The Vatican magical mystery tour...

03.06.2015

Well the joke was on me that day. I went online and paid $20 extra to skip the line, but when I got thereat my appointed time of 11,30, there was hardly anyone in the line to skip. Never mind I reckon I got my moneys worth anyway, seeing as how this had to be one of the best museums I have visited so far. It was difficult choosing where to look and what to focus on, the floor, the walls, the ceiling all demanded your attention at the same time. It was a wonderful assault on the senses. You were at times carried along by the crowd, and the museum did a great job of herding everyone through dozens of rooms and galleries, up stairs, and down ramps, from level to level in this incredible storeroom of treasures, without it feeling cramped or rushed. I spent more time than many in the rooms full of modern art that had been donated to the Vatican, and felt vindicated when I spotted the Dali's and Chagall's, but there were scores of artworks that I didn't photo that could have been just as important or famous without me knowing. The rooms that had walls and ceilings painted in the middle ages by Raphael and others impressed me too but in a different way. The sheer volume and quality of work involved in painting these rooms was incredible. They were a taste of what was to come as they led the way into the Sistine Chapel, where absolutely no photos allowed or you'll be yelled at by the Guards, and asked to leave. I have to admit when I first walked into the space, it was an emotional moment and I choked up and struggled to hold back the tears. Don't get me wrong it wasn't the most amazing sight ( like a sunset, or a garden, or a view across a valley), it's just that there was so damned much of it to look at, and it was painted using another level of skill than was shown in the previous rooms painted by other lesser masters of the art. God and Adam pointing fingers was only a small piece of work in the middle of hundreds of similar vignettes on the ceilings and walls. But the colours were so comic book bright, after their big clean up. In a way the very big chapel brought to mind a huge version of a teenagers bedroom. One who had been allowed to stick Marvel comic book pages all over his ceilings and walls. It literally overwhelmed the senses... I walked out of there in a daze and did something I haven't done before, which was buy a CD of the Vatican museum, by the museum, so I can relive the experience again and again. By then I'd done a days walking, and headed home to put my feet up. St Peter's at the Vatican can wait for another day...

The walls of the Vatican