I'll go ahead and say that no pictures can adequately capture the Vatican. There are FOUR MILES of passages in the Vatican Museums alone. There is a mind-boggling array of art both in the collection in the form of statuary and paintings, as well as the structure itself (in its ceilings, walls and floors).
The waiting area. The line was a complete zoo, fortunately we'd made reservations months in advance so we pretty much just zoomed right in.
Below: Galleria Lapidaria.
Mercury (note the two-headed staff)
Athena
Athena (detail)
During the Renaissance, many male nudes were adorned with fig leaves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_leaf#History)
I'M CUTTING YOU OFF, DIONYSUS.
The statue of Laocoon and his children being killed by serpents (Laocoon was a Trojan, and the first guy to say "hey guys, maybe we shouldn't just trust these Greek guys to give us this nice big wooden horse.")
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| Dionysus... buddy. Seriously. You've had enough. |
Observe the scale of the statuary in this room. Most of the statues are about 10 feet tall.
A river (or possibly ocean) god, unattributed. Erin feels strongly that this is Oceanus. Note the seaweed eyebrows and the dolphins in his beard.
Details from the maps in the hall of maps.
It was pretty cool to look past some of the scaffolding and see someone actively restoring some of the art.
The School of Athens, one of the most famous frescoes in the Vatican, painted by the master Raphael.
Some random street photos on our walk back.
St. Peter's Basilica.
We couldn't get all the way in as there was a celebration today and an address from the Pontiff himself. We hung around for a bit and just enjoyed the view. St. Peter's is beautiful.
Stopping for a photo op on our way back.
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