I can truly know would appreciate and love this experience and never lose sight of how amazing it is. The closest I'll get with this visit is sharing it with you, so I hope you enjoyed your mini-tour, and know that it's waiting if you can ever make it to see it, just like it has been for centuries now.

I guess all I can say now is Ciao, and I hope you enjoyed it. Send in requests if you'd like to see anything else or hear about anything, I am officially looking for them now. Email me or comment, and let me know what you think.

Ciao tutto.