Day 7

Today we visited the Sistine chapel and the Vatican museum. Before coming to the museum I didn't really know anything about the chapel other than that it's smaller than you assume. It was very different than the other churches that we had seen because the area for the clergy was much larger than the area for the lay people. These two areas were separated by a screened wall called a Rood. The architecture from the chapel is the original, but the paintings we see now were not the original designs. Michaelangelo was commissioned to redesign the ceiling, but he was hesitant because he was a sculptor and not a painter. There were other artists commissioned to design the side panels, but Michaelangelo also painted the last judgement on the wall behind the alter. The side panels show a parallel between Moses and Jesus and depicts the call of Moses to the last supper. The chapel was built inside the Pope's residence because it was a secure place to hold the conclave. It's location is deep inside the papal palace because it was more controllable for the papal army and they wanted to make sure the election of the new pope was free. The pope decided on a chapel instead of a meeting space so he could hold mass and because the space was also about god and his  people. I found it very interesting that the size of the chapel corresponds to the size of the temple of Jerusalem. The theme of the ceiling begins with creation and shows how to be led back to god. Even through it is a Christian church it has pagan oracles in the design because God also created pagans and worked through them to realize the coming of Jesus. Jonah's story is in the church as well because his story remesembles Jesus. The pascal mystery of Christ is represented in the alter. The cave from the last judgment is the face of the devil and the cross from the alter stands before it as a representation of what's saving you from hell. In class we learned that there are many saints in the fresco that are painted with the instrument they were killed with. We also learned how Braggatonie put "pants" or some sort of coverings on many of the naked images because they throughout the images were too revealing and inappropriate for a church. 

The last judgement picture

The ceiling of the Sistine chapel 

After our visits we found a Mexican restaurant that opened two hours early so we could eat. It was beautiful. We kept saying how we felt at home now that we could have guacamole. There is no food diversity here. This restaurant was no el tequila, but it was much needed. Then we went back to St. John's and had a sing along with Italian music which was pretty fun. We went to campo di furi and I met up with a girl from DG at DePaul who was studying here for the quarter. The public transportation here stops at midnight so navigating a city at night can be kind of confusing. Surpringly Fawn and I found a bus and got on hoping it would take us where we needed to go. It did!

Ceiling in a hallway at the museum