The Vatican Museums are a collection of many museums located within the walls of Vatican City. The first museum was initiated by Pope Julius II in 1503 and generally speaking the popes were the first European sovereigns who opened their palaces to the public introducing the public to their extensive art collections and with that a better understanding of art history and culture. In 2006 the Vatican Museums celebrated their 500th birthday and now there are approximately two dozen museums averaging more than 5,000,000 visitors every year.
Admission to the museums, which includes the Sistine Chapel, is €16 however make sure you purchase your tickets online before heading to the Vatican which allows you to completely skip the que and head directly into the museums. This will save you up to three hours in line if you are in Rome at the height of the tourist season.
Deb & I took hundreds of pics as we wandered through as many sections of the museums as we could fit in and it was clearly a case of sensory and information overload as we tried to absorb and remember as much as we possibly could.
Although the art contained in the Vatican Museums is typically ancient, the central Courtyard of the Pinecone contains a large sculpture that was very cool however seemingly out of place with surrounding artefacts.
Named ‘Sfera con Sfera’ or Sphere within a Sphere, it is just over 13 feet in diameter and although it must weigh many tons it easily spins around its axis with a little elbow grease. The Pinecone (Pigna) in the back ground from which the courtyard gets its name is a first century Roman bronze that was originally the working centrepiece of a fountain located near the Pantheon. It is about 13′ high and was moved during the middle ages to the courtyard of the original St. Peter’s Basilica and then to its present location in 1608.
Although there are many ‘typical’ museum displays, the Vatican Museums catalogue and store thousands of artefacts which line the corridors of the many buildings that comprise the museums.
Located in the Round Room of the museum are two objects that were quite interesting, a gilded bronze statue of Hercules and one of the bathtubs from Nero’s palace.
Nero was the Emperor of Rome from 54-68 AD. An evil tyrant who was a fierce opponent of Christianity, being responsible for the execution of thousands of Christians. His life was characterized by hedonistic excess that was epitomized by his royal palace, the Domus Aurea (Golden House) which he built after the great fire of Rome in 64 AD. In fact, it has been alleged that Nero started the fire in order to make room for his palace, hence the phrase “Nero fiddled while Rome burned”. Nero had his own mother executed as well as one of his wives and his step-brother was poisoned apparently at Nero’s direction. In 68 AD after being ousted from power, he committed suicide, the only emperor to do so.
At some level Nero’s life is represented by the bathtub pictured above. It was constructed of the rarest marble in the world, called Porphyry for its deep purple colour. Reserved for royals and only found on an Egyptian mountaintop some 800 km from Rome where it was mined by convicts and imprisoned Jews and Christians. Nero’s bathtub is almost twenty feet in diameter and stand almost six feet high on its ornate legs (note the people in the picture above for a reference point). The tub is valued at $100,000,000.00.
So while Nero rejected God and executed the Christians of the first century church, who did he worship? Probably the mythological Greek gods, like Hercules, who is seen above overlooking Nero’s bathtub. The gilded bronze larger than life-size statue of Hercules that stands in the Vatican is thought to date back to the first century. It was found in 1864 neatly buried under travertine stones in the area that was once Pompey’s Theatre. The stones protecting the statue were engraved with the letters FCS which means that the statue was struck by lightning and according to Roman tradition granted a ritual burial together with the remains of a lamb.
The detail contained in artworks of the past are impressive as shown in the white marble animal below that functions to support the marble base that rests on its back.
The Gallery of Tapestries contains a number of Flemish tapestries that were made in Brussels in approximately 1523 and first displayed at the Vatican in the Sistine Chapel in 1531. The tapestries were given their own gallery in 1838 and remain there today. The exquisite detail and colour in the stitching of the tapestries is incredible, especially when you consider they are almost 500 years old. You forget they are essentially carpets so in the image below I’ve purposely kept the edge visible on the right to remind you. The tapestry is titled Supper at Emmaus showing the risen Lord eating with the men He joined while walking to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).
Probably one of the most popular galleries in the Vatican is the 120m hallway leading towards the Sistine Chapel known as the Gallery of Maps. Commissioned in 1580 by Pope Gregory XIII it contains 40 large topographical maps of Italy. The gallery took three years to build and has a ceiling that is as impressive as the maps that adorn its walls.
At the end of the Gallery of Maps you go down a small narrow flight of steps, pass through a rather nondescript doorway and find yourself in one of the most visually stunning rooms in the world, the Sistine Chapel; the Pope’s private chapel and home to Michelangelo’s most famous works that adorn the walls and ceiling. The Sistine Chapel is perhaps the world’s most well-known chapel and one of its oldest with construction through 1473-1481. It is part of the Papal Palace and is interesting in that it lacks a grand entrance typical of churches and there are no entrances or exits directly to the outside. The Sistine Chapel measures 134 x 44 feet, patterned after the size of Solomon’s Temple. The vaulted ceiling rises 68′ above the floor.
When entering the chapel for the first time, it was the vibrancy of the colours that surprised me the most. I was expecting subdued colours, especially on paintings that are 500 years old, however they are actually bright and vibrant.
Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 to paint the ceiling, which he completed between 1508 and 1512. In total the frescos painted on the ceiling covered over 5,000 square feet and contained more than three hundred figures.
Michelangelo painted “The Last Judgement” on the wall behind the altar from 1535-1541.
There is some debate whether Michelangelo painted the ceiling lying down or standing up. Either way it is generally agreed that scaffolding was built at a level above the top of the windows which would by design block the viewing of the ceiling from the floor beneath. This means that the figures on ceiling were painted without the benefit of having the proper proportional perspective that would be available from the floor. That Michelangelo could paint such large figures at such close range and maintain proper proportional relationships is truly remarkable as demonstrated in “The Creation of Adam”, perhaps the most famous of the ceiling panels.
We left the Sistine Chapel and headed through a small maze of hallways that comprised a short cut to St. Peter’s Basilica, along the way passing a small store selling Vatican remembrances.
One of the many things I will remember from our day at the Vatican was the sheer size of everything, which is quite ironic given that the Vatican is the smallest country in the world. Even in an alleyway between the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica that sees little traffic, the person in the bottom of the next image provides a great example of the scale of the Vatican.
After concluding our time in Rome we headed to the train station to pick up our rental car and begin the next leg of our trip; the 540km drive to Venice, which will be the subject of the next blog posts.
Vatican City is a 110 acre walled enclave within the City of Rome which has about 840 permanent residents. The Vatican City State was formally recognized as a sovereign state in 1929 making it the smallest internationally recognized State whether measured by geographic size or population. The fortification walls that define the Vatican were constructed under the rule of four popes between the years 847-1644. Although the Vatican now uses the Euro as currency, they do mint Vatican Euro coins which are highly sought after by coin collectors, as are Vatican postage stamps. The sale of stamps and coins is one of the Vatican’s prime methods of generating income for the state. The Pope is the sovereign head of the Vatican City State, having full and absolute executive, administrative and judicial power over Vatican City making him the only absolute monarch in Europe.
Deb & I spent a full day touring the Vatican, which included climbing some 500 stairs to the top of the cupola high above St. Peter’s Basilica which provided a fabulous view of St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding city of Rome. While in the basilica we also met and had a chance to chat with an Arch Bishop and a Cardinal which was a pleasant surprise. The buildings, churches, museums and chapels that make up the Vatican are visually stunning and it is difficult to properly capture their beauty photographically however I trust the images within this post give you a small sense and appreciation of the Vatican.
St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square with the Vaticano Obelisk at its centre form the classical view of the Vatican. The obelisk was carved in Egypt in 30 BC and brought to Rome in 37 AD. It is one of eight Egyptian obelisk’s in Rome and the only one that has not toppled since Roman times.
We were at the Vatican the day before the Pope presided over the canonization of seven people and as a result St. Peter’s Square was set up with chairs for the many thousand who would attend the service. The pictures of those being canonized were framed on the face of the basilica, including Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native Canadian who died 300 years ago when she was only 24.
The Pope’s apartment over looks St. Peter’s Square and he addresses people from the top floor, second window from the right.
Upon entering St. Peter’s Basilica one is first taken aback by the sheer size of the church. It is so big it is hard to get a proper perspective. The church is designed in the shape of a Greek cross with a large central dome that covers the Papal Altar which can be seen in the back ground of this snap from inside the doors of the church.
There were a number of architects involved in the design of the basilica which was constructed in the early sixteenth century, most notably Michelangelo who was in his seventies when asked take over the design and construction of the church.
The basilica is probably the largest church building in the world covering almost six acres in area. The Papal Altar, covered by the central dome of the basilica is the central focus of the church. Only the Pope can use this altar, which is constructed over at least two others that preceded it and all covering the burial site of Peter, who was crucified upside down in 64 AD near the Egyptian obelisk that stands in the centre of St. Peter’s Square only a few hundred feet away from the altar.
The actual altar is quite simple by Vatican standards consisting of a giant slab of Greek marble but the canopy, or baldacchino, that covers it is the visual centre piece of St. Peter’s Basilica. It is formed from a vast block of black Greek marble, gilded in bronze and standing ninety-five feet above the altar. The Papal Altar was consecrated in 1594 while the canopy was designed by Bernini and built in 1624.
Directly below the Papal Altar is Peter’s tomb which is also below the grade of the main floor of the basilica. When a new Pope takes the historic walk to his investiture it begins at this tomb. Note the people at the sides of this next image to give perspective to the sizes involved.
Throughout the basilica there are many altars, confessionals, and works of art, all of which could be greatly expanded upon however for the sake of brevity I will only highlight a few. The first is the Cathedra Petri or Throne of St. Peter which was designed by Bernini and contains a chair that was originally said to be used by Peter himself however was subsequently shown to be from the twelfth century. Still a very old chair! The altar was completed in 1666.
The Altar of Saints Processus & Martinian (two Roman jail guards converted by Peter while awaiting his crucifixion).
One of many confessionals in the basilica.
The statue of St. Peter is one of the most popular in the basilica and devotees line up to touch and kiss the right foot of the statue. This is a practice so common that the foot has been completely worn down by the countless people who have attended the statue since it was created in 1296.
Beneath the Altar of St. Jerome is the resting place of Pope John XXIII who died in 1963. Just last week on September 30th, Pope Francis announced that Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II will be declared Saints on April 27, 2014.
One of the most popular statues in the basilica is Michelangelo’s Pieta which was carved in 1498-1499 when Michelangelo was only 24. It is the only piece of art he ever signed.
The dome above the Papal Altar is the highest dome in the world with the top of its external cross 450′ above the floor of the basilica and its internal diameter is just over 136′. This next image shows the dome from the inside looking up into the cupola.
And from the top looking down into the basilica towards the Altar of St. Joseph, which is said to contain the relics of Simon and Jude in an ancient sarcophagus.
There is an extra fee required to visit the actual dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and then climb the more than 500 steps winding through the inner and outer dome shells, eventually arriving at an outside viewing area at the top of the cupola of the dome. The view from this vantage point is well worth the effort required to get there, although if claustrophobic it may prove a problematic journey.
Looking up towards the top of the dome from within the inner and outer walls.
The dome as seen from the roof of the basilica. The viewing rail is at the base of the cupola on the top of the dome.
A closer view, which also provides some perspective as to the enormous size of the dome.
The spectacular view of St. Peter’s Square with its central obelisk and the surrounding Roman countryside as viewed from the top of the dome.
Across the top of the front facade of the basilica are thirteen travertine statues, the largest being Christ standing 19′ in height and flanked by John the Baptist and eleven apostles. Interestingly, the missing apostle is Peter.
Originally I had planned to do one post on the Vatican City however given the length of this blog entry it is probably best I stop at this point and continue on with the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel in another post.
Thank you for working your way through this post and I trust you’ve learned something new about the Vatican.
Last fall Deb & I spent seventeen days in Europe celebrating our thirtieth wedding anniversary and although I’ve already posted some pictures of the Colosseum it seems almost a year has passed and I’m just getting around to processing the images from our trip.
We started our trip in Rome and worked our way through Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France before returning to Rome for the flight home. The plan is post the next few blog entries encompassing our trip in a chronological fashion and I trust the photography gives you a good feel for the rich history and absolutely spectacular cityscapes and country sides.
Rome is one of the largest and oldest cities in Europe with a legendary founding in 753 BC. Its located approximately 20 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea on the banks of the Tiber River which meanders through the “Eternal City” as Rome is often referred to. This first image is a typical view of the Tiber River and the Castel Sant’Angelo which was built from 123-139 AD by Emperor Hadrian as his mausoleum. It now functions as a museum and is located just outside the gates of Vatican City.
Rome is a city with many beautiful fountains, the most famous being the Trevi Fountain which was commissioned in 1629 by Pope Urban VIII but not completed until 1762. It is located at the intersection of three roads which were originally the sites of aqueducts bringing water into the city. The Trevi Fountain was refurbished in 1998 however a twenty month restoration was just beginning when we were there so much of the building behind the fountain was covered in scaffolding rendering good photographs of the fountain in its entirety impossible. The Fountain building facade is topped by the Papal Coat of Arms.
The Trevi Fountain is 86′ high and 161′ wide and every evening an average of 3,000 Euros are removed from the pool. It is a tradition for tourists to toss coins over their shoulder into the fountain for good luck and the someday assurance of a return trip to the fountain.
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Not far from the Trevi Fountain are the 135 steps that form the widest staircase in Europe, known as the Spanish Steps although they were designed and funded by the French. The steps were completed in 1725 and lead up a rather steep slope to the Trinita dei Monti church.
In a testament that pluralism is nothing new, the Pantheon, originally built in 25 BC and then rebuilt in 126 AD by Hadrian (about the same time he was building his mausoleum) has been in continuous use for almost 2,000 years! Although it was originally dedicated to all gods, since the 7th century it has functioned as a Catholic Church.
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The building is a unique design that features a concrete dome with an open oculus at its apex which provides the natural light for the interior. The diameter of both the inner circle of the rotunda and the height from the floor to the oculus is 142′ meaning that a 142′ sphere would fit perfectly into the Pantheon.
The concrete dome of the Pantheon is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world and its has been faithfully functioning for almost 2,000 years, truly an engineering feat. Inside the Pantheon there are a number of altars around the rotunda walls, most of them very ornate and detailed in every way.
Arches are common throughout Europe and were typically built to celebrate military conquests (triumphal arches) or the victories of a ruler (honorific arches). The Arch of Titus was constructed in 82 AD to celebrate Titus and his military victories including the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Arch of Titus also served for the design inspiration for the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Only a few hundred yards from the Arch of Titus and just beside the Colosseum you will find the Arch of Constantine. It is the last of the triumphal arches that are still standing and was built and dedicated by the Roman Senate in 315 AD to celebrate the exploits of Constantine.
The Roman Forum lies in a valley between the Palatine & Capitoline Hills and was the literal, political, religious and social centre of Rome. As you wander through the forum today you can see the ruins of many structures, with the Temple of Saturn dating back to 497 BC. At the north-west end of the Forum is the Arch of Septimius Severus which was constructed in 203 AD. It is one of two remaining arches in the Forum (the other being the Arch of Titus). This next image shows the arch from an oblique angle. In the back ground is the church next to the Roman Curio and the column on the right of the image is of the Temple of Saturn.
There is so much more to see in Rome and perhaps some day I will post ‘Chapter Two’ of sites in Rome, however the next instalment will be of a walled 110 acre independent city-state located completely within the city of Rome – Vatican City.
Labour Day, it seems, has once again arrived a little earlier than it did last year and in doing so signalling that another summer season has come and gone. It appears that each season blends seamlessly into the next, just like the water does with the skyline in this snapshot taken a couple of days ago from the dock at the cottage with my iPhone.
This blog post will be a short one as we prepare to pack up the van and join the throngs who will be heading south on Highway 11.
This summer has been a great one, the highlight for us was becoming grandparents on July 3, 2013 with the arrival of baby Kaj, to Jeff & Ellesse. He’s one of the most photogenic and photographed babies on the planet as you will no doubt see in upcoming posts. In order to properly document his rapid growth I’ve been experimenting with taking video as well as learning how to edit the clips. Also as mentioned in prior posts, I’ve also been attempting to video birds and other wildlife after photographing them in the traditional sense.
The video in this post today is a compilation of clips taken by placing the GoPro video camera on different positions on our Seadoo and then trying to edit them into a short video. Having only one GoPro it is challenging to edit multiple clips in a fashion that results in a coordinated video. There is still much to learn however I trust you enjoy this short (2:30 min) clip showing some of the fun enjoying the summer of 2013.
Earlier this year it was my privilege to spend three days in Algonquin Provincial Park, photographing moose. It was a fabulous few days as we saw approximately twenty different moose and were able to capture them in great light and from a terrific low vantage point as we were shooting from a boat. Our captain and moose guide extraordinaire was Michael Bertelsen who owns and operates Algonquin Park Photography Tours & Workshops. Michael has been doing tours into Algonquin from his home base in Huntsville for over a dozen years and knows the park like the back of his hand. His vast knowledge of photography, Algonquin Park and its wild inhabitants was invaluable to the success of our trip. Plus Michael is a great guy who is fun to spend time with. Please take time to check out the link above to his website and see the variety of tours he has to offer and then book one; you wont be disappointed! Joining the tour were my great friends Eleanor and Arni as well as my new friend Joyce who accompanied Eleanor. We all had a wonderful time together and I trust we will be able to get together to do the same thing again. You can see Eleanor’s work at EleanorKeeWellman’s Photos and Arni’s at ArniWorks Photography.
Getting to the ideal moose location involved an 18 mile boat ride that began before sunrise, however the best light of the day is just after sunrise so the effort is always worth it. The boat trip was all part of the enjoyment and the wide open vistas in Algonquin Park made for a perfect way to start the day as can be seen in this GoPro video.
The benefit of arriving on location at sunrise was the topic of an earlier blog post which includes some moose images taken during this trip but here is the view that welcomed us.
One of the benefits of photographing moose in June is that the cows have just recently given birth to their calves and its a pleasure to see these young moose starting to get used to the world around them. They stay close to their moms and quickly learn their way around whether on land or in the water.
Some tender moments.
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Follow the leader, wherever she leads!
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A younger cow enjoying the lily pads.
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The Black Flies and Mosquitos were incredibly bad and we wore bug nets almost all the time. The moose were not immune from the flies relentless onslaught. Take a close look around this cow’s head and neck.
I only have eyes for you!
Unfortunately the feelings were not reciprocated 🙂
Although not the prettiest, the Bull Moose is an enormous animal and the most desired to photograph, especially with that classic full rack of antlers on proud display. The bulls lose their racks every fall and thus grow new ones every year. In June (when these images were taken) the annual growth process is still in the early stages so the antlers are small and felt covered. By October they will be massive, however even in June they were impressive.
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The day before our trip to Algonquin Park, my great friend Arni took possession of an incredible new lens just released by Canon. The EF 600 f4 L IS II which is optically leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors, the Version I Canon supertelephotos. To prove this point Arni had attached his latest version of the 2x teleconverter to the lens, in essence converting the lens to a 1200mm f8 lens! He then graciously allowed me to use his new lens. Now, all of the photographers reading this post will know that using a 1200mm lens, hand-held and while sitting in a boat is ridiculous, as it’s just not possible to take acceptable images with this set up, however Canon’s new lens technology is changing all that. Let me know what you think of these!
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A huge thank you Arni for trusting me with your new lens!
Often times when on a specific type of photography expedition we instinctively apply all of our concentration shooting the intended subject and forgetting to look around and enjoy the whole experience. In this case although the tight shots are exactly what we wanted, it is also important to see the moose in its environment.
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Over the past few months I have started experimenting with video, taking advantage of the video capabilities of the Canon 5D MkIII and the fun to use GoPro video camera. The intent is to capture video of the objects we are photographing after enough still ‘keepers’ are obtained! I hope you enjoy the following two-minute video clip of some of the moose we saw on this trip, all taken with the 5D and edited using Adobe Premiere Pro (part of the CS6 Creative Suite). I have subsequently learned that the video settings I used were not the greatest and it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to shoot video from a boat without way too much movement of the camera! All that said, video capture is a lot of fun and I’d recommend you give it a go if your DSLR has video capability.
Another thanks to Eleanor, Joyce, Arni and Michael for the great three days we spent in Algonquin Park. It was a blast!
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