Rome

13 September 2007 – Thursday (Giovedi) – DAY 12 - Rome

First full day in Rome and we were gonna be busy! The morning was all about the St. Peter’s, the Vatican and museums, and another part of the trip I’d been especially looking forward to — the Sistine Chapel.

Vatican City

In 1929, Mussolini and the Pope made the Vatican its own state, with its own currency (coins only).

St. Peter’s Basilica - details

Bernini created the “Baldacchino” over the high altar of St. Peter’s (1624-33) in bronze and gold; as well as the design for St. Peter’s square.

Michelangelo designed the great Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in 1588, in 22 months.

Church of St. Peter in chains (vincoli = chains); 2 separate chains that became one … “miracle of the chains.” The chains were from when St. Peter was jailed in Rome and in Jerusalem

Moses sculptured by Michelangelo; took three years

Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica

Though St. Peter’s basilica is not the Pope's official seat (Saint John Lateran is), it is most certainly his principal church, as most Papal ceremonies take place at St. Peter's due to its size, proximity to the Papal residence and location within the Vatican City walls. The basilica also holds a relic of the Cathedra Petri (the chair of Peter) which is, according to Catholic tradition, the throne of the apostle Peter when he supposedly led the Roman church, but which is no longer used as the Papal cathedra. It is believed that a piece of this cathedra, is contained within the altarpiece, designed by Bernini.

Cathedra Petri (the chair of Peter) above the altar

Notes about St. Peter

St. Peter’s rises over the pagan cemetery that flanked Nero’s Circus. (The Circus is where the Christians were persecuted; animals fought animals to the death, as did gladiators. The Circus was an oval shaped stadium … it’s what comes to mind when thinking of the chariot races in the movie Ben Hur.) Here, around 67 AD, during the persecution of Christians launched by Nero, the apostle Peter was crucified during a spectacle that included battles between slaves, gladiators and wild beasts. Christians took Peter’s body and buried it in a cemetery near the Circus. The remains of that cemetery can still be seen beneath the Basilica, where excavations between 1939 and 1950 unearthed both the tomb and relics of St Peter.

A small chapel was built over the tomb by the Pope who succeeded St. Peter, and it immediately became a place of pilgrimage and worship by Christians, in spite of the risk of horrible persecutions. But the persecutions ended under Emperor Constantine, and under his reign Christianity was officially recognized in 313 AD. In 324 AD Constantine built the lavish basilica over the entire cemetery and part of the circus. Over the following years, it was embellished with a portico, a bell tower, and later a portico that was used for papal blessings.

The glorious basilica — where 23 emperors had been crowned, that welcomed pilgrims from all over the world, that had celebrated the first Holy Year in 1300, described by Dante and immortalized by Giotto’s paintings — began to show the ravages of 12 centuries. In the 16^th century, the basilica was at risk and was reluctantly demolished, and the even greater basilica that exists today was erected on the same site. In 1505, Pop Julius II laid the first stone of the new basilica and construction continued for the next 120 years. The greatest artists of the time worked on it — Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Fontana, Della Porta, Bernini, Maderno and others.

La Pieta’

Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of Mary holding the body of Jesus in her lap after the Crucifixion is located in the first chapel on the right as you enter the basilica. One of the world’s most magnificent sculptures was created from a single slab of marble in less than two years. It’s been in the basilica since the 18^th century. The statue was commissioned in 1499, and it is the only piece that Michelangelo signed. He was only 23 years old, and this was one of his first sculptures. I first saw this years ago when it was on tour in NYC. The experience added to my growing desire to visit Italy and see more of these masterpieces for myself.

The Holy door or Jubilee Door

Timeline note

1500s – The first excavation period. Calvin and Luther started to contest the rules of Pope and the country moved from the Renaissance to what was called the counter-reformation.

The Pope started to cover nude statues with fig leaves. (Note the information about the Last Judgement by Michelangelo, in the Sistine Chapel, painted some 25 years after the Chapel ceiling.)

Sistine Chapel

This was one of the most emotional parts of the trip for me. My husband had to tell me that my mouth was open. I don’t know if this is usual, but there weren’t crowds of people in the Chapel when we visited, so it was easy to move around as I wanted. I stood, looking up, tears in my eyes. The incredible talent of this man who created some of the most magnificent art the world has seen. And this art, that I have seen and studied for so many years, I was at last seeing for myself. It was almost too much for me to believe.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling (from Wikipedia)

About the Sistine Chapel

Many have seen the movie, “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” about Michelangelo and the painting of the Chapel. Most of this was a Hollywood story … Michelangelo never had an affair with a woman (he was believed to be homosexual) and he never painted on his back. Michelangelo was commissioned in 1508 by Pope Julius II to repaint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, after removing him from working on the Pope’s tomb. Michelangelo tried to turn down the commission, because he considered himself a sculptor and not a painter. But the pope was insistent. Despite his initial reluctance, Michelangelo far exceeded the original order of 12 painted figures on the 44 x 128 foot ceiling. When he finished the painting four years later, he had painted over 300 figures.

The Last Judgement

Some 25 years later, between 1536 and 1541, Michelangelo painted a huge composition on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, called the Last Judgement. Religion changed during these 25 years, and with the Reformation of the Church, the attitude of the imagery in the Last Judgement was more severe than that depicted on the ceiling.

Michelangelo’s works sometimes caused strong criticisms as well as great praise. What the Last Judgement depicted was God putting into motion the separation of heaven and hell … good and evil … the saved and the damned. The saved are shown ascending on the left side of the painting and the damned descending on the right side into hell. Michelangelo portrayed the figures nude, but as the cultural climate became more conservative, prudish draperies were added by another artist a decade later. Even before its official unveiling, the Judgment became the target of violent criticisms. Biagio da Cesena, the Vatican's master of Ceremonies at the time, said that "it was mostly disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have been depicted all those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamefully," and that it was "no work for a papal chapel but rather for the public baths and taverns." Michelangelo's revenge was to paint Biagio in hell (in the figure of Minos), with a great serpent curled around his legs, among a heap of devils.

Figure of Minos in the Last Judgement (from the Art History Web site)

Others accused Michelangelo of heresy. One official of the church even called for the fresco's destruction, and a long statement of charges was drawn up against Michelangelo. But the nudity of the figures didn't bother Pope Paul III, or his successor, Julius III. It was not until January 1564, which was about a month before Michelangelo's death, that the assembly of the Council of Trent took the decision to "amend" the fresco by adding draped cloth around the offending parts.

Vatican guards

Trevi Fountain

Fountain is part of a palace, which is now a museum. Scene is Neptune in a seashell chariot.

Legend says throw a coin with the right hand over the left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain means you will return. I did, so maybe I will.

Pantheon – 200 AD

The Pantheon is a church that represents all religions, and is 1900 years old.

The open dome is all poured stone. Walls about 19 feet thick over doors, reduces to 4.5 feet thick at the dome. The opening is 27 feet wide; some holes drilled in floor for drainage.

Kings are buried here; Raphael is buried here

Basilica of St. John Lateran

Dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, the Basilica of St. John Lateran (Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano) is the first among the four major basilicas of Rome. It is also the cathedral of the bishop of Rome, the Pope. Built by Constantine the Great in the 4th century, San Giovanni in Laterano was the first church to be built in Rome. It contains several important relics, a lovely 13th-century cloister and an ancient baptistery (San Giovanni in Fonte).

St. John Lateran (San Giovanni Laterano) façade

St. John Lateran (San Giovanni Laterano) ceiling in nave

St. John Lateran (San Giovanni Laterano) – Jubilee door

St. John Lateran (San Giovanni Laterano)

14 September 2007 – Friday (Venerdi) – DAY 13 – Rome

Arch of Constantine

This huge arch, with three barrel-vaulted passageways, was erected to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 (another one of those dates).

Arch of Constantine next to the Colosseum

Colosseum

Castle Sant’Angelo

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering round building in Rome. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building spent over a thousand years as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.