17. November 2011: A Call From the Vatican

We woke up early this morning to catch the fast train to Rome (apparently it went about 300 km/hr). The ride was uneventful and we soon arrived in Rome, settled into our hotel, ate a quick boxed lunch then headed towards the Vatican. On the way we passed Piazza Campo di Fiori which houses a flea/farmers market most of the year, then the French embassy which was designed by Vasari and Michelangelo. We crossed the Fiume Tevere (the Tiber River) and walked right up to the Castel Sant’ Angelo. This is a beautiful and historical castel that was apparently featured in the film of Dan Brown’s novel Angels and Demons. Personally, I’ve never seen it but my professor, Jodie recommends it its art history.

 Finally we made it to the Vatican (possibly the only country that you don’t need your passport to enter). You can see the dome of St. Peter’s from miles away but the façade is quite astonishing from up close as is the grand piazza in front of it. Once inside the Basilica San Pietro it is very difficult to describe the splendor so I’m going to be doing a lot of name dropping. We saw Michelangelo’s Pieta and the glorious twisted columns (covered in bumblebees) of the altar. In the walls surrounding the altar there are, arguable, the four most important relics of the Catholic faith. These are, obviously, very closely protected beyond beautiful sculptural representations. The relics are the piece of the True Cross found by St. Helen, Veronica’s veil, the head of St. Andrew and the spearhead of Longinus which pierced the side of Christ on the cross. Behind the altar is an elaborate bronze chair that supposedly encloses the simple chair that St. Peter sat upon. This sculpture looked eerily like the one described in the final book of the Harry Potter series which sits in the Ministry of Magic, though this one certainly has a more positive connotation.

We were in the basilica at a miraculous time of day. The sun was shining through the windows just so. If there weren’t hordes of tourists inside and one could simply look down the basilica towards the altar with these beams of light aiming down at the floor with such precision I think it would be impossible not to believe in God. Even with the tourists, this place was undoubtedly a spiritual place. This picture was taken by my classmate, Rebecca Simpson. 

Next we got to go on a special tour of the catacombs under the basilica which must be booked several months in advance. It was led by a seminary student who happened to be from Oklahoma and was a very enthusiastic guide. He led us down into the Necropolis which is like a city where the ancient Romans kept their dead. It has streets and little “houses” which hold elaborate mosaics and sarcophagi. There was a particular mosaic in a tomb which scholars can prove made during the Christian Persecution. The image is such that it could be mistaken as the sun god, Apollo by untrained eyes but if you look at it through a Christian eye, it is clearly Jesus. The rays coming out of his head could be mistaken for sun rays but they are in the shape of a cross when Apollo’s rays looked more like the crown on the Statue of Liberty. His eyes are cast upwards towards heaven and God, though Apollo is the sun god and should always be looking down on the earth. Finally, he is holding a globe in his hand because Jesus is the king of heaven and earth, unlike Apollo who is only the sun king.

We emerged out of the dank, dark Necropolis into the Clementine Chapel which is decorated by great amounts of red porphyry. This precious marble no longer exists except where it has already been sculpted. Here, our guide animatedly told us a great story about the archeologists who were excavating in this area. They proved that the area behind this chapel was the Tomb of St. Peter but they did not find any of the remains of the man. Next to the tomb was a wall with a little niche in it. This wall had been graffitied over time with ancient prayers before Constantine had filled up the Necropolis, including this wall, with dirt so that he could build St. Peter’s Basilica on top of it. A specialist on ancient graffiti was studying this wall when she realized that there was a piece missing which contained the middle of a sentence. She asked around and found that one of the leaders of the excavation had decided to use that piece of the wall as a souvenir paperweight. Upon replacing this important piece, she found that the Latin graffiti said, “Peter Within.” The wall was too small for Peter to be actually inside the wall, but she remembered the niche in the wall and asked if there had been anything inside that niche. An archeologist said that yes, they had found bones in the niche. With the consent of the Pope, they sent those bones to be tested. The bones were proven to be a 65-75 year old male, the same age that Peter was supposed when he was crucified. There was dirt from the Necropolis on the bones. The remains had no feet, consistent with the fact that St. Peter was crucified upside down so his feet were so firmly attached to the cross that the Christians who stole his body in the night had to cut the feet off in order to quickly steal away. Finally, the body was wrapped in gold and purple cloth which is fabric that was so expensive that it could only be owned by the emperor Constantine. This proves that Constantine knew that this was Peter and secretly saved the remains from harm or theft. Our guide then led us to look through several panes of glass where we could see the jaw bone of St. Peter. Need I say this? SO COOL! (in the right-most picture below, the dark circle to the left of the middle is where you could see the jawbone)

We emerged from underground after the tour and paid a visit to the Vatican Museum. It had a great view of the dome of St. Peter’s. At that point, our excitement could hardly be contained!

Inside the Museum we walked past countless priceless works of art including the Loacoön, the Belvedere Torso and countless works by Michelangelo and Raphael. These last two artists were working in the Vatican at the same time, though Michelangelo was a much more mature artist and Raphael was still young. It was interesting to see when Michelangelo showed up though because Raphael's work begins to soak up some of his style. 

 Finally, we entered the Sistine Chapel. The building itself is smaller than I had anticipated but the work was no less jawdropping. It was the end of a Thursday so the chapel was almost empty, though there was one rather important person who showed up. The head coach of the Italian national soccer team who lead them to win the World Cup arrived and the lights all turned on for him (and us). All of the security guards took out their cameras and crowded around him to get their photos with him. It was quite amusing. Or head professor, Jodie, also got very excited and started jumping up and down. It was definitely a sight to remember. The Sistine Chapel overall is something that you can read about extensively in history books but its true beauty really cannot be described—it’s something that you feel. To be in the presence of a work that is so complex and extensive is a feeling that is unmatchable. The ceiling depicts the Creation Story, the wall by the altar shows the Final Judgment. Michelangelo draws himself in a very creepy, ghostlike nature where he is almost hidden, coming out of a grave. Wow. Just…wow.

After that, we were exhausted. We ate a tiny little trattoria and then headed to bed in preparation for another long day.