This blog is a follow-up to
Red Baron's pilgrimage to Rome, where our group paid a visit to the Vatican Museums. These exhibitions alone
are worth a trip to the Holy City.
We German pilgrims queued up
(sorry), stood in line at the entrance with the rest of the crowds.
There was no chaos; the masses were channeled, ended up in a reception hall,
were badged, grouped, and waited for their guides to appear.
While waiting, did I see Karol Józef Wojtyła on guitar? No, this is Pope John
Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI beatified him in 2011, and Pope Francis canonized him
in 2014.
Our charming Italian guide took our group outside to the Pine Tree Courtyard.
From there, we enjoyed a breathtaking view of the dome of St. Peter's
Basilica.
This nearly four-meter-tall bronze pine cone was crafted in the 1st or 2nd
century AD as part of a fountain near the Pantheon. In 1608, Pope Paul V
finally placed it in its current niche in the
Cortile della Pigna.
Renaissance and Baroque architects admired the Pigna for its scale and
classical pedigree. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the poet likens the giant
Nimrod’s head to “the pine-cone of Saint Peter’s” to convey a testament to the
sculpture’s fame in Rome’s cultural memory.
On the other side of the courtyard, a neoclassical structure bearing the Latin
inscription: PIVS VII P M FECIT AN XXII. His translates to Pope Pius VII,
Pontifex Maximus, made [this] in the 22nd year [of his papacy].” The building
provides room for the immense collections of the Vatican Museums.
Pius VII guided the Church through the difficult times of the Napoleonic
era.
Inside the museum, the Laocoön Group was inaccessible because
of the crowds besieging it. So, instead of showing the usual Vatican
highlights, I’ll entertain you in the following with some personal
impressions.
We passed a 1.6-metre-tall fragmentary marble statue of a male nude believed to
be a 1st-century BC original known as the Belvedere Torso.
The well-preserved mosaic floor depicting hunting scenes comes from the
buried-by-lava Pompeii.
Before entering the Gallery of Maps, I read the following proud statement:
“Religion has ennobled and perfected the profane arts, having redirected
them to the worship of God."
Here is an example. The ceiling fresco depicting the discovery of the Holy
Cross. St. Helena is lightened and guided by the Holy Spirit.
To my right-hand side, an old fisherman’s statue. My first impossible thought
was, "That's me." But I'm not a fisherman, and I walk with a cane.
On this tapestry, cardinals are counting money; I assume it is
indulgences that have just come in.
Mephisto in Goethe's Faust
knew that "The Church has a big stomach," and the construction of St. Peter's
Basilica cost money, a lot of money.
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New Italy |
Pope Gregory XIII commissioned the 120-meter-long Gallery of Maps in the late
16th century. It features 40 large frescos, surprisingly accurate maps of
Italian regions and islands, each of about 3 x 4 meters.
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Sicily |
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Bella Venezia |
This painting depicts the clash between Constantine I and Maxentius on October
28, 312 AD, at the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber. Constantine’s victory paved
the way for his sole rule of the Western Roman Empire and ultimately led him
to favor Christianity as the main religion. This work is attributed to the
circle of Raphael, painted around 1519–20 as part of the Vatican Loggia.
The Latin inscription beneath the scene reads: “Gaius Valerius Aurelius
Constantine, whose righteous victory over Maxentius has secured the resources
and safety of Christians.”
This Renaissance fresco shows Emperor Constantine kneeling before Pope Sylvester
I, symbolically handing over control of Rome and the Western Roman Empire to the
papacy. The Donation of Constantine was later exposed as a forgery.
During the early persecution of Christians, King Herod Agrippa I
persecuted the members of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. He had the
apostle James, the brother of John, executed. When he saw that this was well
received by the Jews, he also had Peter arrested during the Feast of Unleavened
Bread (i.e., around Passover).
Raphael and his workshop executed “The Liberation of Saint Peter” in a
dramatic way between 1514 and 1516.
The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 12, describes the events in Jerusalem
in the year 44:
On the night before Peter’s trial, an angel of the
Lord suddenly appears in the prison. Light fills the cell, but the guards
notice nothing. The angel nudges Peter to wake him up. The chains fall from
his hands, and the angel says, "Put on your clothes, put on your sandals, and
follow me!" At first, Peter thinks he is having a vision, but the iron gate to
the city opens by itself. The angel guides Peter through a street - and then
disappears. It's only now that Peter realizes all this has really happened.
Peter
goes to the house of Mary, the mother of John and Mark, where many people have
gathered to pray for the apostle. The maid Rhoda recognizes Peter by his voice
and is so surprised that she forgets to open the door. At first, the others do
not believe her - they think it is "his angel." Finally, they open the door,
see Peter, and are amazed. He informs them of what has happened, asks them to
share the news with James and the others, and then leaves the city for safety
reasons.
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