Roma - The Vatican - 1/27/2009

This was one of the primary objectives of the trip. The Raphael Rooms, the Sistine Chapel, the Pieta and Saint Peter's Basilica are nothing short of astounding and simply must be seen in person to be fully appreciated. I expected that. What I did not expect was the grandeur of the buildings themselves. The Romans built everything, and I do mean everything, to an incredible scale that was designed to make people stand in awe of the immense power of the Roman Empire. Even today it is mind-boggling, starting with the "apartments" for the various Popes. These wound up being homes for the world's most important art .. how fitting.
The School of Athens by Raphael is one of the most famous paintings in the world. It depicts one of the four distinct themes of knowledge contained on the frescoes of this room; Philosophy. Among the figures in this painting are Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and nearly every great Greek philosopher. However, many others are also probably depicted, including Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael's mistress and Raphael himself. He's the one looking straight at you on the far right as you view it. This work was completed in 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican with frescoes. They are now sometimes referred to as the "Raphael Rooms." The picture has long been seen as Raphael's masterpiece and a perfect example of the "High Renaissance."

Michelangelo was a contemporary, competitor and some say friend of Raphael's. He considered himself to be a sculptor first, and both the Pieta and the David were sculpted before he turned thirty. When Michelangelo finally unveiled the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Raphael was so stunned that he changed his style in a very significant way. One can see this very clearly in the aforementioned Raphael Rooms.












The Last Judgment by Michelangelo needs no introduction. It is massive, spanning the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo began working on it three decades after finishing the ceiling and it took him nine years to finish. It, of course, depicts the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse. One can see human souls rising up to be judged by Christ surrounded by his saints, with the majority not making the cut and descending into hell. Incredibly, Michelangelo was accused of immorality and obscenity, having depicted FULLY naked figures inside the most important church of Christianity. In fact, a full-blown censorship campaign arose to remove the frescoes. Michelangelo got the last laugh (well sort of) by working his principal antagonist's image into the far bottom-right corner of the painting as Minos, judge of the underworld. Minos is prominently adorned with a snake covering his genitalia and ass's ears, which indicate a high degree of foolishness. Michelangelo's critics immediately complained to the Pope, who responded that his jurisdiction did not extend to hell, so the portrait would have to remain. Sadly, Michelangelo didn't win a complete victory here. The genitalia were later covered by Daniele da Volterra, the so-called "breeches painter." In the painting, Michelangelo depicts himself as St. Bartholomew after he had been skinned alive. This is said to reflect the feelings of contempt Michelangelo had for being commissioned to paint The Last Judgement.
Saint Peter's Basilica; I suppose most of us have seen pictures, films and television images of this incredible place since our earliest memories. Even so, I had not a clue. I had heard about the genius of Michelangelo all my life, as well. But when one sees the majesty of the largest church in Christendom (it holds 60,000), the tallest dome in the world, the Pieta, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Last Judgment, one begins to have at least some concept of what the term "genius" actually means.