Our local guide took us to an area where she could discuss the Sistine Chapel ceiling and answer questions, since strict silence is expected inside. Michelangelo did not want the commission as he considered himself a sculptor, not a painter, and refused the offer. So, the Pope compelled him. He fended off any suggestions or directions he was given and created the design as he wished.
After completing the first half of the central nave, M realized the figures were too small to see the detail he worked in. The second half of the ceiling features larger figures for the creation of man, woman and the original sin.
We didn't get to the Sistine for a while, needing to first shuffle with the throngs through room after room of tapestries, paintings, sculpture, apartments decorated for different Popes by different famous artists, additions and projects to the Vatican by different Popes.
Finally, time for the Sistine. When I was here in 1966, there were stacks of carpets on the floor and you were allowed to lie down to study the ceiling. But the ceiling was dark and far away.
Today, it's like cattle cars, jammed shoulder to shoulder, with more people coming in all the time. Constant announcements for no photos and silence. Guards patrol, picking out offenders to discipline. But, the ceiling has been restored and the colors are truly amazing. Now the figures are vibrant and dynamic, so different from before. The restorers left a couple of spots uncleaned for reference and the difference is dramatic, after removing centuries of candle smoke and grime.
The Last Judgement on the altar wall, painted years later, also on command from the Pope, is equally dramatic. Again, M rejected any direction, and possibly to show some displeasure at the situation, painted the entrance to Hell directly behind the altar.
From there to St. Peter's - masses of people, so to speak. The Pieta, seen through a forest of cell phones and cameras. Pope John XXIII displayed in a lighted, glass coffin, still wearing his red shoes.
Finally, burst out into the sun of the piazza, for a chance of sunlight and a little space.
Off to the Borghese family's villa. The Borgheses, a powerful family which included a Pope or two, amassed a fine collection of art. Their villa is now a museum, featuring Bernini - a favorite of theirs - plus Rapael and more. Bernini's David and his Daphne and Apollo are wonderful sculptures, impossible to imagine creating them.
One artist refused to sell a Borghese Pope a few of his paintings. The Pope had his house raided, finding some illegal weapons. The sentence: death. Unless, of course, you'd consider handing over those paintings.
Soon, a day of standing and walking is making itself known. Time for a nice dinner in a family restaurant.
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