The Vatican

No trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Vatican, which if you did not know, is technically the smallest country in the world. They have their own passports, embassies, police force, laws and courts, and banking system. This little country has roughly 25,000 people coming and going each day! We had booked a tour that allowed us into the Sistine Chapel before it opened to the public, so we were treated with time to observe it without the hoards of people bumping into us as we strained our necks looking up and marveling at the many scenes, trying to identify them all according to the Biblical stories and the Great Course we'd watched explaining some of its background. Our tour then moved us on as little did we know there is so much more to take in at the museums, basilica and grounds.

Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor and not a painter. Prior to being commissioned to paint the famous ceiling, Michelangelo had never finished a fresco! He didn't want to paint this 5700 sq ft ceiling as he was in the middle of sculpting the papal tomb. However the Pope screamed and refused to pay him for his work-to-date on the tomb sculpture until the ceiling was complete, so he had little choice but to obey the Pope's orders to paint. The Pope had requested Michelangelo to paint the ceiling from encouragement he'd received from one of Michelangelo's rivals who was attempting to set Michelangelo up for failure as he thought he'd make a mess of the situation and the Pope would fire him.

The Pope gave Michelangelo a theme for the ceiling, but it was up to Michelangelo to plan it out. He had a team to help him and they had to remove Botticelli's original ceiling that was blue with stars and had been damaged by water, and then prepared the plaster to be carved. The team painted the architectural framework to divide the scenes and this truly is amazing and looks 3D with all of the shadowing. It's interesting to think that during this time in history 90% of the people were not literate, so they learned through pictures and stories. Also, most people had not traveled outside of Italy, so the background to the scenes were Italian landscapes, which we commented on as we observed scenes from the Sermon on the Mount and Sea of Galilee. There are around 300 figures on the ceiling and they are painted in a narrative sequence in an order which they are meant to be viewed in. We found it interesting that we didn't recognize one of the scenes and later learned that it is from one of the books in the Catholic Bible. It is also interesting to note that in the famous Creation of Adam portion of the ceiling, Adam has a belly button as Michelangelo felt this was anatomically correct. The Pope however felt it was theologically incorrect and demanded that it be removed, to which Michelangelo would often reply, "I will get to it tomorrow." The Pope died and the bellybutton remained. Michelangelo completed the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 4 years and it is referred to as the 'Sistine Chapel' because the Pope who commissioned it was Pope XVI. Mass is not held here, it is only used for the election of new popes.

Did God create with a belly button?  Even Michelangelo and the Pope couldn't agree!

Twenty-five years after completing the famous ceiling, Michelangelo was called back to paint the altar wall, The Last Judgement. At the start of this project the Pope was at war and forced Michelangelo to buy the paint himself, as the Pope couldn't afford it! Near the end of the painting, towards to bottom, the Pope was able to afford the paint, so it is much more vibrant and detailed. Michelangelo was criticized for painting nude figures in the church and the Pope's secretary made such a fuss that he wanted the painting destroyed. It's interesting to think of Michelangelo's background as a sculptor and that his subjects were usually without clothes, as well as the fact that in The Last Judgement Michelangelo is painting souls, which would not have clothes on. Ultimately the Pope told his secretary, "Hell's not my jurisdiction!" Michelangelo painted a soul to represent the Pope's secretary and wrapped a snake around him biting his privates because of all of the criticism this man caused. Ultimately Michelangelo died and the Pope hired a painter to come and cover some of the nudes. This poor artist received the nickname, 'Underwear!'

Michelangelo's depiction of the Pope's secretary in hell in The Last Judgement

In The Last Judgement, the scene with St. Bartholomew, the martyr with the knife, Michelangelo painted his own face as that of Bartholomew's to represent the suffering he went through to paint this magnificent work of art. By the time he had completed it, he had almost gone blind having broken a membrane in his eye, and he was not able to sculpt or paint anymore because of the toll it all took on his body. Michelangelo moved on to architecture with assistance from others and inspired by Brunelleschi's Duomo, designed the dome for St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Michelangelo painted his own face St. Bartholomew to represent his own suffering

In front of the dome Michelangelo's designed for St. Peter's Basilica 

After touring the Sistine Chapel we visited the Vatican Museums and grounds. It's interesting to think about these items on display from the perspective of the early Christians who felt that anything Roman was awful as it reminded them of persecution, and they wanted it destroyed. So the items we were seeing displayed were not considered sacred works of art worth preserving as we do some of these items or The Colosseum for example. We also learned that ancient Christians didn't use the cross because they were afraid of persecution, instead they portrayed cute babies with grapes because the wine symbolized Christ's blood.

Wall painting depicts the building of Michelangelo's dome and the transferring of an Egyptian obelisk to St. Peter's Square, where Peter was crucified and chariot races were held

G with statues a bit like Mr. Potato Head - they did the best they could to match noses and arms to the heads, but they were not necessarily original.

G with a sculpture created by 3 artists and was an inspiration to Michelangelo for his image of Jesus in the Last Judgement

Only signed work of art in the Vatican Museum - Michelangelo was inspired by this pose for his image of St. Bartholomew in the Last Judgement

The Hall of Maps was fascinating for our family with all of the geography we've learned this year. In fact our youngest son even commented on how these maps from so long ago put his maps that he's drawn this year to shame! This magnificent hall was commissioned by Pope Gregory, who invented the Gregorian calendar, and had a fabulous hand-carved plaster ceiling. On the walls were masterpieces of topography.

Kids in front of the Italy map in the Hall of Maps

Who knew Van Gogh painted a pieta? It's the only religious topic he ever painted.

We then toured Pope Julius II's apartments, which were painted by Raphael. It was fun to learn the stories and connections behind the figures in the painting as Raphael would include himself and those he knew in his work. We also were in awe by what is considered an 'ancestor of wallpaper,' walls covered with leather, embroidered with silk designs, and painted with gold leaf - WOW! We also were intrigued to see religious paintings by many famous artists such as VanGogh's 'Pieta,' Matisse and Chagall's crucifixes, and even religious paintings by Dali and Francis Bacon (which was purchased recently from a Sotheby's auction for $150million).

Raphael's famous School of Athens

Look what G found! One of the two original Rodin Thinkers

Dad's excited to finally see a Dali painting!

We headed towards St. Peter's Basilica and learned about the process for electing a new pope. There is a famous chimney that will put out black smoke if they haven't reached a 2/3 majority vote. If a new pope has been elected, then the smoke will be white. The Pope then chooses the band he will wear - red or white, and then he is announced from the balcony. Typically there is a Jubilee year every 25 years, but the current Pope Francis declared this to be a Jubilee year even though the last was in 2000, and the next one will be in 2025. A Jubilee year allows Catholics to have entrance through a holy door, make confession, take the Eucharist, and then it is believed that all of the sins in their life up until this moment are now forgiven. Because of this, many Catholics make the pilgrimage to St. Peter's Basilica during a Jubilee year.

Bernini designed the altar in St. Peter's Basilica 

It also just so happened that the day following our visit was the day that the Catholic church celebrates St. Peter and Paul every year - we had no idea! We were grateful that our tour was booked for the day it was, as the following day the Pope would be hosting mass here and we wouldn't have been able to enter St. Peter's Basilica. The Catholic church considers Peter the first Catholic Pope and he is boring under the altar of the basilica. In addition, because of the timing of our visit, we were able to observe St. Peter's statue clothed and wearing a crown, something that one can only see once a year on this day of celebration.

The Statue of St. Peter only gets dressed once a year!

Inside St. Peter's Basilica is Michelangelo's famous Pieta. He was only 23 years old when he sculpted this and so many were in disbelief that the Pope had him carve his name on it, something that was not common at that time. It is the only signed artwork by Michelangelo. We also saw the tomb of St. John Paul II and the mummified St. John XXIII who we were told was so dearly loved and died in 1963 and declared "saint" the same day as John Paul II.

Kids in front of Michelangelo's famous Pieta, his only signed artwork

Dearly loved, mummified Pope John XXIII

In front of the Vatican

We were glad to have had the behind-the-scenes-tour as we learned so much more than Mom and Dad had when they were there years before. It was amazing to see all of the history and great artworks in the Vatican collection. However, the Vatican is on the opposite side of Rome from our apartment, and our tour started at 7:30, so everyone was ready to move on and have the fun tourist meal mom had reserved for us for lunch. Unfortunately the bus didn't arrive on time and we ended up hopping in a cab in order to make our reservation on time. And sadly, the food was not as amazing as the reviews had made it sound and afterwards we were all ready to have a quiet afternoon in our hot apartment.

The kids spent the remainder of the day doing school, reading and watching a movie, while Mom and Dad escaped for a fabulous date night at a restaurant that we agree was one of our favorite on the whole trip. Ad Hoc offered early arrival truffle tasting and then an incredible dining selection. It was by far our best date night of the trip and much needed as traveling with a family 24/7 has presented it's own set of challenges.  We needed a breather to say the least.

Truffle tasting on date night