The Vatican

After breakfast at the W, we took the Metro over to the Vatican where we spent our last full day of this trip exploring the Vatican Museums, including the famous Sistine Chapel with its Michelangelo frescos. After, we visited Saint Peter’s Basilica before having dinner nearby.

Morning

After waking up at the W Rome, we headed downstairs for breakfast.

We had a similar breakfast as what we had yesterday. We started out with some of the pastries that were offered along with some more that we had from the buffet. We also ordered the charcuterie plate as well as an omelette and eggs.

Musei Vaticani

We had purchased timed entry tickets to the Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museums) for 9am today about two weeks ago. The tickets do sell out so it makes sense to book well in advance, particularly during the busier seasons. The basic ticket is “Admission tickets – Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel”. There are quite a few other options which are various guided options and may include access to additional areas not otherwise accessible. They also sell tickets for other Vatican locations that are not collocated with the actual Vatican City itself.

We left the W a bit early to ensure we had enough time to locate the actual entrance to the Vatican Museums. While we did enter Vatican City on our first day in Rome, the Vatican Museums entrance is at the northern tip of the Vatican City rather than the east where the publicly accessible piazza in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica is located.

We walked over to the Barberini Metro station to take Line A (Orange) west to Ottaviano. Once there, we started walking to the south.

We walked by a Bialetti store. It seemed like it may have been bigger than the store that we visited near Trevi Fountain earlier on this trip.

We ended up following some signs that pointed towards the Vatican. This is just a typical Roman scene that we walked by.

Soon, we saw the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica ahead. At this point, the right way to go is to turn right. We actually kept on going straight, which is down the street that appears on the left side of this photograph. We realized our mistake before we went too far though. If we kept on going straight, we would have ended at the entrance to Saint Peter’s Basilica.

After realizing our mistake, we backtracked and followed the wall of the Vatican to the northwest. This ended up really acting as a bit of a course correction as we should have turned two blocks earlier while walking south. Anyway, that’s why we left early!

The wall had a helpful sign indicating where the Musei Vaticani is located!

This coat of arms at one of the corners on the Vatican City wall is Pope Paul III‘s. The Sistine Chapel, which we will see today, was completed during his papacy.

The entrance to the Vatican Museums was a bit of a mess. It seemed like there were just multiple long queues near the entrance and extending to the west. We ended up asking multiple staff to ensure we were on the correct queue!

This coat of arms appears to belong to Pope Pius IX. We only know this because Wikipedia has a rather helpful Papal Coats of Arms page! The rendering isn’t quite the same as what we see here but it has the eagle and three circles below it. There isn’t anything else on the page that looks more like what we see here.

Soon, we entered the building where we had to pass though a ticket and security checkpoint. Unlike other Vatican sites, identification is required, though it seems mainly just to confirm the ticketholder is present.

The main floor of the Vatican Museums is actually upstairs as this area of the Vatican is located on a hill. There are three ways up – elevator, escalator, and ramp. We took the escalator.

The main floor here has a gift shop as well as a post office. We visited the gift shop to buy postcards to send at the post office as they will be mailed from the Vatican. One thing we had read was that once you reach the Sistine Chapel, it is not possible to return to the rest of the museum areas. This turned out to not be true on our visit as we were able to return to this exact point on our way out. Of course, things change over time so who knows.

There was quite a nice view to the north from near the gift shop and elevators. A nice place to rest after all that queueing time!

Unfortunately, no paper maps were available. Instead, a QR code led to a PDF map. It is unfortunately a bit confusing at times to try and figure out exactly where you are.

We ended up walking outside, more or less by the 4C on the map, which is the Quattro Cancelli (Four Gates). We could see the dome of Saint Peter’s in front of us. As visiting this part of the Vatican is likely a one time only thing for us, we wanted to see as much as we could. So, we wanted to start close to the entrance and make our way further into the museum as we went. Also, we weren’t sure if there was a point where we could not come back!

We went back inside and started out in a corridor with stairs. This was the view looking up as that was more interesting than seeing many peoples’ heads!

We ended up starting in the Museo Gregoriano Egizio (Gregorian Egyptian Museum).

This part of the museum is named after Pope Gregory XVI, well after the time of Pope Gregory XIII who was responsible for the Gregorian Calendar.

We passed by a window with a view of Cortile della Pigna (Pinecone Courtyard). It is named for the Fontana della Pigna (Pinecone Fountain), which isn’t visible as it next to the building we are currently in.

There was some cleaning in pgoress.

We quickly walked through this area as Egyptian artifacts aren’t why we are here!

We ended up in an extremely busy hallway, the Museo Chiaramonti.

This hallway was lined with loads of marble sculptures. There is too much here to have more than quick look at whatever catches the eye.

We continued on into another hallway.

This statue is of Roman Emperor Domitian from the 1st century AD. He was assassinated.

One thing we’ve noticed is that Roman Emperors or other figures are often depicted holding what we would call a baton in modern American English. A question on Quora has an answer that mostly focuses on Spanish use of these items but does mention that during the Roman Empire, consuls received “sticks” as symbols of power. Wikipedia indicates that this would have been an sceptrum eburneum (ivory scepter). However, a scepter is not a baton and the Roman Consul page on Wikipedia illustrates an actual scepter.

So, clearly, it is some symbol of power but beyond that, we don’t know any details.

Generally, the sculptures in this hallway were larger and further apart, quite unlike the previous area where they crammed in as many as they could.

This large sculpture is identified as the Nile as it depicts the embodiment of the Nile River:

This colossal statue of the Nile was found in 1513 in Campo Marzio where it was probably part of the decoration of the Iseo Campense, dedicated to the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis. The river is shown as a venerable old man stretched out on his side with a cornucopia of fruit in his left arm and ears of wheat in his right hand. Egypt is represented by the presence of a sphinx, on which the figure of the Nile supports himself, and by some exotic animals. The scene is enlivened by sixteen children who allude to the sixteen cubits of water by which the Nile rises for its annual flood. The base of the statue is decorated with a Nile landscape with pygmies, hippopotamus and crocodiles. The sculpture was probably inspired by a monumental statue of the Nile in black basalt, a masterpiece of Alexandrian Greek sculpture, which Pliny the Elder described as being within the Forum of Peace.

The statues in this section are all extremely well done and realistic, particularly the depiction of cloth.

This bust is of Pope Pius VII. He is responsible for constructing this hallway, the Braccio Nuovo (New Wing). A sign explains:

Braccio Nuovo

In 1816, Pope Pius VII approved the construction of a new wing for the Chiaramonti Museum to accommodate the abundance of ancient sculptures in the papal collections. In that year, works of art requisitioned during the Napoleonic period had been returned to the Vatican. These were recovered thanks to the mediation of Antonio Canova (1757-1822) and were redistributed within the galleries, along with the numerous sculptures acquired in the years 1803-1808.

Simultaneously, there was a need for a modern museum structure that would adapt to the displayed antiquities, rather than the other way around. The project had been personally advocated by Canova for nearly a decade.

The construction project was entrusted to architect Raffaele Stern (1774-1820), who designed the building and oversaw its construction until his death in December 1820. The work was then continued by Pasquale Belli (1752-1833), leading to the inauguration in February 1822. The building features a long, spacious gallery covered by a barrel vault, with ten skylights providing zenithal light, the same kind of illumination that Canova had already enhanced in the Gabinetti of the Cortile Ottagono. Upon completion, contemporaries recognized the Braccio Nuovo ofthe Museo Chiaramonti as a masterpiece of neoclassical purity in architecture.

The Commission of Fine Arts, which supervised the sculptural arrangement, was chaired by Canova himself and included Antonio D'Este among its members. While the former was attributed with the theoretical concept of the new museum, the latter is likely to have played an operational role in the arrangement, with the assistance of his son Alessandro.

It is known that Canova was particularly concerned about the display of his own works; the same attention can be perceived in the arrangement of the Braccio Nuovo, where ancient sculpture seems to interact with modern architecture inspired by antiquity, without one prevailing over the other. The evoked antiquity is that of grand Roman baths and temple buildings, with an abundance of columns in colored marbles often taken from monuments excavated in those decades. Within the 28 large niches, large statues follow one another; ancient busts are arranged in the intervals between the niches, with the marble bust of Pius VII, portrayed by Canova, originally placed high in the center of the hemicycle.

This statue is Augustus from Prima Porta. It depicts the OG Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, and the reason why we have the month of August and not Sextilis, the original name for the sixth month. It seems at some point the Roman Calendar was modified to add some additional months, resulting in the existing months shifting to accommodate two new months at the start of the year.

We reached a point where the route was closed and had to backtrack through the two busy hallways that we just walked through.

We ended up going outside into the Cortile della Pigna, the courtyard that we saw earlier from a window. This sphere, the Sphere Within a Sphere, is at the center of the courtyard. It was created by an Italian sculptor, Arnaldo Pomodoro. This sphere is actually one of many in this series of sculptures. The first was Sfera Grande, created for the Italian Pavilion at Expo ’67 in Montreal. We did not see this sphere on our recent trip to Montreal when we visited the Biosphere, the site of Expo ’67, as the Sfera Grande is currently in Pesaro, Italy.

The sphere is normally static. However, the tour guides will step into the roped off area and give it a push to get it moving. It seems to be pretty hard to get going but does seem to have some pretty good momentum once its moving.

This courtyard gets its name from this fountain, the Fontana della Pigna. This seems to be a former fountain as it just seems to be a sculpture now.

There are two lion sculptures by the pinecone. This is one of the pair. Together, they are the Lions of Nectanebo and are from Egypt. They were taken from Egypt during the Roman Empire.

After sitting on a bench for awhile, we continued on.

We followed the signs for an area that we hadn’t been to yet.

This area is the Cortile Ottagono (Octagonal Courtyard), within the Museo Pio Clementino. The museum’s name comes from the two popes responsible for its creation, Clement XIV and Pius VI.

This statue is the Apollo Belvedere. It was recently restored, as explained by a sign:

RESTORATION AS BALANCE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND PHILOLOGY

The statue was discovered in Rome in 1489, among the ruins of an ancient domus on the Viminal Hill, and was immediately acquired by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. When he was elected pope under the name of Julius II (1503-1513), he had the sculpture moved to the Vatican, where it is documented to have been present in the Belvedere since 1508. At the time the Apollo must have been intact, missing only the left hand and fingers of the right hand; between 1532 and 1533 it was restored by Giovannangelo Montorsoli, who completed the left arm, replaced the right forearm and integrated the top of the tree trunk on which the new arm rested.

The statue portrays the god Apollo having just shot an arrow with his bow, which he would originally have held in his left hand. It was made by a copyist workshop that, active in Rome in the first decades of the 2nd century A.D., replicated a bronze masterpiece made in Greece around 330 BC, probably by the Athenian Leochares, one of the most famous artists of the time, also known for working at the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the sumptuous tomb of the satrap of Caria Mausolo, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Serious structural issues emerged in December 2019, necessitating restoration involving the insertion of a carbon fibre rear support anchored to the plinth, a solution that had previously been adopted, no doubt by Antonio Canova, upon the return of the statue from Paris in 1816. The recent restoration has offered the opportunity to replace Montorsoli's left hand with a cast taken from the "hand of Baia", the fragment of a plaster copy made in Roman times from the original Greek statue.

The Apollo, much admired since its exhibition in Belvedere, owes its consecration to the inspired pages of Johann Joachim Winckelmann who considered it a sublime expression of Greek art, «the highest ideal of art among the ancient works that have been preserved to us so far».

There were a variety of different works in this area.

This is probably the head of a statue but it kind of has a resemblance to a mask!

There was quite a bit to see around the relatively small courtyard.

Beware, my armpits smell!

Someone’s about to get jabbed in the belly!

We ended up looking at everything on display before returning to where we started. We then continued on.

The next room we entered was the Hall of Animals. As the name suggests, it is filled with animal related art.

Any time there is a wolf feeding two twin boys, it is the story of the founding of Rome!

There were many sculptures in this small area! It wasn’t quite as busy as the courtyard we just came from.

We came upon a roped off area of the museum, the Galleria della Statue.

We continued on, seeing more animal sculptures.

We next entered an octagonal room, the Hall of the Muses.

The primary feature of this room, located at its center, is the Belvedere Torso. It is from 1 BC and is signed by its creator, Apollonios from Athens. It is believed to depict the Greek hero Ajax before committing suicide after losing a dispute with Odysseus over Achilles’ magic armor.

This next room is descriptively named the Round Hall. It is round.

The basin in the center of the room is described as having come from some public space within Rome.

The mosaics on the floor are from the 3rd century AD. They are not original to this location as this room was created in the late 18th century.

Various large statues line the circumference of this room.

This next room is the Greek Cross Hall. It is described as an entrance to the Pio Clementino Museum, though it is not how we entered this museum area.

There are two sarcophaguses in this room. One was for Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor who converted the empire to Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople, now Istanbul. The other was for one of his daughters, believed to be Constantia.

The room as seen from the opposite side.

This room, which we could not enter, is the Hall of the Chariot. The primary feature of this room is the biga (two horse chariot) sculpture in the center of the room. Unfortunately, not the best viewing angle here.

The next section that we walked through had a variety of funerary urns. At this point, it seems we have entered the Gregorian Etruscan Museum. Etruria was a pre-Roman Republic region of central Italy which included Rome.

This museum was created in the 19th century by Pope Gregory XVI, the same pope that created the Egyptian Museum that we visited upon arriving here at the Vatican Museums.

There were many varied artifacts here in this museum.

This view from the windows looks out over the northern tip on the Vatican. We had walked below the walls seen here in the morning when walking from the Metro station to the Vatican Museums entrance. Other than some sporting facilities below, there even seems to be a swimming pool!

This area is Rooms XI and XII, Hellenistic Age Urns.

This view seems to be to the east. If so, the road on the left is likely the Via Germanico.

This seems like the top of a sacrophagus.

This view is above a section of the Vatican wall which runs to the east and a bit to the south. The piazza on the left is the Piazza Risorgimento. It was partly redeveloped last year for the current Jubilee.

The arm of a bronze statue according to its sign.

We walked through a collection of glassware.

This stairway leads down to the Chiaramonti Museum, which we already visited earlier.

We continued walking through the Gregorian Etruscan Museum, ending up at the Upper Hemicycle.

This curved area is behind the Fontana della Pigna below.

We continued walking through this final area of the museum.

We then entered another of one of the museums. This area held many marble sculptures.

Judging from the ceiling art, which indicates Pope Leo XIII, this is Gallery of the Candelabra as it was renovated during his pontificate. It is part of the Pio Clementino Museum, which we were in earlier before ending up at the Gregorian Etruscan Museum.

There is quite a bit here!

That’s an interesting sculpture in the center…

We continued walking through this large gallery, looking at the sculptures as well as the ceiling above.

This sculpture is the Persian Warrior, the only sculpture that the Vatican Museums website identifies as a masterpiece in this gallery. This is described as a copy from the 2nd century of an older Greek statue depicting the victory by the Greeks over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

We finished walking through the gallery and continued on into the next museum.

This next gallery the Galleria degli Arazzi (Gallery of Tapestries), contains various large tapestries and links the northern and southern portions of the Vatican Museums.

The next area we entered was the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche (Gallery of Maps). This long room contains various huge maps depicting Italy at various points in history.

We continued on past the Gallery of Maps.

This is King Jan III Sobieski Sending Message of Victory to the Pope.

This room, in the southern part of the Vatican Museums, is the Sala della Immacolata Concezione (Room of the Immaculate Conception).

This window with a view to the north overlooks a courtyard which serves as a parking lot. This seems to be the southern half of the Cortile del Belvedere. The much more attractive Cortile della Pigna is the other half. According to Wikipedia, they were supposed to be one large courtyard but a building was built, seen here at the far end of the parking lot, which divided the two.

This room is the first of four here at the Vatican Museums painted by Raphael. Together, they are referred to as the Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms). This first room is the Sala di Costantino (Hall of Constantine). The room depicts events illustrating Constantine’s transition of the Roman Empire to Christianity. This room was not actually painted by Raphael as he had died before work could begin, however, it is based on his drawings.

The first of the frescos above, the The Vision of the Cross, shows the Mausoleum of Hadrian in the background. This mausoleum is also now known as the Castel Sant’Angelo, which we visited on our first day in Rome.

The second room is the Stanza di Eliodoro (Room of Heliodorus). This was the second of thsee rooms to be painted by Raphael. The focus of the art in this room is described as illustrating the efforts of Pope Julius II in ensuring the continued power of the Papal States during turbulent times.

The Room of Heliodorus is Raphael's second commission in the Vatican and the exceptional quality of the paintings, the splendid use of colour, the unsurpassed effects of light, as well as the artist's striking portraits make it indeed exceptional.

Some areas in the grotesques and arched vaulting are attributed to Luca Signorelli, Bramantino, Lorenzo Lotto and Cesare da Sesto. These are part of the first decorative plan commissioned by Julius II at the beginning of his papacy which was interrupted and then substituted by what we see today, due to the pope's admiration for Raphael's frescoes in the adjacent Room of the Signature.

The artist worked in this Room between 1511 and 1514, ultimately substituting the grotesques at the centre of the ceiling with four episodes from the Old Testament. The Pact between God and Noah (Gen. 7, 1, ff.) is located above Leo the Great and Attila. Continuing clockwise are the Sacrifice of Isaac (Gen. 22, 1-14), Moses before the Burning Bush (Es. 3, 1-7) and Jacob's Ladder (Gen. 28, 10-22).

The small panels conceived by Raphael were repainted by Carlo Maratta in the early 18th century.

The episodes in the large frescoes illustrate the miraculous protection granted by God to the Church and his people, from the Old Testament to the time of the apostles, up to the Early Christian and Medieval periods. The themes were chosen to depict the political agenda of Julius Il, intent on liberating Italy from French occupation, and thus restoring the pope's temporal power.

The Expulsion of Heliodorus, from which the room takes its name, illustrates the biblical episode of Heliodorus, Chancellor for King Seleucus of Syria, sent to steal the treasure from the Temple of Jerusalem (II Macchabes, 3, 21-28). In answer to the prayer of the High Priest Onias, God sent an horseman and two youths to seize Heliodorus and expel him from the temple. The reigning pope witnesses the scene from his mobile throne, born on the shoulders of his bearers. The one at the left has the features of Marcantonio Raimondi, Raphael's engraver and friend, whereas the bearer on the right resembles the artist himself.

St. Peter delivered from Prison (above the window facing the Belvedere Courtyard) depicts the Prince of the apostles and the first pope, as he was miraculously freed from prison by an angel while his guards lay sleeping (Acts 12, 5-12). The scene refers to Julius II who, before being elected pope, was the titular cardinal of the Church of St. Peter in Chains. As Raphael creates a celebration of light, he compares the divine illumination of the angel with that of dawn, of the moon, of the flares and their reflection on armour, and even natural light through the window, creating an extraordinary effect.

The Mass of Bolsena (above the other window) represents an event at Bolsena, near Orvieto, in 1263. During the Mass celebrated by Peter of Prague, the blood of Christ pours forth from the Host at the moment of consecration, staining the white linen cloth. Thus, the doubts of the celebrant regarding transubstantiation (the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Eucharist) were dispelled. The miracle gave rise to the Feast of Corpus Christi and to the construction of the Cathedral of Orvieto, where the cloth is conserved. Julius Il is present at the miracle, kneeling to the right of the altar together with Cardinals Leonardo Grosso della Rovere, Raffaele Riario, Tommaso Riario and Agostino Spinola, their relatives and entourage.

The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila is the last fresco painted in this room and was finished after the death of Julius Il and during the papacy of his successor. Leo X appears twice in the same scene, portrayed as Pope Leo the Great and as cardinal. According to legend, the miraculous appearance of St. Peter and St. Paul armed with swords during the meeting of Pope Leo the Great with Attila (452 A.D.) caused the King of the Huns to renounce his invasion of Italy and his march on Rome. Raphael set the scene at the gates of Rome, identified by the Colosseum, an aqueduct, an obelisk and other buildings, even though the historic episode actually occurred in the north of Italy, near Mantua.

The frescoes of the walls and the ceiling vault of the Room of Heliodorus have been restored thanks to the generosity of Florence B. D'Urso of the New York Chapter of the "Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums" (2002-2012).

The frescos in these rooms are painted relatively high up on the walls of the rooms as well as the ceilings. There are decorations painted lower though. There, a caryatid points at a bird. Presumably, this is a European species. Nothing really seems like a good match for it though.

The third room is the Stanza della Segnatura (Room of the Signatura). This room is described as containing Raphael’s most famous frescos. The name of the room comes from the Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae, which met here. This entity seems to be referred to in English as the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and is the highest court in the Catholic Church. The pope is the head of this court as the Vatican is essentially an absolute monarchy so the pope has no limits to his power.

The Room of the Segnatura contains Raphael's most famous works, which represent his debut in the Vatican and mark the beginning of the High Renaissance. The frescoes symbolize a summary of the knowledge of his time.

The room takes its name from the highest court of the Holy See, the Segnatura Gratiae et lustitiae, where the Pope used to officiate assemblies during the mid 16th century. Originally, Pope Julius II (1503-1513) used the room as his private studio and library: the iconographic scheme of the frescoes, painted between 1508 and 1511, reflects this use. The chiaroscuro works on the lower part were completely remade by Perin del Vaga, a scholar of Raphael, during the papacy of Paul III (1534-1549). The ceiling is divided in four parts dedicated to the different branches of knowledge, represented as allegorical female figures: the Poetry (above the window, toward the Belvedere Courtyard), and proceeding clockwise, the Philosophy, the Justice and the Theology.

The same concepts are repeated and examined in the large paintings on the walls below. Philosophy corresponds to the most famous work of Raphael, the School of Athens. Within an impressive space of Renaissance architecture, which is based on Bramante's project for the renewal of the Early Christian Basilica of St. Peter, we see the most famous philosophers of antiquity. Some of them are easily recognizable: in the center of the composition, Plato is pointing to heaven, though in his other hand he is carrying his book Timaeus; near him stands Aristotle with the Etica in his left hand, while the other hand is parallel to the ground. To the left of the viewer, Socrates, dressed in dark green, is arguing with Alcibiades; Phytagoras is in the foreground with a book, teaching Diatessaron; and Diogenes is laying on the stairs. On the right side of the composition Euclides is teaching geometry to his students, Zoroaster with the Celestial Globe and Tolomeo with the Earth Globe; at the far end of the scene, the figure with a black bonnet is Raphael himself.

The fresco of the so-called Dispute over the Blessed Sacrament, or more correctly the Triumph of the Church, on the opposite wall, relates to the Theology. At the sides of the Trinity (with God the Father, the Christ between the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, and the Holy Spirit forming an axis in the center), the Triumphant Church is portrayed with patriarchs and prophets from the Old Testament alternating with apostles and martyrs, seated in a semicircle on the clouds. Looking from left to right, the personages portrayed are: St. Peter, Adam, St. John the Evangelist, David, St. Stephen, Jeremy, Judas Maccabeo, St. Lawrence, Moses, St. James Major, Abraham, St. Paul. The Militant Church is arranged on the Earth, to the sides of the altar where the ostensory is displayed with the Holy Sacrament. The four Fathers of the Latin Church are seated on the marble thrones near the altar: St. Gregory the Great (with Julius Il's features), St. Jerome, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. At the right side of the scene, a pope with golden cloak can be recognized as Sixtus IV, the uncle of Julius Il; Dante Alighieri stands behind him and, on the far left, is Beato Angelico.

Parnassus is above the window and corresponds to the Poetry. Apollo, seated in the center of the composition, plays the lyre and is surrounded by Muses, patrons of the arts, as well as by the ancient and modern poets. One can recognize the blind Homer, standing between Dante and Virgil, and below the poet Sappho.

Three Cardinal Virtues (Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance) and Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity), related to Justice, are represented in the lunette; on either side of the window, the scenes depicted are: Emperor Justinian receiving the Pandects (on the left) and Pope Gregory IX receiving the Decretals (on the right). The pope has the features of Julius II, whereas the cardinals at his sides are Giovanni de' Medici and Alessandro Farnese, the future popes Leo X (1513-1521) and Paul III.

The School of Athens and the Parnassus have been restored thanks to the generosity of Henry J. e Catherine Gaisman, New York, of the "Patrons of Arts in the Vatican Museums" (1995-1996, 1996-1997). The Dispute over the Blessed Sacrament and the ceiling have been restored thanks to the generosity of Florence B. D'Urso, New York, of the "Patrons of Arts in the Vatican Museums" (1997-1998, 1998-1999), in devotion to Blessed John Paul Il and in memory of her brother, Father Francis Perkosky.

Unfortunately, we failed to take a straight on photo of The School of Athens, which is often cited as one of Raphael’s greatest works. This room was particularly busy when we first arrived so after taking some photos we waited for the tour groups to move on before taking more. So, we just missed taking that one photograph!

We did buy a postcard of the scene though.

This view shows how busy the room was as well as the informational sign in the middle of the room. Generally, the rooms were only extremely busy when the tour groups were moving through.

The last of the Raphael Rooms is the Room of the Fire in the Borgo. Like the previous room, this room was also used as a meeting place for the Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae. The name of this room comes from one of the frescoes which depicts Pope Leo IV extinguishing a fire in the Borgo.

The Raphael Rooms, mainly decorated during the papacy of Julius II (1503-1513) and of Leo X (1513-1521), constitute part of the pontifical apartment used by their successors until the reign of Greg (1572-1585). They are located on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace, in the wing built under Nicholas V.in the mid 15th century. This room was frescoed in two distinct phases: the ceiling was commissioned by Jullus Il from Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino, in 1508; whereas the walls were frescoed by Raphael and his students for Pope Leo X between 1514 and 1517.

On the lower part of the walls, there are six seated figures representing emperors and sovereign protectors of the Church.

In the four tondos of the ceiling Perugino depicted the

Holy Trinity over the entrance door from the Borgia Tower and, proceeding clockwise, The Creator

Enthroned among Angels and Cherubim, Christ the Judge, Christ Tempted by the Devil and Christ between Mercy and Justice.

The room was used during the papacy of Leo X as the everyday dining room with adjacent kitchens.

The frescoes, alluding to Leo's politics, describe episodes in the lives of two predecessors of the same name: Leo III (795-816) and Leo IV (847-855), as narrated in the Liber Pontificalis. According to the Liber Pontificalis, the Fire in the Borgo, which gave its name to this room, broke out during the year 847 in the district next to the Basilica of St. Peters. Leo IV, giving the solemn blessing from the Loggia of the Benedictions, miraculously extinguished the flames, thus saving the church and the people.

The Coronation of Charlemagne took place in St. Peters on Christmas night in the year 800, establishing the Holy Roman Empire. Since Leo III has the features of Leo X and Charlemagne has those of Francis I, the fresco probably refers to the pact signed by the Church and France in 1515.

The Oath of Leo III illustrates an event which took place the day before the coronation of Charlemagne. The pope is defending himself against slander by the nephews of his predecessor Adrian I, reaffirming the principle that the Vicar of Christ is responsible only to God for his actions.

In the Battle of Ostia (849) the troops of Leo IV met the Saracen hordes in combat. Here the miraculous victory of the papal army is celebrated and allusion is made to Leo X's crusade against the infidels. In all the historical episodes frescoed here, the pope has the features of the reigning pope, Leo X.

The Fire in the Borgo and the Battle of Ostia have been restored thanks to the generosity of the California Chapter and Texas Chapter respectively of the "Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums" (1985-1986, 1990-1991).

We continued on past the Raphael Rooms and into the Chapel of Urban VIII, a small room from the 17th century.

Next, we entered a set of rooms described as the Borgia Apartment. These rooms are named after Pope Alexander VI, a Spaniard named Rodrigo de Borja y Doms (Borgia in Italian).

This room is The Room of the Sibyls. The term sibyl comes from Greece and means a female prophet or oracle. In Latin, it meant simply a female prophet. Thus, this is the room of female prophets, specifically from the Old Testament. They are depicted on the ceiling.

This next room is the Room of the Creed. This is a depiction of what seems to be referred to as the Apostles’ Creed. The explanation provided by the Vatican Museums website explains that the ceiling depicts the twelve phrases of the creed, each linked with an apostle and prophet.

This room is the Room of the Liberal Arts. The ceiling here depicts the areas of knowledge, presumably during the 15th century when this room was created: Grammar, Dialectic, Rhetoric, Geometry, Arithmetic, Music, and Astronomy.

This room is the Room of the Saints. It depicts scenes of seven saints. The scenes were painted by Pinturicchio, an Italian painter who is not as famous as some other Italian artists, possibly because he was not depicted as a mutant turtle who is trained in the martial arts. According to his Wikipedia article, he painted scenes in the Sistine Chapel before they were destroyed for Michelangelo’s work there.

This room is the Room of Mysteries and refers to the Mysteries of Faith. The Vatican Museums website explains this as events around the Virgin Mary and Christ’s life. This room was also created by Pinturicchio.

The final room in the Borgia Apartment is the Room of Pontiffs. It was a larger room used for events.

These rooms also contain various works of modern art.

Based on the ceiling, this seems like Room 8 of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, containing works by Franco Gentilini and Renato Guttuso.

This piece by Franco Gentilini is titled Piazza San Pietro (Saint Peter’s Square). It was created in the 1940s.

The ceiling of this room looks like Room 10 of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, containing works by Angelo Biancini.

Things get a little murky here. We don’t really know where we were for these rooms other than it being something of a spur off of the main route.

We came across this view of a small paved courtyard.

We could look down into this room.

A bit of Internet sleuthing reveals that this work depicts the meeting of Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople. This seems to have been a historic meeting as the Eastern Orthodox Church split from the Catholic Church in 1054.

This sculpture is Madonna by Lucio Fontana. It is located in Room 14 of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Matisse Room.

The most well known place within the Vatican Museums is almost certainly the Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel) with its huge frescos by Michelangelo. However, as photography is not permitted in this room, it ends up being just a jump in the timeline of our photographs from the day. We did buy two postcards depicting the chapel though.

Other than the frescos which cover nearly every surface of this room, the Sistine Chapel is particularly special in that it is where the Conclave, the process of electing a new pope, takes place.

This was by far the busiest single place in the Vatican Museums. The chapel room is pretty large but it was crammed full of people. There is bench seating along the sides of the room with the lower walls protected by clear acrylic panels. The middle of the room is for people who are standing. Vatican staff keep the flow of people moving along both sides of the room so that no one gets stuck. We did manage to get a seat when we saw someone leaving the bench on one side of the room.

After leaving the Sistine Chapel, we passed by these pontifical vestments from the 16th or 17th century¹. Unfortunately we don’t know what room we were in.

This room is the Chapel of St. Peter Martyr.

This is the Room of Tributes in the Christian Museum.

The two above works are definitely in the Hall of Tributes. The crystal oval is one of three medallions by Valerio Belli.

Unfortunately, the above photos now all belong to the collection of Vatican Museum photos on the Internet that don’t have any useful information on what they depict. There was really simply too much to see and possibly photograph! Regretfully, we didn’t at least photograph signs that would indicate exactly where we were within the museums.

This set of photos all seem to be from a special exhibition next to the gift shop dedicated to Catholic Jubilees.

This set of photos appears to be from the Clementine Rooms in the Profane Museum. In this context, profane refers to things that are secular, not not religious.

A few last unidentified pieces…

We ended up outside near where we started our visit.

The weather didn’t look as good as it was before with an overcast sky and some dark clouds.

We walked around the outdoor area a bit. It was actually above grade, likely a rooftop of a building. To the southwest, we could see a grassy garden area below.

We saw this big building to the northwest and realized we hadn’t been there yet. By now, it was 3:40pm. What do we do?

These three sculptures, at the Pinacoteca (Art Gallery), are casts of Michelangelo’s three Pietà sculptures. Only the first one was finished.

We started to walk through at a relatively fast pace as it was starting to get late.

Room VIII, 16th Century, held a variety of tapestries.

There were many paintings to look at and not enough time to look at any in detail. We had to keep on going!

This sculpture was at the center of Room XII, 17th Century. It is a clay and straw model used by Bernini in the process of designing the bronze reliquary to contain Saint Peter’s Chair, located in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

This painting by Pietro Berrettini da Cortona depicts David and the Lion. David is seen saving a lamb from the lion.

These four sculptures in Room XIII, 17th Century are additional Bernini models, similar to the one that we just saw in Room XII.

This is a painting by Thomas Lawrence of the future George IV of England. It seems interesting to have a portrait of a future King of England here in the Vatican given the history of the Church of England.

This large painting by Wenzel Peter depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The scene depicts Adam and Eve along with over two hundred animals!

Continuing on with the animal theme, we end our visit to the Pinacoteca with some additional animal paintings.

We next walked into the Pius-Christian Museum. We saw this mosaic showing what seems like a parrot along with a smaller bird.

We again walked quickly though this museum. It is essentially one huge room with a variety of sculpted items.

A good shepherd carries his sheep! This sculpture is described as the Statuette of the Good Shepherd. The Vatican Museums Catalog indicates that it was part of a sarcophagus and dates back to the 3rd or 4th century but was reworked in the 18th century.

This Good Shepherd, identified as the Statuette of a “Kriophoros” Shepherd, was in the background of the previous photograph. It is described as a Trapezophoron, which is apparently a sculpture that holds up a table, basically a table leg. Like the previous Good Shepherd, it has been reworked.

Fragments of a large mosaic from the Baths of Caracalla were displayed on the floor below. Quite a bit has been lost. What we see here is described as “heavily restored” on a sign:

These heavily restored mosaics formed the floors of the public libraries in the exedrae on the east and west sides of the baths of Caracalla.

They are divided into square panels with busts and rectangular panels with full length figures who represent athletes, with their hair very often gathered into a cirrus, the characteristic knot at the nape of the neck which betokened a professional athlete.

The arms of the wrestlers are protected by cesti made of leather or cloth with metal fittings. The vigorous musculature of their bodies and the powerful lines of their features are created by a rich combination of coloured tesserae. 

The judges of the competitions can also be seen, wearing togas. Although the baths complex was built at the beginning of the 3rd century A.D., these mosaics probably date from restoration work undertaken at the beginning of the 4th century A.D.

We had planned to visit the ruins of this large bathing complex but ultimately did not have the time to do so on this trip. Also, this mosaic is considered to be part of the Gregoriano Profano Museum (Gregorian Profane Museum), which is different from the regular Profane Museum.

The artifact on the left with Greek text is the Inscription of Abercius. It is described as the earliest known Christian inscription. The text from the 3rd century is an epitaph of Abercius, the likely Bishop of Hieropolis, a town in what is now the Asian part of Turkey.

This sarcophagus depicts Orpheus, a figure from Greek mythology known for his musical abilities.

A sign explains the significance of this sarcophagus:

Sarcophagus of Fyrmus with Orpheus and a fisherman

The fragmented front of the sarcophagus, discovered during the course of 19th century excavations and later pieced together in gesso, carries at the top a mutilated epitaph of a deceased man named Fyrmus, who is affectionately described as a «sweet holy soul». Below, partly preserved, is the figure of a fisherman (with a fish on his line) and a representation of the mythical lyre player, Orpheus. Before biblical subjects made their appearance, early Christians had to adapt the traditional figurative heritage to new spiritual needs: some more 'neutral' subjects at the religious level were those of the fisherman and the shepherd which could then assume a new symbolic meaning in the light of New Testament writings.

The mythology around Orpheus, traditionally held to be the founder of a religion which took its name - 'orphism' - from him, included the moving episode - with clear funerary significance - from his descent into the underworld in the vain attempt to bring his dead wife, Eurydice, back to life. Contextually, in Christian terms, the Fathers of the Church accepted and developed the metaphor of the 'theologian poet' Orpheus into a figure for Christ himself, who by means of the salvific seduction of his song/words tamed the ferocious and redeemed souls.

In the case of Fyrmus it appears impossible to be sure to which religion the deceased adhered: the presence of the myth of Orpheus among the decoration in Roman cemeteries, however, leaves no doubt as to its early spreading into Christian sepulchral art.

Why is Orpheus significant to us?

Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland is home to a mostly nude bronze statue of Orpheus. He seems like an odd figure to have at a former military installation, one that is most famous for the battle that took place here during the War of 1812 where the British failed to take Baltimore after burning down Washington, DC. During this battle, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that went on to become The Star-Spangled Banner, the US National Anthem. Orpheus was chosen as the subject of this statue to commemorate this event.

We have been to Fort McHenry many times. This statue is closer to the entrance road than the fort itself.

We continued walking through this museum.

The last thing we photographed in this museum was this panel of ceiling tiles. They are believed to be from the 1st or 2nd century and were used as flooring in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, which we visited two days ago.

The next museum that we entered is the Ethnological Museum Anima Mundi (Soul of the World). It houses artifacts from non-Western cultures. It sounds like the source of these items is from donations to Catholic missionaries around the world.

It is quite a demonstration of the global reach of the Catholic Church.

We ended up outside in a passageway facing the Basilica di San Pietro. We realized that we were one level below where we were earlier just prior to entering the Pinacoteca.

There is a small postal museum around this area which has examples of many of the stamps issued by the Vatican over the years.

We ended up back where we started at the main floor of the museums. After using the facilities and taking a bit of a break, we headed downstairs by this spiral mix of ramp and staircase.

The view looking up from the bottom.

It was 5:30pm when we finally walked out of the Vatican Museums. The entrance area was now mostly deserted.

Basilica di San Pietro

We were ready for dinner as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast at the W. But, we decided to walk over to the one major place that we haven’t visited yet, the Basilica di San Pietro (Saint Peter’s Basilica).

Saint Peter’s Basilica is free to enter, though there are various areas that can be only be visited with a paid ticket. We weren’t sure where the actual entrance was but started walking over via the path that we almost took this morning before realizing we were going the wrong way for the Vatican Museums.

These eagles atop columns were on the north side near the Piazza San Pietro. This turned out to be the right way to go as we encountered a huge security checkpoint. Luckily, it was empty. We weren’t sure if there was a separate place to go for visitors with tickets vs. visitors like us but there was not, at least, not at the time when it wasn’t busy at all.

After security, we walked into the main central section of the Piazza San Pietro. Although we visited this piazza on our first day in Rome, we did not enter here as we had not come through the security checkpoint.

The security checkpoint is actually in this curved colonnade which surrounds the northern side of the piazza. The southern end of the piazza has a nearly identical structure, though we don’t know what’s contained within it.

This obelisk is referred to as the Obelisco Vaticano (Vatican Obelisk). It is of Egyptian origin and was moved to Rome in the 1st century. It was then moved here in the 16th century. It is described as the only ancient obelisk in Rome that has never fallen.

There are many statues atop the facade of Saint Peter’s Basilica as well as the two wings on either side that extend to the colonnades on the northern and southern sides of the piazza.

There were many chairs set up in front of the basilica. We have seen on TV that at night, many people have been coming here to pray for Pope Francis as he is currently hospitalized. His condition seems to be improving but his recovery is not certain.

We continued on to approach the entrance to the Basilica di San Pietro.

The view from the basilica looking out at the piazza to the east.

Lets go inside!

The text reads, Pope John XXIII, October 11, 1962. This date refers to the Second Vatican Council, which was opened by Pope John XXIII. This was the 21st ecumenical council and the second to take place here at the Vatican. This appears to be essentially a convention of Catholic bishops to discuss and decide on important church matters.

Always look up!

An unofficial Saint Peter’s Basilica site indicates that the dimensions of the largest, presumably Catholic, churches in the world are recorded in brass text on the floor here in the basilica². Unfortunately that’s as far as the explanation goes.

Upon entering the nave of the basilica, we immediately realized just how huge this building was. It felt like we could fit all the churches we’ve ever been to inside and still have room to spare! It probably isn’t quite that big but it certainly feels that way!

We started to explore the interior of this vast basilica. Impressive would be an understatement when describing what we saw here. Some areas of the basilica weren’t accessible without paid tickets but we could walk through the majority of this main floor.

This large bronze structure in the vast interior of the basilica is Saint Peter’s Baldachin, created by Bernini in the 17th century. The basilica’s primary altar is located below this this baldachin.

The second of the basilica’s altars, seen here, is is referred to as the Chair of Saint Peter. It seems that technically, this is a reliquary that stores the actual wooden chair used by Saint Peter when he was the Bishop of Rome. Earlier, while in the Vatican Museums, we saw the models used in the process of creating the sculptures at the base of this altar.

We recorded a short video clip from near the Chair of Saint Peter, mainly just to capture the sounds of the basilica.

The structure seen here in front of the baldachin is the Confessio (Confession). It provides visibility of as well as access to the Tomb of Saint Peter. Below the stairs is the Niche of the Pallia and behind that is the tomb. There are various sources that go into detail about this area of the basilica. The Archdiocese of Baltimore in particular has a useful page, Mass at the Tomb of Saint Peter, Apostle.

Pallia seem to be somewhat tie-like bands made of wool worn around the neck by the pope and metropolitan archbishops. They are placed on the niche prior to be given out to a new archbishop that they may be blessed by Saint Peter. This space below, including the niche and tomb, seems to be part of the Vatican Grottoes.

The Vatican Necropolis is below the grottoes. This area, which was only discovered in the 20th century, can be visited on official guided tours. It would likely be an interesting place to visit if we return to Rome in the future.

The view from the centerline of the basilica, starting from the ceiling and down to the baldachin and Chair of Saint Peter.

This may just be a decorative vent?

This is the tomb of Pope Clement XIII.

After walking around the basilica a bit more, we started to head out at around 6:30pm.

These brass listings of the world’s largest churches are along the centerline of the nave. Other than the Vatican Temple one we noticed on our way in, we didn’t notice the rest until we were on the way out. The bottom text here lists the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. This is the largest Catholic church in North America. We’ve never visited it, perhaps we should go take a look sometime.

One last look at the interior of the basilica before heading out.

It was completely dark when we walked outside.

We passed by two Swiss Guards who were guarding a passageway. Their uniforms are very colorful!

We weren’t really sure if the way we entered, on the north side of the basilica as well as piazza, could be used as an exit. It seemed like it could not though so we started walking via the south side.

We were extremely surprised to see this sculpture, Angels Unawares, as we saw the same exact sculpture a few months ago at Saint Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal! We may have known this at the time but the original sculpture is the one we just saw here. It was unveiled by Pope Francis for the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees in 2019.

There are two large fountains in the piazza, this one at the south and the one we saw earlier at the north.

The view of Saint Peter’s Basilica from the middle of the piazza by the Vatican Obelisk.

And, the view to the north showing the other fountain as well as the northern colonnade.

A slightly offset view from the east showing the Vatican Obelisk and Saint Peter’s Basilica in the background.

We ended up having to exit on the south side of the piazza via the same place that we entered on our first day here in Rome. From here, we walked to the north, passing by the Via della Conciliazione (Road of the Conciliation) to the east.

One final look at the Vatican before heading to the north for dinner.

Evening

We decided to have dinner at Il Bar Sotto Il Mare, a seafood restaurant a few blocks away to the northwest. We got there just before 8pm, a late dinner for us but still relatively early for the Romans!

We started out with a small starter with some shrimp and shellfish. It all seemed pretty fresh.

We also got the risotto which had a similar selection of seafood from the starter plate that we ordered.

We also got vermicelli. Interestingly, Wikipedia describes this kind of noodle as different in Italy compared to English speaking regions. In Italy, it is thicker than spaghetti while in English speaking locations, it is thinner. This is probably our first time ordering Western vermicelli anywhere. The same term is used to describe various types of noodle used in Asian cuisine, all of which are thinner than Spaghetti and very different from pasta noodles.

After dinner, on our way to the Ottaviano Metro station, we stopped at GED, a gelateria near the station. We got passion fruit, crunchy cappuccino, and tiramisu. As usual, it was very good!

We were a bit surprised to come upon this tile mosaic in the Metro station by a Japanese artist, Shu Takahashi. The biography on his website indicates that he moved to Italy to study and lived there for 41 years before returning to Japan. An Italian Ministry of Culture webpage, which only seems to be accessible from within Italy or when using a VPN to look like you’re in Italy, indicates that this work is part of Arte Metro Roma, a program started in 1996 to add art to stations on Metro lines A and B.

Upon our return to our room at the W, we noticed a nice handwritten note from Noemi, one of the hotel’s front desk agents, as well as a notebook and pouch. These sorts of small gestures are always appreciated!