Rome via Brooklyn

676 words, 4 minute read time. (DOUBLE POST)

Naturally, the next outing I go on after a gay bar is the epicenter of the Catholic Church. I had a day of rest in between, but the gear shift is still funny to me. The Vatican museum made me feel the same kind of anticipation that the Uffizi did. I was about to see the greatest works of my other artistic idol, Raphael, in person! I was actually very pleasantly surprised when our tour covered the antiquities as well, and got surprised again when I saw THE statue of Apollo!

Every room of the museum was overwhelming in the best way possible, every inch of space on the walls and ceiling were covered in beautiful works of art. I wish our tour guide was a little slower, though. I’ll just have to keep coming back to truly take in everything the museum has to offer (at least, the part open to the public).

I really wish I was better with words, so I could properly express what I felt seeing everything. It was especially entertaining to hear about the rivalries between the artists; especially between Raphael and Michelangelo. I actually didn’t know about da Vinci’s grievance with Botticelli over the Sistine Chapel walls! It was also very interesting to see the unique traits of these artists’ works up-close; Botticelli’s distinctive line-work and instantly recognizable semi-realism, Raphael’s light work of shadows and soft faces, Michelangelo’s contorted torsos and use of chiaroscuro, and whatever Perugino had going on (kidding of course, he taught Raphael, after all).

I felt truly immersed in the world of these artists. This is definitely a common experience, but I felt like I traveled back in time. Every minute detail of these works was thoroughly planned and thought-out. The general opulence of the entire place was a little insidious to me, but seeing the physical proof of these artists’ hard work was completely worth the slight discomfort. And who am I to judge? I’m the one who loves looking at beautiful cathedrals and churches, after all.

I truly can go on and on about these artists and this period of time, them and their works are so dear to me (if you couldn’t already tell by my Florence post). I feel I should also mention how unbearably hot it was in the museum, the combined body heat of a huge crowd of people did not help at all.

There was a really nice (air-conditioned!) buffer area between the museum and the Sistine Chapel that housed a collection of contemporary art. I am the biggest defender of contemporary art, so I obviously had to quickly look at as many things that caught my eye. This specific study of the crucifixion really stuck to me, and it isn’t even a completed piece! Contemporary Christian art will always be super interesting to me (my best friend is an iconographer!), especially when it’s actually interesting and not the American Evangelical blond Jesus. I really didn’t do the drawing justice with this awful photo.

Now it was time for the favorite child of the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel. I’ll be damned if I paid 20 euros for this visit and walked all that way in the heat and can’t get a picture. At the very least, I had to get a picture of the Creation of Adam. It took me a good minute to actually find it, but everything felt like it froze when I did finally see it. My neck also seemed to freeze as well, from looking up for so long. In my years of being an (terrible) artist, I’ve studied this painting front, back, sideways, and upside-down. I just managed to barely capture it, but I still got it!

I feel like I finally hit every major place I wanted to visit while in Italy. Everything is finally full-circle! I can return home happy.

–Nico Vila