My OneWorld Around The World Trip: Rome, Day 4, Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums

For our last day, the plan was not to do a whole lot, period, as we were already getting tired from all the walking. Rome is an expansive city, with a LOT of streets, and almost all of them cobblestone, not the softest surface on which to walk! So we decided in the morning, we did definitely want to see the Sistine Chapel, and it is right by a metro stop, so would not require much walking! We loaded up with a big breakfast at the hotel again (the free meal of the day!) and headed out, and were soon exiting the metro by the Vatican again. We went straight to the line for the Vatican museums, and found our spot without any trouble. We learned to ignore the “tour” hawkers by now, so we just waited patiently in line in the cool shadow of the Vatican City wall. Within 10 minutes, we were in the door and had our tickets, and began to explore the museum.

The Sistine Chapel is at the END of the tour (for the most part - with just a few miscellaneous items on display subsequently), and this is good, because it forces visitors to pass through other exhibits, and see much more than they might be inclined to, left to their own devices. It probably helps a lot of people see and learn things they might otherwise never see and learn. We got the audio tour, just 7 Euros, and a very good value for what it provides. In almost every room, there would be numbers by one or more items, and the audio guide would provide all the details to help us appreciate what we were seeing. The museum is largely a collection of religious art through the centuries, particularly as it regards the development of Christianity and the Church of course.

It starts with ancient artifacts predating Christianity or even Judaism, from Egypt, and then the Etruscans. I enjoyed the Egyptian exhibit especially, as I have always loved anything about Egypt since Mrs. Kirkland’s history class in 6^th grade, when she told us all the gruesome and exciting details of the mummification process, and many other great things that ignited our imaginations. Here we saw many exhibits that were interesting, particularly items that were brought to Rome in ancient times after Rome conquered Egypt – so many things were later in Hadrian’s villa or Caligula’s palace, etc. My favorite piece here was an Egyptian bust from about 2000 BC. It was quite something to realize that when Jesus walked the Earth, this sculpture had been around as long as it has been from then until now!

Here, a short digression regarding touching artifacts as we unsophisticated tourists are often wont to do! I know I "shouldn’t do it"… but since nobody else was there at the moment, and there were no ropes or alarms… I did touch the 4000 year old Egyptian sculpture. I know all the reasons this is supposedly bad, yes. But I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to touch history directly, I guess. It is the same reason we take photographs of all the things we see, even though we could obviously look up more professional and high quality shots anytime on the Internet, there is something about knowing I took a picture myself that makes me want to capture everything still. So, wrong as it might have been, I did touch the statue. I admit I also touched Constantine’s mother’s (Helena's) crypt, a magnificent red porphyry carved sarcophogus, one of the rarest stones on Earth, and housing the remains of one of the most influential women in world history, who was responsible for converting the first Christian Roman emperor, and ending persecution for millions of believers from that time. I would not touch the articles if they were paintings or other pieces that could be easily damaged. But both of these things are sturdy stone, and have existed for thousands of years, no doubt touched by countless other people. So I don’t think it was really that wrong. And anyway, I like the thought that in 4000 more years, some advanced archeologist may extract my own DNA from the surface of one of these magnificent artifacts, and learn a little bit about me, one of the strange breed of visitors from a new ancient era. I do think the Vatican knowingly looks the other way on some of these things, too. The rope could easily have been spaced too far away to touch the crypt, but is positioned very close in fact, so many people reach out to touch it. I don’t believe it is superstition or other silliness that motivates most of the pilgrims who touch these articles, but rather, a simple longing to be part of the grand history that is unimaginably greater than any of us will ever be in our brief lives. I think it is a testament to the grace and good will of the Church that they indulge that very human side of our being, and grant us the small indulgence.

After the Egyptian exhibit came the Etruscan rooms. This culture was enlightened, but more or less mysteriously disappeared. The Romans viewed them as their superiors, and they respected the rights of women to live as equals with men, partaking in social life and home decisions. Although men were still considered heads of households, women were not subjugated as they were in Greece, Rome, and most other ancient cultures. I wonder why their civilization died out, and where they went. I pondered, and suspected maybe they were crushed by the times. In the ancient world, it did not typically pay to show mercy or kindness. Whatever the fate of the Etruscans, I’m grateful their history was not entirely lost, and that the Church has sought to preserve as much of it as possible. These rooms were not fully open to the public right now, so we only had a brief view into them from outside before moving on.

In the subsequent rooms, we came to exhibits of Christianity. This made up the majority of the museum as one would expect at the Vatican. We encountered so many beautiful things. The progression is arranged in roughly chronological order, so the most ancient artifacts and art are first, and the most modern are last. The medieval tapestries were breathtaking. They are hung in a hall, probably 500 feet in length, with magnificent gilded ceilings, and great architectural detail at every step. The tapestries are huge, and very old, dating to 14^th and 15^th centuries, and in remarkably great condition. On the left were scenes from the life of Christ, my favorite, depicting the adoration of the shepherds and magi, followed by the weeping of the women whose children were killed by Herod when he learned from the magi of a new King of the Jews, and then other scenes. The resurrection scene was especially good. The tapestry was created with depth and the artist subtly brought life to the figure of Christ, which appears to follow the viewer with his its eyes as one walks from one side of the work to the other.

On the right wall were many tapestries illustrating milestones in the life and reign of one particular Pope or another from the period. I think Urban VIII was one, but honestly, I know so little of Papal history that I didn’t dwell nearly as closely on these.

There was a room dedicated to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. One striking feature I found was on one wall, many figures were depicted, which we learned were debating the doctrine amongst themselves. Although I don’t hold the view myself based on my own readings of scripture, I was impressed to realize that the Church acknowledged the debate in its imagery, something different from what I had always heard. In fact, my experience at the Vatican positively impacted a lot of my thinking about the Church. I have never been an ardent Protestant, but I do believe the Reformation was urgently needed when it came, due to widespread corruption. But the light of recent historians has often portrayed the medieval Church as most oppressive and unenlightened. In fact, I came away with a much different impression. I acknowledge human failings in its history, which are undeniable. But I also saw a deep striving in all the works, even those from the older periods, to reach for truth, grace and compassion, and in many cases, help largely illiterate populations understand the deepest truths in the scriptures, which we with the benefit of literacy now often obtain through direct reading. Even amidst ancient propaganda and the grandeur of the gilded rooms, I actually see great humility in the Church, something I never expected to find in such a grandiose place as the Vatican. I am still not a Catholic, but I admire the Catholic Church for many things, and I am convinced it was God’s instrument to shepherd Christianity, and humanity, through the dark ages. And after all, as our friend Ed from the Papal Audience pointed out rightly, Protestantism would never have occurred were it not for the Roman Church, so the two are forever inextricably linked.

After the tapestries, we passed into my second favorite of all the sections of the museum, the work of Raphael. We saw his tomb the prior day, at the church in the building formerly known as the Pantheon, and I remember wondering what all the fuss was really about, over an artist, although I didn’t think much of it at the time. But upon seeing the works he did in these rooms at the Vatican, now I see why he was so revered. He was truly a great master, with deep sensitivity to truth as well. His paintings are extremely realistic, and vibrant in their use of color, and also depict in tremendous detail so many deep theological concepts. These were not at all restricted to purely doctrinal points of the hierarchy of the time, either, further reflecting the freedom and enlightened position of the Vatican even long ago. In addition to the theological points, Raphael paid due homage to great philosophers of history, Socrates, Plato, and others, and also to the disciplines of math and science, philosophy and the search for truth, whether as related to religion specifically or simply as it relates to the physical universe and pure reason. I was deeply moved by these chambers. There may have been 7 or 8 in total, the first done by Raphael himself, and the last few done partly by him, and partly by those he supervised. An interesting story was that the Pope at the time when Raphael arrived in Rome ordered the prior works which were still in progress in these chambers to be scrapped completely, that Raphael might do them all. Obviously that was a wise decision! Few other works of art in the whole history of mankind can approach the skill and depth of these, I am sure. Raphael himself was quite a humble man, though. He preserved several areas of the former work, out of respect and honor for the former artists. When he died, we learned that all of Rome wept sincerely.

After Raphael, the modern works were presented. These were also thought provoking, but in some measure, provoking a degree of sorrow for the plight of modern man, too. One can clearly see a progression in the work, toward greater and greater abstraction, reflecting the progression (or possibly collapse) of philosophy prevalent in the age, until some of the works became completely unrecognizable as images of anything at all. I find much of this paltry compared to the greater works surrounding them in the museum, but I also think it is right that they be displayed, representing the philosophical despair of the era. It is obvious to any honest observer that most of these are far inferior in quality and expression to the ancient works that preceded them. And yet, the Church chooses to display them as well, an act of grace, in my view, toward the poverty of some aspects of modern thought. I realized that much of what we have come to view as a natural part of civilization is actually rooted in the traditions of this great institution, in fact, and this grace and humility toward inferior work, now generally known perhaps as “class”, and considered a virtue by default, was not always part of the culture.

Nevertheless, even in the modern section of the museum, I found a number of pieces of art that were beautiful. In the midst of what seems to be general half-hearted despair on the part of the artists, some pieces still stood out and impressed me. I considered also that beyond the philosophical decay encountered in the recent centuries, there was another force acting on artistic trends, which was the decreasing need to depict scenes realistically, due to advances in media. Where Raphael was acting as an intermediary with people who were largely illiterate and needed concrete imagery to understand deep and sometimes obscure truths, the modern era is literate to a much greater degree, and also benefits from fantastically realistic media, TV and movies, which tend to obviate the need for realism in art work. So although I do honestly think much of modern art is mere pretending at an empty philosophy that is largely dead, I also found true artists in the mix, who were actually experimenting with new forms of expression now that they found freedom from the requirements of realism. I guess in many ways, though, this is not a new phenomenon, and in all periods, most artists are fairly lame, and a few are masters... There were some notable pieces in the modern section that I still liked a lot.

In the end, I was glad to have seen the modern section, but I was really waiting for the grand finale! We finally made it to the Sistine Chapel! It seemed we had been trekking forever through room after room, waiting for that one, and finally, we walked through a short hall, and there it was. It almost seemed anti-climactic when we first entered, because I was expecting to hear angels singing, and instead, heard a din of the crowds, pressed tightly in, and all wandering around and running into each other as everybody gaped up. However, after I made it toward the center of the chamber and got a chance to look closely around, I was not disappointed in the least. The room is quite spectacular, the only art I saw all day that rivaled Raphael, and in fact, equaled him. There were tremendous numbers of small vignettes and symbolism, woven into a cohesive story that stretches from end to end of the massive chamber. I didn’t realize previously that the room was constructed to the same specifications as Solomon’s great temple from the ancient times. That was very interesting to learn. The depth of the imagery and theology that Michelangelo incorporated was surely equal to the space and heritage from which it came. We spent quite a while listening to all the audio guide’s information, and tried to study as much of the vast detail as we could. Ultimately, I felt there must be a huge reserve of knowledge that went completely unappreciated, hidden in the crevices of the images. But I take heart that in heaven, I will understand them all. For now, we simply could not remain in the room forever, so the time came to leave.

One unfortunate incident I have to admit... I snapped a photo, with flash off of course, but at the last minute, heard a woman scold me that no photography was intended in this room. I found myself infuriated, actually, I am ashamed to admit. I should have reacted humbly and kindly, and apologized, but instead, on such lofty heights in my mind, I was not at all humble, and gave her a mean look of impudence and disdain. She did not look away, and I felt angry at her for deigning to tell me that I could not record the moment, since it was so meaningful to me. I immediately realized I was very wrong for it. But it was too late… When her gaze finally broke, I could see it had actually hurt her feelings. I wish I could take that back… But, it was a little reminder for me I think, that in the glory of looking on such wonderful things, I must remember who I am, a lowly human being, barely risen from dust myself, and only elevated slightly above due to the grace of the Creator, who still places us beneath the angels. Later, I saw the lady again as we were walking through the final rooms after the chapel, in which were displayed many diplomatic gifts made to various Popes through the ages. I tried to catch her eye to give her a kindly look, and show her I hadn’t meant harm. But I felt a sting, that she would not meet my gaze. I realized, once damage has been done, sometimes it cannot be undone. This is the sting of sin, I think. But the power of forgiveness is that we need not be broken forever. I prayed that God will bless her trip and help her not to feel too badly about the rude man in the chapel, and then resolved to be kinder the next time, and to try harder not to get so high and mighty in contemplating great things that I forget my own origins and act like a jerk. So after this, I smiled, and looked forward to the days ahead.

The rest of the day was short and sweet, no doubt, the reader besides my own mother at this point may be grateful (and maybe even you will be Momma)! Hahaha We went back to the Trevi Fountain despite being very tired, and engaged in a lowly act of pure superstition, to toss a coin over our shoulders and back into the fountain, thereby most certainly ensuring our future return to this enigmatic and wondrous city. We hurried home then, cleaned up for dinner, and found a wonderful spot across from the Teatro del’Opera, which I think means the Opera House, where we ate dinner. We got the last seat on the sidewalk and thereafter noted that visitors were being turned away, so I think we lucked out to find a popular and delicious spot to eat. The food was great, and we had wine with dinner, intending only one glass each, but the waiter brought a whole bottle, so… when in Rome, we did as the Romans do, and imbibed freely. After dinner, we had espresso, which was extremely strong, and definitely something new for us both, but a real treat to eat like the Italians do. Then, after dessert, the waiter surprised us with two shots of limonela, a drink I remember from the great travel show by Samantha Brown, when she visited Italy. It was sweet and as one would expect, tart, lemon tasting, and very strong actually! We sat for at least half an hour more just so we would not embarrass ourselves by having drunk too much when we got up. But we were just fine, and did not at any time pass the line from that warm and relaxed state a small amount of alcohol can happily bring, and into the most regrettable and miserable condition of drunkenness! We walked home to the hotel and by the time we got there, the traces of alcohol in our system were already evaporating. And once again, we slept soundly.

Long escalator to subway, silly shot but fun

Sculpture in the courtyard at the Vatican Museum

Helena's Sarcophagus - Yes, I touched it!

Mummy! Right eye filled with cloth since the socket is used to extract the brain! Gross!

The 4000 year old Egyptian bust I very gently touched. Somebody already broke off the nose so I don't really think my soft tap will hurt it after 4000 years, and maybe my DNA will be famous 4000 years from now this way.

Another statue found in Hadrian's Villa (see me hearing all about it in the audio tour?)

Cuneiform tablet

Many Mithraic cult carvings in this room. Mithraism was a widespread secret religion in 1st century, just prior to advent of Christianity in Rome.

One of many busts of Janus

Cool tapestry of Jesus emerging from the tomb, from Crusader era, very 3d due to handiwork of fabrics, so eyes of Jesus appear to follow the viewer as you pass

Gilded ceiling in map room, featuring many very detailed maps of Italy from long ago

Head of John the Baptist

Raphael, this one pays homage to Socrates and Plato in center, Biblical prophets also represented, among others - I think this one was to illustrate the role of reason in theology.