Capitoline Museum and The Vatican

Hey! I guess this week was full of tours! (Which is a good thing considering I have been here EXACTLY a month and finally made it to the Vatican!) On Tuesday, my art history class went to see the Capitoline Museum. Lucky for us, it was open. Today it was closed because Michelle Obama came to Italy! :) Anyway, the museum was really interesting and it is the house of many famous statues. It was the first public museum so it is of great historical important for Rome. Here is a picture of the original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius. The marble copy is what it is outside in Campidoglio Sqaure. The museum also has the remains of a colossal statue of Constantine and the She-Wolf statue. Our tour was cool but it was really long! I was definitely museumed-out. Or so I thought..

Today, we had a guided tour of the Vatican. It was a 2 hour tour through the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. We literally sprinted to find the entrance; we were definitely going to be late and had no idea where to go! Probably one of the most sweaty days in Rome.. but we made it! It was really amazing to be inside the Vatican and see first hand these amazing works of art. I could definitely upload a zillion pictures from our tour, but it would get too over loaded. But, here is a picture of the Vatican. It is honestly HUGE and the Vatican is it's own country! The smallest one in the world! To go through what I saw (briefly): we first entered a courtyard which was very pretty. We made our way into a gallery of statues and into another octagonal courtyard that holds the famous Laocoon statue and Apollo del Belvedere. We then saw the, also famous, Belvedere Torso statue which is supposed to show "perfect form" and was the inspiration for Michelangelo. It was really cool to see many of the frescos; ones that looked like reliefs (3D) were actually painted! It was amazing!

We also went through a gallery of tapestry and it was so ridiculous: one of the tapestries was of Jesus and his eyes follow you as you walk past it and the table beneath him switches sides! How did they make an illusion in a tapestry! AHH! We then went into the room's of Raphael and saw all of his famous pieces like the School of Athens. We then headed to the Sistine Chapel and I tried to sneak some pictures, but they don't turn out that well without the flash. Here is a picture of Michelangelo's The Last Judgment. It took him 4 years to make it! It was seriously mind-blowing to be inside the Sistine Chapel. I still don't understand how it is possible to paint on these huge walls with such detail. But, it was beautiful and highly decorated and I really enjoyed being there. I am glad I learned a little bit about all the statues and the paintings history and hopefully will continue to learn more about them.

We made our way to St. Peter's Basilica and that may have been one of the best parts. We almost didn't go in but we would have definitely missed out! It was so large, overwhelming, and so beautiful! I run out of adjectives so I know I sound repetitive, but I really don't even know how else to describe it! Here is a picture of me inside the Basilica. I have also attached a video. It obviously does not capture the view beauty of it that I was able to see, but, it will do. There is a statue of a man, I'm not sure of who it is portraying, but apparently people rub his right foot for good luck. So, of course, I did. The marble statue is changing shape (you can't even see the lines of the foot anymore) due to the amount of people that rub its' right foot: it is crazy! I am going back to the Vatican again tomorrow with my art history class, but now I feel much more prepared to see it. It was DEFINITELY worth the 30 euro to get a tour of the Vatican. I would not have known ANYTHING and would have walked right past tons of important statues, frescoes, tapestries, mosaics, and paintings.

I am leaving on Friday morning for Venice! It is my last weekend of planned traveling; I can't believe the summer here is coming to an end! It has been a month, even though it feels longer, but time is going by very quickly. I only have this weekend in Venice, one more weekend in Rome (I am going to see an Opera!), and then the last week with finals! Maybe next summer I will study abroad some where else? Just a thought! ;) Arrivederci!