Michelangelo

If I could use one word to sum up my entire Italy experience, it would be Michelangelo. They are literally crazy about him in Italy. Absolutely obsessed. After I saw some of his work, I began understand why. Monday we toured the Vatican, and my view of art and specifically Michelangelo’s art was changed forever.
We started our day with a tour of the Vatican. The Vatican is located in the very heart of the city of Rome and is recognized as its own independent country, so that no one nation (such as Italy) can claim the control of the pope and therefore the Catholic Church. The Vatican is completely walled in, and I loved walking around Rome and coming across the imposing wall of another country- it gave me the temporary illusion of living in Medieval Europe. Roberta met us at the Vatican and gave us a whirlwind tour to beat all whirlwind tours, which is rather unfortunate as I would have liked to have spent a whole day in the Vatican. In spite of this, we did get to see several really cool art works. The Vatican has basically been transformed into the sacred art treasury of the world, in part because of its frescoes painted by Michelangelo and Raphael and in part because of sacred art brought there from all over the world. We saw the Laocoon Group, a famous statue of the Baroque era. There was a hall of maps and a hall of tapestries. One of my very favorite parts was the frescoes by Raphael. His famous School of Athens is in a room behind the Sistine Chapel and honestly I LOVED it. I really did. I have seen so many poor imitations of it in art history books and in classroom settings, but honestly a picture on a slide show does not come close to the real thing. For the first time, I understood the value of actually looking at a work in person. It’s like the difference between buying Kroger peanut butter and buying Jiff- obviously, one is far superior to the other (I really miss Jiff, by the way).
After the frescoes by Raphael, we moved into the Sistine Chapel. Part of me expected to be blown away and sit and cry and laugh and do all those crazy things a person ought to do when they finally see the Sistine Chapel. Another part of me figured it was probably overrated. So I guess I really didn’t know what to expect. I will say this: it is definitely not overrated. And I didn’t cry, but I felt like I could. The chapel was not as big as I had thought it might be and the frescoes were not as detailed as they look in the pictures on Wikipedia, but the result was far more beautiful. I could have sat and stared for hours on end. I am honestly glad that the Italians are right about Michelangelo.
We only had twenty minutes in the chapel, which was by no means sufficient. We never had enough time anywhere we went, but I guess that’s how it goes. If I lived in Rome for five years I am not sure that I would be able to see everything and take it all in the way I want to, so I am learning to be content with seeing only a glimpse of what Europe has to offer and knowing that it is much better than nothing.
Then we went to St. Peter’s Basilica, the “Mother Church” as they call it in Italy. St. Peter’s really is the church to end all churches. Not only is it grandiose in size (it’s the biggest church in the world, period…. I tried to think of some equally large American church but was informed that nothing in America even comes close, except perhaps that church in Texas which meets in the Astrodome, but I’m not sure that counts), but it is also extremely, EXTREMELY elaborate inside. The church is built over the grave of St. Peter himself, and we know this because several hundred years ago, a pope did some excavations under the church in order to find out if it was in fact built over Peter’s grave. The pope’s excavation team discovered a whole cemetery and a head stone with Peter’s name on it, along with a couple other details which prove it was him.
St. Peter’s houses Michelangelo’s Pieta, a statue which I absolutely adore. I am turning into a Michelangelo fanatic myself- go figure! The statue features Mary with Jesus lying dead across her lap, though most of the focus for me centers on Mary and not Jesus. Mary’s pain and beauty are so well captured and so believable. When you look at the Pieta, you see a woman mourning the loss of her son, and that is why I like it.
After the Vatican, I walked to the Trevi Fountain with a group of ten or so people. I loved the Trevi Fountain, but I hesitate to tell you why. I guess I will go ahead and say it, in case Laura, Rebecca, or Courtenay is reading this…. I love the fountain because it was in the Lizzie McGuire Movie. I can’t believe I just said that. But seriously, I have loved that movie since eighth grade and because of it, I always wanted to visit Rome. It looks just like it does in the movie, except the shops that are pictured in front of the fountain in the movie look surprisingly like a different row of shops altogether. There’s Hollywood for you.
I ate gnocchi, Italian potato pasta, for dinner. Gnocchi is really good but really dense, and it’s one of those dishes that is best eaten in small proportions. We walked around Rome till dark, got some gelato (I bet you didn’t see that coming!), and went back to our hotel. All I can say is, I slept very good that night!