Vatican Museum - Part 1

It's really hard to put into words just how astonishing the Vatican is.  Our tour guide, Kate met us at our hotel and whisked us across Rome to Vatican City to take us on a tour that lasted about 4 hours.  The crush of the crowds is beyond description - 35,000 people per day go on this tour.  Fortunately, Kate is permitted (I guess through a licensing arrangement with the Vatican) to skip the lines which quite literally stretched for blocks.

A few brief observations from me followed by some pics - then from Jeff.  We respected the rules of the Vatican and took no photos in the Sistine Chapel.

The size and breadth of the Vatican really defies description.  The museum is vast - it stretches through many, many buildings that have, over the centuries, changed roles profoundly depending on who was the pope at the time.  Wikipedia says there are 54 galleries - which sounds right.  

The tour very much "saves the best for the last".... The Sistine Chapel, and then St. Peter's Basilica.  The restoration of The Sistine Chapel is amazing - a very small part of the work was left un-restored - it was so dark and covered with soot, grime, and candle smoke as to be nearly invisible. The restored ceiling (and walls)... bright, bold, and eye-popping.

St. Peter's Basilica is positively stunning.  It's so much bigger than one can imagine -  it's size defies description: they have a marker in the middle of the nave that indicates where Notre Dame in Paris would end if it were in the same place - and it's about halfway to the main alter.  The sanctuary is massive.  It took my breath away when we entered the space - and I turned around to see what was behind me - and there was the Pieta.  I chose not to photograph Michelangelo's masterpiece - there's nothing I could do that would capture the beauty and tragedy of this sculpture. It moved me deeply.

Respighi's Pines of Rome was clearly inspired by the (very prevalent) pines around Rome.  Here, one frames St. Peter's.

In the Vatican Museum - this is a mosaic tiled floor, as is the photo below (see the feet?)

Through the centuries, various Popes collected art treasures from around the world, including this piece from Egypt.

Not the Sistine Chapel - but the approach.

The dove signifying the Holy Spirit - taken from inside St. Peter's.

Another spectacular sculpture in St. Peter's.  See the closeup below of death - who's always lurking below and waiting...

You can't see the dome because the nave is so long:  even from this far away location the dome is blocked from view, and the top of the dome is 448 feet above the floor of the Basilica!