Public transit works for us this day, travelling from the other side of the city, Trastavere. We have a very expensive sit-down coffee next door while we wait, €15 for two tiny cups of espresso. And we're off.
First sign that greets us, after the bag X-ray and metal detector - we didn't know this was a thing!
The Vatican Museums are amazing, opulent, large, over-the-top, colossal, treasures from every age, from around the world. We didn't bother with the hundreds of photos that could have been taken of all the famous collections, just walked through enjoying it all. We passed through building after building and room after room of opulence dating from the dawn of art. Including a stone zoo!
I did notice the floors however, and wonder if they've ever been documented. The tile work is stunning!
Rooms and rooms of statues, mummies, sarcophagi. Hercules in early bronze, right.
Red porphyry stone sarcophagus below, it took a team of 40 oxen to move it to this place. The basin in the top photo is the width of a small pool, same stone no longer in existence, quarried out.
Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, 1831, Peter Wenzel. 240 animals both from the New World and Old, attesting to both his artistic and scientific skill.
The Geographica hallway! Part of the accessible area of the Vatican Libraries.
We move into a contemporary art section which is really dated and neglected. I am happy to think that the Catholic Church's hold on the world has waned along with the depth of its purse or brute strength.
Diego Riviera
The exit staircase!, Marc in top of photo.
The crumpled guide map
Oh Sistine Chapel, you take our breath away.
Michelangelo.
We saw it!:
Two photos on the left represent current theory of how Michelangelo painted the ceiling. Two photos on the left show the results of the cleaning that has just been completed.
Gratifying morning.
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