Vatican

Visiting the Vatican Museum was perhaps the most discussed aspect of planning the trip. The art treasures within are incomparable. So are the crowds. And then there are the personal feelings about "The Church" and the fact that holds all of these magnificent treasures. Yet when all was said and done, we opted to take the tour.
	It was about a five and one half hour adventure from arrival in St. Peter's Square to exiting the Basilica after the tour. And if we didn't have "art fatigue" before that, we certainly did afterwards. Still, we can check it off on our "life list" of things to do. < Ann in front of St. Peter's Basilica. Statuary overlooking St. Peter's Square. >

	< The old entrance to the Vatican Museum. They apparently reconfigured things a little in anticipation of the crowds that flocked there during the Millennium Jubilee (2000 AD). A corridor of statuary that was cordoned off. > One disappointment was not being able to visit the Etruscan collection located elsewhere in the complex. And if you do go, be sure to book a place on a guided tour. There are no explanatory or descriptive signs to let you know what you are viewing. Without our guide's knowledge, we'd have no way of knowing where we were or what we were looking at.

Again, I couldn't get over the quality of the sculptures. (below and right)		Apparently the Greeks used to fit their statues with "eyes" as below. It does give the statuary an completely difference appearance.

	Upon entering this one atrium, I was taken by this larger than life mask.

The one disadvantage to a guided tour is not having all of your reference material (artist, location in the museum, etc.) at your recall when you review your photos. These were just some murals and such that we passed as we wound through the museum. Right: a section of ceiling. Far right: a combination of color and chiaroscuro figures.

		Far left: another of the elaborately decorated ceilings in the Vatican museum. Left: Bronze statue of Hercules.

	< Even the "black and white" paintings show great depth and dimension. This decorative relief was no more defined than the some of the paintings we saw. >

	< An example of early Christian art reflects the style seen in many Orthodox churches. As if the decorating the walls isn't enough, the ceilings in the various rooms are masterpieces in their own right. >

	< This mosaic was removed from an old temple and installed in the Vatican museum. Because it incorporates Lapis Lazuli, which is relatively soft, you can't walk on it. My headset futzed out while the guide was explaining where this mosaic came from. Didn't matter as the style and subject matter (Food!) was appealing! >

	The hall exhibiting tapestries was necessarily dark so it was hard to photograph. Although the textiles were interesting I was totally amazed by the ceiling panels (left, right and below left). These are not done in plaster or stone relief; they are painted!

	Another wall painting that still manages to capture that sense of three dimensions and incorporates just a touch of color. >

	The former apartments of Pope Julius II are known as the "Raphael Rooms" for their richly decorated walls. The two murals here: "School of Athens," right, and "Fire in the Borgo," left are well known.

	As you can imagine, taking handheld photographs in low light amidst jostling crowds of tourists is no easy task. But its hard to resist the temptation when confronted with the masterpieces at hand. < Here is an almost full view of Raphael's "Deliverance of St. Peter." This is a the center panel of the same mural. >

	< "Just another mural" in the Vatican Museum.	Jim's Rant: After dealing with the crush of fellow tourists touring the collections of the Vatican Museum, we were given 15 minutes to visit the Sistine Chapel. NO PHOTOGRAPHY (flash or otherwise) ALLOWED! And, remember, it is a chapel so show reverence. Well, what we saw was some of the worst manners displayed by the hundreds of people crammed into the chapel. Shutters clicking, strobes flashing and the rise and fall of the multi-language din made the experience disheartening and disappointing. I couldn't wait the allotted quarter hour and booked for the exit. Very sad.

	We handed in our headsets and left the tour after the Sistine Chapel and headed straight to St. Peter's Basilica. < To get a sense of the size of this edifice, look at the number of people milling about. It's huge! Michaelangelo's "Pieta" is just to the right of the entrance to St. Peter's. Just as moving here "at home" as it was when viewed at the New York World's Fair (1964-1965), this is the unedited and only shot of the statue that I took. >
	These are just three of the many paintings in the side chapels of the Basilica.