Lots of dress code things for the vatican. No bare shoulders, no knees exposed, no flipflops, no offensive (violent or anti-catholic) tatoos. So - dress for church is the message. Dress nice & be respectful. Today is a holy experience.
globe within globe - placed here 1990. Copy (or similar but smaller) was in front at CTS (Christian Theological Seminary) when Mom started in 1982.
Roman "Planters" - and you think you're got a gardening problem? Ha!
Romans loved dogs, too
Romulus & Remus sucking teet on the wolf like a cub (but apparently the same word for wolf is the Latin word for "prostitute" sooooo.... likely we know why they were put out to pasture. We're told that their mother was a Vestal Virgin trying to avoid being put to death. So maybe they were given to a prostitute to raise rather than a wolf cub - while that DOES give them a little more respectability.)
Clover taking pictures - I don't remember this one.
Ceiling - lots of blues
Ceiling - great way to view an eclipse!
Bronze statue of Jason (notice the golden fleece) being refurbished to get his shiny back on.
Athena Floor Mosaic - interesting how many Greek & Roman Gods they have depicted in the vatican
This was my request. "En Route" means "on the Road" or literally "On the WAY" - which is the exact same wording that Jesus used to discuss how Disciples & other followers should be on "The Way" at following him to get to the Kingdom of Heaven. I love the eonnection - and the ironic humor of having this hung in the staff parking lot. Reminding them "You are en route to be better future" or you are helping others be "On the Way" today and every day. Trust me - their wording of this is no accident - particularly since it's using the French words - which is interesting. All of the descriptions here today were in Italian withh no other language translation (unless it was Latin).
this is one I had been longing to see for years. The Philosophers of Athens. Just devastated to not have more time to ponder. I gott the Vatican Museum book of art - but it's like a textbook and not the same as being able to study the original for a time.
No pictures in the Cistine Chapel allowed.
Modern art catecomb of rooms & halls was reallly wonderful.
This does not come out quite as it looks. This is a beautiful moment all in blue - shades of blue throughout the entire painting. It is a 1980 painting of Pope Jean-Paul II (from 1978) embracing Polish Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski in a moment of recognition of the significant importance of this election. Cardinal Wyszynski was beatified by Jean-Paul II. Jean-Paul II was elected subsequent to Jean-Paul I's 38 days in office prior to an untimely (and much-questioned) death.
I found this beautiful. I was not familiar with the original photograph or the situation of it, but I could guess at both. And, knowing the nature of John Paul II, one could not fail to be aware of the humanity reflected in this moment and through the interpretation of this painting - in shades of blue. Moments of joy in the wake of a great sadness, but the comisery and love in this embrace - sadness and joy and hope.
Dali
The amount of gold we see in this section is phenomenal. These gold roses are one of the most outrageous examples (other than the gold used in construction. The tour guide noted that much of the gold was brought from the New World conquests and donated to the Vatican by the world powers who were bringing it back (mostly Spain from South America, where it was most prevelant - but this is no mentioned).
Beautiful micro-mosaics
(amore micro-mosaics
6:05pm - it's been quite a day!
So first off - I left my phone in the hotel. So pictures of the Vatican are from Clover & I am appreciating some much needed downtime from phone and laptop screens. Today's post will be short on text.
The Vatican museum was full of amazing art - but was hot and pressed due to the number of people and they have the tour groups going through quickly to accommodate them. That said, our Vatican Museum guide was very knowledgeable and the headsets were good. She was very conscientious about the numbers in our group staying together with her so she could recover the headsets at the end. I think she may be penalized if any comes up missing.
(Posted vatican piz above)
No pictures in the Cistine Chapel. I found the ceiling underwhelming, considering the significant lead up (and it's excessive art coverage in the world), but the walls of the life of Christ & Moses (2 sides) were very powerfully drawn. I loved how the story was represented and they were much easier to look at than the ceiling (so far up).
We had early lunch at the museum caffe & restaurant, then decided we would get a cab back to the hotel. Running on 4 hours of sleep last night was awful for me and yesterday was hard on us all. So we skipped St Peter's Basilica tour, unfortunately. But the guided tours are not actually my favorite things - i prefer having time to walk the place with a book taking me in order (since the signs are only in Italian).
LOTS of Americans here in Rome. Yesterday & today.
A man here at the Cafe (la Dolce Terrazza) near the hotel is drinking a glass of white wine & smoking a small cigar. It smells wonderful.
Clover & I each got a drink & pastery. Clover got water & a Canoli. I ordered a latté and some little pastery puffs. Chocolate, peanut, & coffee.
Dinner at "Confusion" (I think it's a play on words "fuzion"). Clover & I will be getting ALL the courses ❤️
Experiencing dinner on our own in Italy will be delightful. I love having this time with them.
I haven't mentioned it yet, but I adore the emphasis on primary colors in France and Italy this year. Maybe it's normalé or maybe the fashion, but the Greens & Oranges & Blues (white with blue floral prints, mostly) are particularly vibrant everywhere. I just saw a woman walk by wearing an Orange button up shirt with matching sandal pumps and white Jeans. She looks casually elegant - and beautiful!
Dinner
Antipasto
Secondi
Clover's - spaghetti with bacon & parmesan
Cat's - pepper, pepper oil, parsley - nice heat
Ivy on a wall
Oleander in bloom
No comments:
Post a Comment