A Vatican Perspective
@NormanDarlo (1071)
Ireland
November 6, 2018 11:45am CST
Earlier this year, I visited Vatican City in Rome for the first time. I went during low season, so there were no crowds or queues, as that can be a problem if you visit at a busy time. One of the most intriguing areas, for me, was a set of rooms in the Vatican palace, known as the Raphael Rooms, famous for their frescoes all painted by the Italian artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (aka Raphael) in the early 1500s. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.
The fresco pictured above is from the ceiling of the Room of Heliodorus. What may be difficult to grasp at first is that this is all ceiling - including the apparently floor-level stuff. The perspective and clarity are astonishing. It seems to me that Heliodorus and the angels rushing forward, are threatening to spill out of the painting!
Have you ever visited Vatican City? Would you like to?
10 people like this
10 responses
@JudyEv (326601)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Nov 18
@NormanDarlo I shouldn't have said 'tour'. I just meant we joined the queue to go through the museum and rooms. We did have a tour later of the catacombs which was very interesting. They had a section barricaded off which had been a road in the times of the chariots.
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
Was the tour worthwhile? I didn't take one. Perhaps it was busier when you were there, but I didn't see any flashes in the Sistine chapel, though I noticed a few people surreptitiously taking shots with their phones.
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
@JudyEv Oh I completely forgot about the catacombs. I went there the first time I was in Rome in 1984. More recently I visited the catacombs in Palermo (Sicily) which was full of mummified corpses in sitting position, and had been in use up until some time last century 
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@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
9 Nov 18
@NormanDarlo I went in July and the crowds were awful.
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
9 Nov 18
Yes, I think I was lucky to go in January. Outside the Vatican, there were 'guides' offering special tickets (for a substantial price) to "skip the queues". I would have kicked myself had I bought one since there were no queues at all 
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
10 Nov 18
@jaboUK Oh I'm not surprised. No way would I go during the summer. I bet Rome overall was thick with tourists at that time.
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@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
6 Nov 18
Wow, that is an amazing paining! I have never visited the Vatican but it would be an interesting visit if I could go.
By the way, who was Heliodorus?
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
6 Nov 18
He was a 2nd century official of Seleucus IV who gets a mention in the apocrypha (II Maccabees 3), where we read that he was sent to get the treasure from the Temple in Jerusalem but was given short shrift by angelic forces - that's what we're seeing here 
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@allknowing (130292)
• India
7 Nov 18
I have visited Vatican and that window from where the pope is seen was empty as he was out visiting some country.
Talking about frescoes I remember watching the movie Agony and the Ecstasy where conflicts of Michelangelo and Pope Julius is depicted. It concerns the Sistine Chapel, Vatican
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search The Agony and the EcstasyTheatrical release poster by Howard TerpningDirected byCarol ReedProduced byCarol ReedScreenplay byPhilip DunneBased onThe Agony and the Ecstasyby Irving Stone
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
9 Nov 18
@allknowing Okay, thanks! I'll watch out for that
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
9 Nov 18
I don't know where the pope was when I visited in January, but he didn't come to say hello. I don't know that film. Would you recommend it?
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@MALUSE (69390)
• Germany
7 Nov 18
@NormanDarlo That's certainly a good idea. February or November come to mind.
The first time I visited Rome was in February. I stayed there with a friend of mine for two weeks and we went sight-seeing every day. That was an overkill of culture! I didn't set a foot in a museum for the following five years. :-)
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
There is, indeed. I saw what I could in one day, and was satisfied, as | had other things to do in Rome. But I will return, though only in low season!
@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
@MALUSE It was January I went. I had my 16 year old son in tow, so I wasn't over-ambitious, but we saw and walked over lots of culture too!
@CarolDM (203449)
• Nashville, Tennessee
7 Nov 18
@NormanDarlo I was waiting on a funny response. I will also make sure I have my camera.
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
@CarolDM Oh, sorry! I promise I'll try harder next time!
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
If you're gonna lie down make sure you go in low season, or else you'll be trampled underfoot!
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@1creekgirl (40635)
• United States
6 Nov 18
All I can say is, "wow!" I'd love to see it in person, but I doubt that will ever happen. Glad you enjoyed your visit.
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@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
6 Nov 18
I have never been there. I have heard that it is beautiful.
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@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
It is very beautiful, though they've clearly never heard of minimalism, or 'less is more'!
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@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
8 Nov 18
Never been to Vatican and you're lucky to have the chance to do so. You really must have been in awe at the works of the great master artists.
@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
7 Nov 18
Well I'm glad you got to see it then. But if your sight is failing make best use of it while you still have it! My own is deteriorating, but so far I seem to be holding onto it.
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