Only one day left in Rome and so much left to see!  We were able to secure a private tour guide to the Vatican, but the tour wasn’t until later in the afternoon.   Since we had the morning to kill, and it had been HOURS since we’d seen any ruins, LouAnn dragged us to the Baths of Caracalla.  The scale of this ancient Roman bath house was stunning…. the most amazing spa I’ve ever imagined.   Just to give you an idea, the underground furnaces used to heat the pools burned through 10 tons of wood a day!  They also had room underground to store a 6-month supply of wood.   That’s 3.6 million pounds!  The baths had been incredibly immaculate – with many intricate mosaics still existing.

 

Part of the incredible mosaic floors in the baths.

Time for the Vatican tour, with FABIO.  Ah, Fabio, our tall, slender, tanned, handsome, 80-YEAR-OLD tour guide, who had been giving tours for 40 years.   Every tour guide we passed greeted him with hugs and told us that he had trained them all, that he was “the best in Rome.”  He may have been the best, but he wasn’t the FASTEST.  We quickly realized our 2 hr. tour would turn into four (ended up being 4 ½.)  He couldn’t hear very well either.  As we were discussing the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgment fresco, I tried to sound insightful by commenting that Michelangelo’s exaggerated figures looked almost grotesque.  Fabio simply nodded and said, “…Yes, very sarcastic.”

He tended to dwell on the things that he thought were significant or interesting and brushed off everything else.  For instance, when in St. Peter’s Basilica, LouAnn had to ask who the corpse in the glass coffin was?   He made a face and said, dismissively, “Oh, that’s Pope Such-and-Such… He’s buried with a silver mask on his face.  I don’t like it!  No man should be buried with a mask hiding his face!  Pffftt!”   O-k-a-y then, moving on.   We did learn a lot about the differences between Greek and Roman sculpture.  At the highest level, the Romans tended to show things at their very best.   Their sculpture was more like portraiture.  The Greeks were more realistic – theirs were more like snapshots of real life – the good, the bad – it had movement and meaning.

The Sistine Chapel was fascinating.  What Michelangelo accomplished was staggering.  Fabio made an interesting point that Michelangelo’s paintings were essentially done just like his sculptures; he did such an amazing job showing the human form.  They look almost 3-D.  During his time, NO ONE even came close to replicating his mastery of painting muscles, features, contours, shading.

He was in his 30’s when he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and his figures were softer and innocent.   When he painted “The Final Judgment”, he was in his 60’s and his attitude had changed.  He was more cynical – his innocence was lost – therefore his figures were more grotesque (not sarcastic!) in their form and features – more hardened.   At that age, he had seen more of the sin that was in the world and in himself, and it was reflected in his painting.    Actually being in the Sistine Chapel was surreal.  Really crowded, darker than expected, and relatively quiet… except for the guard with the bullhorn telling everyone, “Silencio!”  (At this, Fabio rolled his eyes and kept whispering to us.)  While it was incredible, it was almost TOO much; almost gaudy.  Every square inch of the chapel was painted.  But learning so much about the paintings before we went in made it much more meaningful as we stood and gazed upon this masterpiece.

Fabio then took us over to St. Peter’s, which we didn’t think we’d see, as it had been closed that morning.  (Did I mention that he skipped right past the 2-hour lines everywhere he took us?)   As we entered, two rays of light were shining down into the central nave.  Beautiful!  We saw incredible paintings, mosaics, and sculptures, including Michelangelo’s “La Pieta.”  Fabio pointed out that the enormous 15 ft. paintings were actually mosaics!   You would never know unless you looked at it a certain way, with the light reflecting on it.   Mind-blowing detail!

As we meandered through the church, loud bells began ringing, calling for afternoon mass.   At this, Fabio hurried us toward the exit, not wanting to be caught up in it.   “What time is mass? “ I asked.  “5:00,” he replied and looked at his watch.  It was only 4:45.   Wait!  Where’s Ellis!?   We looked back through the crowd to see Ellis standing in the corner, his hands grasping the rope that was attached to the bell that calls everyone to mass.   Deep breaths….

We finished our tour and had dinner & ice cream with Fabio at a nearby restaurant.   By the time we got back to our hotel, we realized we’d been walking for 12+ hours.  No wonder our feet were tired!

Fabio, talking about the Sistine Chapel before we went in.

Michelangelo was said to have modeled his “David” after this bust.  It was enormous – 15-20 feet tall.

 

Pope John Palm Frond III

“Laocoon and His Sons”, outside the Vatican Museum.  A very famous Greek sculpture that’s a brilliant example of the life and ACTION that Greek sculptors created.  Here, Laocoon – a Trojan priest of Poseidon – and his two sons are being attacked by sea serpents.

 

Depiction of “The Last Judgment” on a sign outside the Sistine Chapel.  No photos allowed inside!  And no TALKING, por favore!

 

Brilliant late-afternoon sunlight in St. Peter’s Basilica

 

Michelangelo’s “La Pieta”

 

 

 

These are the same mosaic; the second one shows the detailed tiles.

Pope Silver-Mask!  Fabio does not approve!

Swiss Guard – personal bodyguards to the Pope.

 

The fabulous Fabio!