The Vatican Museum, the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel

We visited the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel yesterday.

It was a beautiful day.

Below are some of the photos I took. 

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Entry onto Viale Vaticano, Entrance to the Vatican Museum

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The Vatican walls

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The Side Entrance

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The Bramante Staircase   (love sublime stairs)

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The main entryway (with Vatican seal on the ceiling) - simply exquisite.

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Roman statue of Hypnos, God of sleep

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Boy Strangling a Goose, Roman copy of a Greek statue

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Statute of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and wild animals.

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The Gallery of Tapestries    (huge ornate works of art)

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The Scuola Nuova tapestry series

The tapestry series cover episodes from the life of Christ. This particular one represents the encounter between the risen Christ and the weeping Mary Magdalene near the tomb. 

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The Gallery of Geographical Maps  (a breathtaking corridor)

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Me and Marcelo in front of one of the Pope maps

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Celestial Globe 16th century, Giovanni Antonio Vanosio. It bears an accurate, if idealized, map of the constellations visible in the skies of the northern hemisphere.

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Beautiful Bust of Pope Paul V

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The Braccio Nuovo ("new wing") dedicated to the old emperors. Again, breathtakingly elegant.

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The Coronation of the Virgin by Raphael, The room of the Immaculate Conception.

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The Proclamation of the Dogma of Immaculate Conception by Raphael, The Room of the Immaculate Conception. This is a meticulously and exquisitely painted constellation of both divine and earthly celebration of a dogma of the Church.

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The Room of Constantine. Depicted on the walls are fake tapestries which themselves illustrate four episodes of Constantine's life which testify to the defeat of paganism and the triumph of the Christian religion. Artists were Giovan Francesco Penni and Giulio Romano.

Me, wearing some trousers this time.

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The Expulsion of Heliodorus by Raphael, The Room of Heliodorus. The perfect distillation of High Renaissance and rendered with such beauty and elegance. These rooms were the second set painted by Raphael for Pope Julius II. Those statues at the bottom are actually painted!!

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The School of Athens by Raphael, The Room of Heliodorus.

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The Triumph of the Holy Sacrament by Raphael, The Room of Heliodorus. Again, another strikingly beautiful and harmonious picture for Pope Julius II.

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The Trinity by Salvador Dali.  There was another Dali which seemed overly "respectful". This one I quite liked  (and not just because of the naked floating Christ).

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The Sistine Chapel ceiling. As some of you may be aware, you are not allowed to take photos in the chapel itself. I am usually very respectful when it comes to flash photography (or any photography) and the preservation of art which can be degraded over time. I've also been to exhibitions which are highly sensitive and can't be photographed without being disrespectful. But here, the Vatican gave exclusive rights to a company in exchange for a restoration deal. That's the reason. So I feel don't feel too bad about grabbing a discrete selfie. Marcelo and I spent over 30 mins whispering to each other about the incredibly detailed  narrative of Michaelangelo's.

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Vatican Cafeteria   (Sandwiches named: Giotto, Canova, Raphael and Leonardo 😁)

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Even the gift shop is electrifying!

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My Vatican lunch     (It looks like I'm praying!! I don't know why my hands are clasped like that?)

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Pope Pius 12th. On the way out, we went past the post stamp history and I came across the notorious Eugenio Pacelli. He was Pope during the Hitler years and not only failed to take any action to oppose The Third Reich, but he later took credit for things he never did. An embarrassing stain on Catholic history.