Glorious Day at the Holy See

Josh had arranged to meet with the director of an artists' studio this morning which is how I found myself heading to the Vatican Museums on my own. One of the guide books suggested going on a Wednesday morning because the Pope gives addresses in St. Peter's square each Wednesday at 10am and therefore many tourists are outside and not inside the Museums. Hard to know if this "tip" is so well-known that more tourists do try to see the Museums during the Pope's address. Without any frame of reference, I found that while there were a significant number of tour groups inside, the crowds were completely manageable. The most visitors were, of course, in one of the Raphael rooms and in the Sistine chapel. These are also the two "highlights" touted by the guide books.

Since I was not short of time, I decided to meander through the entire museum from start to finish. At my pace -- brisk but not hurried -- it took just under 3 hours. Aside from the treasures and art works inside the Museum, I truly enjoyed the exteriors: the courtyards (particularly the Cortile della Pigna with the massive bronze pine cone), and the gardens and the views of Rome from many of the windows. I toured the Egyptian treasures room which made me all the more excited for our trip to Egypt (planned over the New Year holiday break). How can you not stop and see these sculptures from 3000BC. The highlight was the female mummy, with her brain extracted through her eye socket and the jars with her organs by her side. All this knowledge would have been impossible to gleen without the handy audio-guide. The Etruscans, by way of comparison, were far less prolific than the Egyptians and much less is understood about their civilization.

The ancient sculptures in the Cortile Ottagonale were magnificent and include the famous Laocoon marble group (1st century AD) which reportedly inspired Michaelangelo's work in painting the Sistine Chapel. I strolled through the room of the animals, and the room with all the beautiful tapestries, and then the longest hall ever with ancient maps of the regions of Italy frescoed along it walls. All the while there are signs with arrows pointing you in the direction of the Sistine Chapel -- it's what most visitors come to see. Before arriving at the Sistine Chapel, the route takes you through the Stanze de Raphael. Here you see his work in four rooms which it took 16 years to complete. In fact, he died before the frescoes were finished and the paintings were finished by his pupils. All the frescoes touch upon the religious and philosophical ideals of the Renaissance. Raphael's wonderful painting The School of Athens is found in the Stanza Segnatura It's fun to see Plato and Aristotle in this painting, and also to look for Michaelangelo, Bramante, Leonardo and Raphael's own self-portrait in this work.

The Sistine Chapel is crowed for a reason. It is a spectacle. It's equally as interesting to learn about how Michaelangelo came to paint the ceiling and his process as it is to view the work. In my opinion, the most amazing aspect of the Chapel is not the ceiling, but the Altar fresco The Last Judgement which took Michaelangelo 7 years to paint, and was completed many years after he had finished the ceiling. Unlike Raphael, he didn't have a whole school of assistants helping him. The quality of the work -- especially now after an extensive restoration -- is wonderful, but what I find more fascinating is the subject matter -- his depiction of dead souls rising up to face the wrath of God. The fresco was very controversial and underscores Michaelangelo's own tormented feelings about Christianity.

The Vatican Museum's more contemporary collection is relegated to the basement -- there was nary a soul visiting the works, of Dali and Chagall. It was nice to have the space after the crowds of the Sistine Chapel. Also the Painting Gallery is located after the exit from the Museum so you have to choose not to exit in order to see these works. Once again, these galleries, also with works by Raphael, were sparsely populated. Altogether, it was a very enjoyable tour.

Equally enjoyable was the beautiful weather which inspired me to walk nearly all the way home from the Vatican along the Tevere. Once at home, I dined al fresco -- something I haven't been able to do for at least a month now.

Josh also had an enjoyable and productive morning visiting the artists' studio and in particular seeing the works of, and meeting with, an artist who creates sculptures out of chewing gum. Now that's creativity!

Later, I worked on new methodology for preparing mushroom risotto -- this time with panna ai funghi porcini. I'm not sure the essence of the porcini was really captured, nor am I certain that the extra calories from the panna (cream) were worthwhile, but the risotto tasted good nonetheless.