Pantheon (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

The Pantheon and Piazza della Rotunda

The fountain and obelisk

Built more than 1800 years ago, the magnificent Pantheon still stands as a reminder of the great Roman Empire. It borders the Piazza della Rotonda, a rectangular square with at its center an eighteenth-century fountain crowned with an obelisk.

This constantly crowded square, situated in the historic center of Rome, is not far from Piazza Navona. With its thick brick walls, large columns and 43 m. high dome, this cylindrical building made an immediate impression on us. As the best-preserved example of an ancient Roman monumental building, the Pantheon has been enormously influential in Western architecture from at least the Renaissance on. Even in its present state, the Pantheon allowed me a glimpse into the marvelous and stunning world of Roman architecture. This wonderful example of second century Roman architecture boasts mathematical genius and simple geometry that even today still impressed an architect like me.

Standin L-R: the author and Jandy. Seated L-R: Grace, Kyle and Cheska

Standing L-R: the author and Jandy. Seated L-R: Grace, Kyle and Cheska

The present Pantheon was built on the site of an earlier building commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), The Augustan Pantheon, along with other buildings, was destroyed in a huge fire in the year 80 AD. Domitian rebuilt the Pantheon, which was burnt again in 110 AD. It was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. In 202, the building was repaired by the joint emperors Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla (fully Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), for which there is another, smaller inscription on the architrave of the façade. In the walls at the back of the Pantheon’s portico are niches, perhaps intended for statues of Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, and Agrippa, or for the Capitoline Triad, or another set of gods.

Jandy and the author. The inscription above reads: M•AGRIPPA•L•F•COS•TERTIVM• FECIT meaning “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time.”

The entrance doorway

In 609, the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface IV, who converted it into a Christian church and consecrated it to St. Mary and the Martyrs (Latin: Santa Maria ad Martyres) on May 13, 609.

The building’s consecration as a church saved it from the abandonment, destruction, and the worst of the spoliation that befell the majority of ancient Rome’s buildings during the early medieval period. This circular building, with a front portico of three rows of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment, has a rectangular vestibule that links the porch to the rotunda. The rotunda, under a coffered concrete dome, has a central opening (oculus) to the sky.

The Pantheon

Here’s some interesting trivia regarding the Pantheon:

The name Pantheon refers to the building’s original function as a temple for all the gods. However, the generic term pantheon has sometimes been applied to other buildings in which illustrious dead are honored or buried.
Its date of construction has been confused as Hadrian retained Agrippa’s original inscription – M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM· FECIT meaning “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time.”
It is one of the best-preserved of all ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history.
Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome, substantially larger than earlier domes, is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, spanning 150 Roman ft. It was the largest dome in the world until 1436 when Brunelleschi‘s 42-m. dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was constructed.
The building was originally approached by a flight of steps but these were eliminated after later construction raised the level of the ground leading to the portico.
The Pantheon was probably constructed by using an elaborate setup of costly wooden scaffolding.
The grey 39 ft. (11.9 m.) high, 5 ft. (1.5 m.) diameter granite columns that were actually used in the Pantheon’s pronaos, each weighing 60 tons, were quarried at Mons Claudianus in the eastern mountains in Egypt. Each of these was dragged, on wooden sledges, more than 100 kms. (62 miles) from the quarry to the Nile River, floated by barge when the water level was high during the spring floods, then transferred to vessels to cross the Mediterranean Sea to the Roman port of Ostia. There, they were transferred back onto barges and pulled up the Tiber River to Rome. After being unloaded near the Mausoleum of Augustus, it was necessary to either drag them or to move them on rollers to the construction site 700 m. away.
Most of the bombards for the fortification of Castel Sant’Angelo used about 90% of the bronze from the ceiling of the Pantheon’s portico, ordered melted down by Pope Urban VIII (1623 to 1644). The remaining amount was used by the Apostolic Camera for various other works. It is also said that the bronze was used by Bernini in creating his famous baldachin above the high altar of Peter’s Basilica (however, one expert states that the bronze for the baldachin came from Venice).
The large bronze doors to the cella, once plated with gold, are ancient but not the original ones of the Pantheon. The current doors, manufactured too small for the 40 Roman ft. high door frames, have only been there since about the 15th century.
The height to the oculus (30 Roman feet in diameter) and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 m. (145 Roman feet or 141 feet 8 inches), so the whole interior would fit exactly within a cube. In a similar note, the interior could house a sphere 43.3 m. in diameter. If the dome of the rotunda were flipped upside down it would fit perfectly inside the rotunda.
From the outside, the Pantheon appears rectangular in shape but it is only the first small room (cella) that has corners. The rotunda is completely round.
The Pantheon has no windows. The oculus, an engineering gem of the Roman world at the dome’s apex, and the entry door are the only natural sources of light in the interior.
Though often drawn as a free-standing building, the Pantheon abuts a building at its rear which helps buttress the rotunda but was no interior passage from one to the other.
The interior of the dome was possibly intended to symbolize the arched vault of the heavens. Throughout the day, the light from the oculus moves around this space in a reverse sundial effect.
The oculus, still lined with the original Roman bronze, also serves as a cooling and ventilation method. Never covered, rain falls into the interior and runs off the slightly convex floor to the still functioning Roman drainpipes underneath.
No oculus had even dared come close in size to the one in the Pantheon.
In 2013, the Pantheon was visited by over 6 million people.
Since the Renaissance the Pantheon has been used as a tomb. Among those buried there are the painters Raphael and Annibale Carracci, the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and the architect Baldassare Peruzzi. Two kings of Italy are also buried in the Pantheon: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Umberto’s Queen, Margherita.
The Pantheon is in use as a Catholic church. Masses are celebrated there on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Weddings are also held there from time to time.

A state property, the Pantheon is ruled by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. The National Institute of Honor Guards to the Royal Tombs, founded in 1878, maintain the royal tombs and also organize picket guards at the tombs.

The dome and oculus

The 4,535 metric ton (4,999 short ton) Roman concrete dome is concentrated on a ring of 9.1 m. (30 ft.) diameter voussoirs that form the oculus while the downward thrust of the dome is carried by 8 barrel vaults in the 6.4 m.(21 ft.) thick drum wall into eight piers. The thickness of the dome varies from 6.4 m. (21 ft.) at the base of the dome to 1.2 m. (3.9 ft.) around the oculus. The material used in the concrete of the dome also varies.

During the construction of the Pantheon, the most important problem the Romans faced was the massive weight of the large dome. To substantially reduced stresses in the dome, successively less dense aggregate stones in higher layers of the dome were used. At its thickest point, the aggregate is travertine, then terracotta tiles and, lastly, at the very top, where the dome would be at its weakest and vulnerable to collapse, tufa and pumice, both porous light stones. The elimination of the apex by means of the oculus actually lightened the load.

The evenly spaced, difficult to achieve layout of the dome, featuring elegant sunken panels (coffers) in five rings of 28, is presumed to have symbolic meaning, either numerical, geometric, or lunar. In antiquity, the panels may have contained bronze stars, rosettes or other ornaments. Most likely, they were struck with a device that was exacted from floor level

Hidden chambers engineered within the rotunda formed a sophisticated structural system. The top of the rotunda wall features a series of brick relieving arches, visible on the outside and built into the mass of the brickwork. Inside, there are relieving arches over the recesses, all hidden by marble facing on the interior and possibly by stone revetment or stucco on the exterior.

Half dome above the high altar

High altar

The present high altars and the apses inside were commissioned by Pope Clement XI (1700–1721) and designed by Alessandro Specchi.

A 7th-century Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child, given by Phocas to Pope Boniface IV on the occasion of the dedication of the Pantheon for Christian worship on May 13, 609, is enshrined on the apse above the high altar. The choir, added in 1840, was designed by Luigi Poletti.

Madonna of the Girdle and St Nicholas of Bari (1686)

Annunciation (Melozzo da Forli)

The first niche, to the right of the entrance, holds a Madonna of the Girdle and St Nicholas of Bari (1686) painted by an unknown artist. The Chapel of the Annunciation, the first chapel on the right, has a fresco of the Annunciation attributed to Melozzo da Forlì.

On the left side is a canvas of St Lawrence and St Agnes (1645–1650) by Clement Maioli. The Incredulity of St Thomas (1633), by Pietro Paolo Bonzi, is on the right wall. A 15th-century fresco of the Tuscan school, depicting the Coronation of the Virgin, is in the second niche.

St Lawrence and St Agnes (Clement Maioli)

Incredulity of St Thomas (1633, Pietro Paolo Bonzi)

Tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II

In the second chapel, originally dedicated to the Holy Spirit and designed by Manfredo Manfredi, is the tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II who died in 1878.

Started in 1885, the tomb consists of a large bronze plaque, surmounted by a Roman eagle, and the arms of the house of Savoy.

The golden lamp above the tomb burns in honor of Victor Emmanuel III who died in exile in 1947.

The Roman eagle and the arms of the House of Savoy

St Anne and the Blessed Virgin (Il Lorenzone)

The third niche has a sculpture of St Anne and the Blessed Virgin done by Il Lorenzone. In the third chapel is The Madonna of Mercy between St Francis and St John the Baptist, a 15th-century painting of the Umbrian school, also known as the Madonna of the Railing, because it originally hung in the niche on the left-hand side of the portico where it was protected by a railing.

It was moved to the Chapel of the Annunciation and then, sometime after 1837, to its present position. The bronze epigram commemorated Pope Clement XI‘s restoration of the sanctuary.

The Madonna of Mercy between St Francis and St John the Baptist

St. Anastasio (Bernardino Cametti)

On the right wall is the canvas Emperor Phocas presenting the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV (1750) done by an unknown artist.

There are three memorial plaques in the floor, one commemorating a Gismonda written in the vernacular.

The final niche, on the right side, has a statue of St. Anastasio (1725) done by Bernardino Cametti.

Assumption (1638, Andrea Camassei)

St Joseph and the Holy Child (Vincenzo de Rossi)

On the first niche to the left of the entrance is an Assumption (1638) done by Andrea Camassei. The Chapel of St Joseph in the Holy Land, the first chapel on the left, is the chapel of the Confraternity of the Virtuosi at the Pantheon referring to the confraternity of artists and musicians that was formed here by Desiderio da Segni, a 16th-century Canon of the church, to ensure that worship was maintained in the chapel.

The institution still exists but is now called the Academia Ponteficia di Belle Arti (The Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts), based in the Palace of the Cancelleria. The altar in the chapel, covered with false marble, has a statue of St Joseph and the Holy Child done by Vincenzo de Rossi.

Adoration of the Magi (Francesco Cozza)

Adoration of the Shepherds (Francesco Cozza)

The paintings Adoration of the Shepherds, on left side, and Adoration of the Magi on right were done in 1661 by Francesco Cozza, one of the Virtuosi.

The Dream of St Joseph, the stucco relief on the left, was done by Paolo Benaglia while Rest during the flight from Egypt, the one on the right, was done by Carlo Monaldi.

Stucco relief Dream of St Joseph (Paolo Benaglia)

Rest during the flight from Egypt (Carlo Monaldi)

Bust of Baldassare Peruzzi

On the vault are several 17th-century canvases, from left. to right: Cumean Sibyl by Ludovico Gimignani; Moses by Francesco Rosa; Eternal Father by Giovanni Peruzzini; David by Luigi Garzi; and Eritrean Sibyl by Giovanni Andrea Carlone.

The second niche has a statue of St Agnes and Agnus Dei done by Vincenzo Felici (1700). The bust on the left is a portrait of Baldassare Peruzzi, derived from a plaster portrait done by Giovanni Duprè.

St Agnes and Agnus Dei (1700, Vincenzo Felici)

Tomb of King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy

The next chapel, opposite the tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II, is the tomb of Umberto I and his wife Margherita di Savoia. Originally dedicated to St Michael the Archangel and then to St. Thomas the Apostle, the present design is by Giuseppe Sacconi and completed, after his death, by his pupil Guido Cirilli.

It consists of a slab of alabaster mounted in gilded bronze and a frieze with allegorical representations of Generosity, by Eugenio Maccagnani, and Munificence, by Arnaldo Zocchi. The altar with the royal arms is by Cirilli.

Generosity (Eugenio Maccagnani)

Munificence (Arnaldo Zocchi)

Bust of the painter Raphael (Giuseppe Fabris)

The third niche, with the inscription on the sarcophagus Ossa et cineres (“Bones and ashes”), holds the mortal remains of the great artist Raphael while to the right of his sarcophagus is that of his fiance, Maria Bibbiena who died before they could marry.

The sarcophagus, given by Pope Gregory XVI, has an epigraph, written by Pietro Bembo, that reads ILLE HIC EST RAPHAEL TIMUIT QUO SOSPITE VINCI / RERUM MAGNA PARENS ET MORIENTE MORI (“Here lies Raphael, by whom the mother of all things (Nature) feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, herself to die”).

Tomb of Raphael

Madonna del Sasso (1524, Lorenzetto)

The present arrangement, designed by Antonio Munoz, is from 1811. The bust of Raphael (1833) was done by Giuseppe Fabris.

The two plaques commemorate Maria Bibbiena and Annibale Carracci. Behind the tomb is the statue, commissioned by Raphael and made by Lorenzetto in 1524, known as the Madonna del Sasso (Madonna of the Rock) so named because she rests one foot on a boulder.

Chapel of the Crucifixion

St. Rasius (1727, Francesco Moderati)

The Roman brick wall is visible in the niches of the Chapel of the Crucifixion. The wooden crucifix on the altar is from the 15th century.

On the left wall is a Descent of the Holy Ghost (1790), done by Pietro Labruzi, while on the right side is the low relief Cardinal Consalvi presents to Pope Pius VII the five provinces restored to the Holy See (1824) made by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. The bust is a portrait of Cardinal Agostino Rivarola. The final niche on this side has a statue of St. Rasius (S. Erasio) (1727) done by Francesco Moderati.

Chapel of the Madonna of Mercy

Statue of Archangel Gabriel

The unifying theme of the ecclesiastical interior design, a striking synthesis of tradition and innovation which contrasts with the temple’s structural design, is circles and squares. The checkerboard marble floor pattern, still the ancient Roman original, consists of a series of geometric patterns which contrast with the concentric circles of square coffers in the dome.

From floor to ceiling, each interior decorative zone is subdivided according to a different scheme and, as a result, do not line up. Even though the cylindrical space, topped by a hemispherical dome, is inherently ambiguous, the overall effect is immediate viewer orientation according to the major axis of the building. This discordance has not always been appreciated. In fact, in the 18th century, the attic level was redone according to Neo-Classical taste.

Pantheon: Piazza della Rotonda, 00186 Rome, Italy. Tel: +39 06 68300230. Open Mondays to Saturdays, 9 AM – 6.30 PM, and Sundays, 9 AM –1 PM. There is no admission charge and no security screening.

How to Get There: You have to walk to get there as the narrow streets where you find the Pantheon are far too narrow for buses. By bus, get off at the Trevi Fountain stop then walk for 5 mins. There is also no Metro station nearby.Take Line A, stop at Barberini station and then walk for about 10 mins.

Castel Sant’Angelo (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Castel Sant’Angelo

The towering, cylindrical Castel Sant’Angelo (English: Castle of the Holy Angel) was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 123 AD (finished in 139 AD) as a mausoleum (a decorated cylinder, with a garden top and golden quadriga) for himself, his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius. The remains of succeeding emperors (the last recorded deposition being Caracalla in 217) were also interred there. Here’s some historical trivia regarding Castel Sant’Angelo:

Entrance

Aside from a mausoleum, the monument has gone through several different uses. In 401, it lost its native function and became a fortified military outpost in order to defend Rome. In 271 AD, it was subsequently included in the Aurelian Walls by Flavius Augustus Honorius. Beginning in the 14th century, after different changes of properties between the noble Roman families, the Castel Sant’Angelo tied its fate to that of the popes who converted the structure into a castle. At the beginning of the 11^th century, the Papal state also used Castel Sant’Angelo as a prison (up to 1906). Prisoners here include Giordano Bruno (accused of heresy and imprisoned here for six years); wizard, masonic alchemist and healer Count Cagliostro; and sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini (the only one who managed to escape the fortress). Executions, by decapitation, were performed in the small inner courtyard.
It was once the tallest building in Rome.
The Castel is the only building that has followed the development of the city of Rome for about 2000 years (other Roman monuments were reduced to ruins or used as quarries to pick up materials to recycle in new, modern constructions).
There’s a secret, covered, 800 m. long fortified corridor called the Passetto di Borgo, built by Pope Nicholas III in 1277. It leads from Castel Sant’Angelo to the Leonine walls and Peter’s Basilica. During the famous Sack of Rome (1527), the scurrying Pope Clement VII used it to escape the siege of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V‘s Landsknechte. Borgia Pope Alexander VI also used it in 1494 to escape to the castle and from Charles VIII troops.
The bronze statue of the Archangel Michael on the roof depicts the legendary sighting, by Pope Gregory I (the Great), of the specter in the year 590 when he appeared and sheathe his sword as a sign of the end of the destructive plague that had seized the city, thus lending the castle its present name – the Castle of the Saint Angel.
Its terrace was also the setting for the third act of Giacomo Puccini‘s 1900 opera Tosca where the eponymous heroine, wild with pain for the loss of her lover and chased by the guards, leaps to her death from the Castel’s ramparts.
Decommissioned in 1901, the castle is now a museum, the National Museum of Castel Sant’Angelo (Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo).

Entrance Ramp

The building consists of a square, 89 m. (292 ft.) wide base on which a cylindrical colonnaded drum, with a diameter of 64 m. and covered with an earthen tumulus (topped with a statue of Hadrian driving a quadriga), was constructed.

Terrace

View of Rome from terrace

With its chunky round keep, this castle is an instantly recognizable landmark. A huge spiral ramp ascends upwards the Castel Sant Angelo for about 400 feet. The panoramic terrace, two storeys up, offers unforgettable views over Rome.

Angel Statue (Peter Anton von Verschaffelt)

At the top of the fortress, overlooking the terrace, is a bronze statue of Saint Michael holding his sword, executed in 1753 by the Flemish sculptor Peter Anton von Verschaffelt. It replaced a marble statue, of the same subject, created in 1536 by Raffaello da Montelupo. Montelupo’s can still be seen in an open court in the Castel interior.

Statue of Michael the Archangel (Raffaello da Montelupo)

The castle’s upper floors are filled with lavishly decorated Renaissance interiors, including the beautifully frescoed Sala Paolina built by Paul III. The notoriously and sumptuously lavish Papal Apartments, complete with gardens and fountains, was built by the infamous Borgia Pope Alexander VI. Known to have the most opulent of decorations and designs, it was said to even have one room painted by Raphael.

Pauline Hall (Sala Paolina)

The Farnese apartment overlooks the interior Courtyard of the Angel, so called because it houses the original angel that used to perch on the top of the castle until 1747. However, this piazza has had other names, such as the ‘Courtyard of Shootings’ or ‘Courtyard of the Bell’ where from there it was possible to hear the bell tolling announcing the impending executions. Leo X built a chapel with a Madonna by Raffaello da Montelupo. Below the apartments are several floors which include prisons and even a torture chamber.

Treasury Room

The Hall of Urns, in what is now known as the Treasury room deep within the heart of the building, is where the urn containing Hadrian’s ashes (scattered by Visigoth looters during Alaric‘s sacking of Rome in 410) are believed to be kept. Its museum has an eclectic collection of Renaissance paintings, sculpture, pottery, military memorabilia and antique Medieval firearms (many used by soldiers fighting to protect the castle).

Ponte Sant’Angelo

The now solely pedestrian, 135 m. (443 ft.) long Ponte Sant’Angelo (formerly the Pons Aelius), also built by Hadrian, faces straight onto the Castel. Renowned for the Baroque additions of statues of angels holding aloft elements of the Passion of Christ, it still provides a scenic approach from the center of Rome and the right bank of the Tiber.

The author at the terrace

Castel Sant’Angelo: Lungotevere Castello 50, Parco Adriano, 00193 Rome, Italy. Open April-September, 9 AM – 7:30 PM, October-March, 9 AM -2 PM. Closed on public holidays. Last admission 1 hour before closing time. Admission: Adults €8, reduced ticket €6. Website: www.castelsantangelo.com. E-mail: info@castelsantangelo.com.

How to Get There:

– Lepanto (Metro A) Ottaviano (Metro A). From Termini take bus #40 Express. From Piazza Navona take Zanardelli St. north to Ponte Umberto I Bridge. After the bridge turn left and Lung Castello will take you straight to the castle. From the Vatican walk east, along Via di Conciliazione Pia, directly to the castle.

Vatican Museum – Sistine Chapel (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

The Sistine Chapel

The piece de resistance of our visit to the Vatican Museums is the Sistine Chapel, a high, rectangular chapel in the Apostolic Palace (the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City) and the very last sala within the museum. A place of both religious and functionary papal activity, it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which each successive pope is selected by the College of Cardinals.

Old Testament Books of the Bible – Isaiah

Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the present chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481. The pope also hired the most famous High Renaissance artists (including Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Roselli) to create a series of frescos, completed in 1482, depicting the Life of Moses and the Life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe l’oeil drapery below. On August 15, 1483, the Feast of the Assumption, Sixtus IV consecrated the Sistine Chapel, dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and celebrated the first mass.

Drunkenness of Noah

Here are some trivia regarding the chapel:

The chapel is 40.9 m. (134 ft.) long by 13.4 m. (44 ft.) wide, the same dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament.
It has an unadorned exterior façade, devoid of architectural or decorative details (common in many Italian Medieval and Renaissance-era churches), which can only be seen only from nearby windows and light-wells in the palace.
It has no exterior processional doorways. Ingress has always been from internal rooms within the Apostolic Palace.
Very large buttresses brace the exterior walls.
The building is divided into three stories. The lowest storey is a very tall basement level, robustly vaulted to support the Sistine Chapel above, with several utilitarian windows and a doorway giving onto the exterior court. The third storey, a wardroom for guards above the vault, has an open, roofed, projecting gangway which encircles the building, supported on an arcade springing from the walls.
The Sistine Chapel has 6 tall arched windows down each side and two at either end, several of which have been blocked.

The tall arched windows on the side walls

The 20.7 m. (68 ft.) high ceiling is a flattened barrel vault springing from a course that encircles the walls at the level of the springing of the window arches. It is cut transversely by smaller vaults over each window which divide the barrel vault, at its lowest level, into a series of large pendentives rising from shallow pilasters between each window.
The pavement, in opus alexandrinum (a decorative style using marble and colored stone in a pattern that reflects the earlier proportion in the division of the interior), marks, from the main door, the processional way used by the Pope on important occasions such as Palm Sunday.
A screen (transenna), sculpted in marble by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno and Giovanni Dalmata (they also provided the cantoria or projecting choir gallery), divides the chapel into two parts. It is surmounted by a row of ornate, once gilt candlesticks and has a wooden door (formerly an ornate door of gilded wrought iron).

The ceiling frescoes

The chapel’s fame, however, lies mainly in the frescoes by Michelangelo that decorate the interior, most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling, a masterpiece without precedent that was to change the course of Western art. Michelangelo used bright colors, easily visible from the floor. Ever since they were revealed five hundred years ago, the fame of Michelangelo’s paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel.

Eritrean Sibyl

Here is the timeline of the painting of the walls and ceiling of the chapel:

Of the present scheme of frescoes, the earliest part is that of the side walls, divided into three main tiers. At the central tier of the walls are The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ, two cycles of paintings which complement each other, commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Roselli and their workshops. The lower level of the walls, beneath the 2 cycles, is decorated with frescoed hangings in silver and gold. The upper tier, above the narrative frescoes, is divided into two zones. A Gallery of Popes, at the lower level of the windows, was painted at the same time as the 2 cycles.
From 1481–1482, the southern wall was decorated with the Stories of Moses. Starting from the altar, they include Moses Leaving to Egypt (by Pietro Perugino and assistants); The Trials of Moses (by Sandro Botticelli and his workshop); The Crossing of the Red Sea (by Cosimo Rosselli, Domenico Ghirlandaio or Biagio di Antonio Tucci); Descent from Mount Sinai (by Cosimo Rosselli or Piero di Cosimo); Punishment of the Rebels (by Sandro Botticelli); and Testament and Death of Moses (by Luca Signorelli or Bartolomeo della Gatta).

The Last Supper (Cosimo Rosselli)

The northern wall, dating to 1481–1482, houses the Stories of Jesus. They include Baptism of Christ (by Pietro Perugino and assistants); Temptation of Christ (by Sandro Botticelli); Vocation of the Apostles (by Domenico Ghirlandaio); The Sermon on the Mount (attributed to Cosimo Rosselli); The Delivery of the Keys to Peter (by Pietro Perugino); and The Last Supper (by Cosimo Rosselli).

Pietro Perugino’s “”Delivery of the Keys to Peter”

In 1572, the eastern wall was repainted with the Resurrection of Christ by Hendrick van den Broeck (over Domenico Ghirlandaio’s original) and, in 1574, by the Disputation over Moses’ Body by Matteo da Lecce (over Luca Signorelli’s original).
The ceiling of the barrel vault was first painted in brilliant-blue, studded with gold stars, to the design of Piermatteo Lauro de’ Manfredi da Amelia, and with decorative borders around the architectural details of the pendentives.
The ceiling, entirely replacing the old one, was commissioned by Pope Julius II and painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and November 2, 1512. Originally commissioned to paint the 12 Apostles on the triangular pendentives which support the vault, Michelangelo, however, demanded a free hand in the pictorial content of the scheme and he painted a series of 9 pictures showing God’s Creation of the World, God’s Relationship with Mankind, and Mankind’s Fall from God’s Grace. On the large pendentives he alternately painted 12 Biblical and Classical men and women, with Jonah over the altar, who prophesied that God would send Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind. On the highest section, Michelangelo painted 9 stories from the Book of Genesis. Around the arched tops of the upper parts of the windows, on the lowest part of the ceiling, are areas known as the lunettes which Michelangelo painted with the Ancestors of Christ as part of the scheme for the ceiling.

The Ancestors of Christ

Between 1535 and 1541, between two important historic events (the Sack of Rome by mercenary forces of the Holy Roman Empire in 1527 and the Council of Trent which commenced in 1545), Popes Clement VII and Paul III Farnese commissioned Michelangelo to decorate the entire wall above and behind the altar with The Last Judgment (depicting the second coming of Christ on the Day of Judgment as described in the Revelation of John, Chapter 20). The painting of this scene, designed on a grand scale, necessitated the obliteration of two episodes from the Lives, the Nativity of Jesus and the Finding of Moses; several of the Popes and two sets of Ancestors. High on the wall is the heroic figure of Christ, with the saints clustered in groups around him while, at the bottom left of the painting, the dead are raised from their graves and ascend to be judged. To the right are those who are assigned to Hell and are dragged down by demons.
On November 7, 1984, the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling restoration began. The chapel was re-opened to the public on April 8, 1994.

Noah After The Flood

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the paintings:

Contrary to popular belief, Michelangelo did not lie on the scaffolding (which he designed and built) while he painted, but painted from a standing position.
The Last Judgment was an object of a bitter dispute between Cardinal Carafa and Michelangelo because he depicted naked figures (the artist was accused of immorality and obscenity). A censorship campaign (known as the “Fig-Leaf Campaign”) was organized by Carafa and Monsignor Sernini (Mantua‘s ambassador) to remove the frescoes. The genitalia in the fresco were later covered by the artist Daniele da Volterra, whom history remembers by the derogatory nickname “Il Braghettone” (“the breeches-painter”).
In The Last Judgment, Michelangelo painted his own portrait on the flayed skin held by St Bartholomew. The semblance of Biagio da Cesena, the Pope’s Master of Ceremonies and another of Michelangelo’s critics, was worked into the scene as Minos, judge of the Underworld (it is said that when he complained to the Pope, the pontiff responded that his jurisdiction did not extend to Hell, so the portrait would have to remain).

Adam and Eve

After the ceiling work was finished, there were more than 300 figures showing Biblical scenes such as the Creation, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood. The painted area is about 40 m. (131 ft.) long by 13 m. (43 ft.) wide which means that Michelangelo painted well over 5,000 sq. ft. (460 m²) of frescoes.

The Great Flood

During the 1984-1994 restoration, the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo, caused the most concern because the emergence of the brightly colored Ancestors of Christ from the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe and removed the original intent of the artist.

Vatican Museums (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani) display works from the immense collection built up by the Popes throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. The Sistine Chapel (the very last sala within the museum), with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo, and the Stanze di Raffaello, decorated by Raphael, are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. The group of museums includes several sculpture museums surrounding the Cortile del Belvedere.

Entrance to the Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums trace their origin to the marble sculpture Laocoön and his Sons which was discovered on January 14, 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, purchased from the vineyard owner by Pope Julius II and placed on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery. On October 2006, the Museums celebrated their 500th anniversary by permanently opening the excavations of a Vatican Hill necropolis to the public.

Laocoon and his Sons

Here’s some trivia regarding the Vatican Museums:

It is one of the largest museums in the world.
It has a total of 54 galleries (orsale)
Visited by nearly 6 million people (three times the figure of 30 years ago) in 2013, it is the 6th most visited art museum in the world.

The new building, designed by Luca Beltrami, was inaugurated on October 27, 1932. The museum has paintings including:

Giotto‘s Stefaneschi Triptych
Olivuccio di Ciccarello,Opere di Misericordia
Raphael’s Madonna of Foligno, Oddi Altarpiece and Transfiguration
Leonardo da Vinci‘s Jerome in the Wilderness
Caravaggio‘s Entombment
Perugino‘s Madonna and Child with Saints and San Francesco al Prato Resurrection
Filippo Lippi‘s Marsuppini Coronation

Other notable museums and galleries include:

The Collection of Modern Religious Art, , inaugurated by Pope Paul VI in 1973, houses 600 accumulated works of paintings, sculptures and other graphic works, all donations of contemporary Italian and foreign artists. They include works by Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Carlo Carrà and Giorgio de Chirico.

Contemporary Art Collection (Collezione Arte Contemporanea)

Matisse Room (Sala Matisse)

The Greek Cross Gallery (Sala a Croce Greca) houses a 3rd century mosaic from Tusculum in the middle and two colossal sarcophagi in red porphyry. The sarcophagus on the left (4th century) belonged to Saint Helen, mother of Constantine the Great (306-337), comes from her mausoleum in Via Labicana. The sarcophagus on the right belonged to Constance, Emperor Constantine’s daughter and was in the Church of Santa Costanza in Via Nomentana.

The 3rd century mosaic from Tusculum at the Greek Cross Gallery (Sala a Croce Greca)

Sarcopahgus of Costanza

The Round Room (Sala Rotonda), built by Michelangelo Simonetti in the late 18th century in a pure Neo-Classical style, has a 21.60 m. diameter dome actually modeled on the Pantheon. It has impressive and fascinating ancient 3rd century mosaics from the Baths of Otricoli (Umbria region ) on the floors and ancient statues lining the perimeter, including a 2nd century gilded bronze statue of Hercules found near the Theater of Pompey. In the middle of the room is a huge round monolithic porphyry basin, measuring almost 5 m. across, which came from the Domus Aurea and was brought here in the late 18th century.

Round Room (Sala Rotonda)

The Gallery of Maps (Galleria della Carte Geografiche) features topographical maps of the whole of Italy, painted between 1580 and 1585 on the walls by friar Ignazio Danti of Perugia, a famous geographer of the time, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII (1572–1585). It remains the world’s largest pictorial geographical study. It takes its name from the 40 maps frescoed on the walls, which represent the Italian regions and the papal properties at the time of Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585). Considering the Apennines as a partition element, on one side the regions surrounded by the Ligure and Tyrrhenian Seas are represented; on the other, the regions surrounded by the Adriatic Sea. The map of the main city accompanies each regional map.

The author at the Gallery of Maps (Galleria della Carte Geografiche)

The Gallery of the Statues (Galleria delle Statue), originally an open loggia of the Palace of Innocent VIII and later walled in during the second half of the 18th century, holds various precious and important Roman statues including some copies of Greek statues of the Classical period (5th-4th century B.C.) such as the bust of Menander; the Apollo Sauroktonos, the lizard-killer, copied from Praxiteles (c.350 B.C.); and the famous Sleeping Ariadne, a Roman copy of the 2nd century from an original by the School of Pergamon (2nd century B.C.). It also contains the Barberini Candelabra.
The Gallery of the Busts (Galleria dei Busti) displays many ancient busts of Roman emperors.
The Gallery of the Candelabra (Galleria dei Candelabri), originally an open loggia built in 1761 and walled up at the end of the 18th century, has a ceiling was painted in 1883-1887. The gallery contains Roman copies of Hellenistic originals (3rd-2nd century B.C.) and some great 2nd century candelabra from Otricoli.

Gallery of the Candelabra (Galleria dei Candelabri)

The Chariot Room, a late 18th century room, contains a large marble Roman chariot drawn by two horses, dating from the 1st century A.D., but heavily restored in 1788. The copy of the famous Discobolus found in Hadrian’s Villa (Villa Adriana) at Tivoli, from a bronze Greek original by Myron (c. 460 B.C.) is also displayed here.

The Chariot Room

The Cabinet of the Masks (Gabinetto delle Maschere) has a mosaic on the floor of the gallery, found in Hadrian’s Villa (Villa Adriana), which shows ancient theater masks. Several famous statues are shown along the walls including the Three Graces (one wove the thread of life, the second nurtured it and the third cut it) and the remarkable Roman Venus of Cnidos (the original, mid 4th century B.C., also by Praxiteles, came from the Greek sanctuary of Cnidos and was much admired in antiquity).
The Room of Muses (Sala delle Muse), octagonal in shape, houses the 4^th century BC statue group of Apollo and the nine Muses (copied from Greek originals and uncovered in 1774 in a Roman villa near Tivoli) as well as and statues by important ancient Greek philosophers and writers (Homer, Socrates, Plato, Euripides, etc.). Its center piece is the famous Belvedere Torso, a 1st century B.C. original by the Athenian sculptor Apollonius and revered by Michelangelo and other Renaissance men for its powerful and vigorous muscolature. Recent studies identify the statue with the figure of the Greek hero Ajax.

Room of the Muses

Belvedere Torso

The Room of the Animals (Sala degli Animali) is so named because of the many ancient Roman statues of animals, heavily restored at the end of the 18^th century.

Room of the Animals (Sala degli Animali)

Museo Chiaramonti, founded in the early 19th century, was named after Pope Pius VII (whose last name was Chiaramonti before his election as pope). This large arched gallery, organized by the Neo-Classical sculptor Antonio Canova in 1807, exhibits a collection of about a thousand Roman sculptures, including portraits of emperors and gods, several fragments, friezes and reliefs of sarcophagi. Noteworthy is a funerari monument of a miller dating from the 1st century A.D. which was found at Ostia.

Museo Chiaramonti

Braccio Nuovo, the New Wing of Museo Chiaramonti built by Raffaele Stern and inaugurated in 1822 by Pius VII, houses important Roman statues and Roman copies of Greek original statues like a statue of Augustus, found at the Prima Porta (north of Rome); a Roman copy of the Doryphorus from an original by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos (440 B.C.); two splendid gilded bronze peacocks (copies of which are in the Courtyard of the “Pigna”), that may come from Hadrian’s Mausoleum; and the statue of The River Nile, a Roman copy of a 1st century Hellenistic statue originally found in the Temple of Isis, near the Pantheon and showing the great Egyptian river with its tributaries. Mosaics are set on the floors.
Galeria Lapidaria, another part of Museo Chiaramonti, has more than 3,000 stone tablets and inscriptions, the world’s greatest collection of its kind. However, it is opened only by special permission, usually for reasons of study.
Gallery of Tapestries (Galleria degli Arazzi) exhibits, along its walls, Flemish tapestries, realized in Brussels by Pieter van Aelst’s School from drawings by Raphael’s pupils, during the pontificate of Pope Clement VII (1523-1534). They were first shown in the Sistine Chapel in 1531 and, in 1838, arranged for the exhibition in this gallery.

Gallery of Tapestries (Galleria degli Arazzi)

Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836, has eight galleries and houses important Etruscan pieces such as vases, sarcophagus and bronzes, all coming from archaeological excavations from southern Etruria; the Guglielmi Collection; a large collection of Hellenistic Italian vases and some Roman pieces (Antiquarium Romanorum). In Room II is the notable Regolini-Galassi tomb and Rooms IV-VIII, known as the “Precious,” exhibit gold jewelry realized by Etruscan goldsmiths during the ten centuries of their civilization.
The Missionary Ethnological Museum, inaugurated by Pius XI in 1926, was also moved from the Lateran Palace. The collection consists of artworks and historical vestiges from missions all over the world. There are some interesting models of non-Catholic places of worship, such as Beijing’s Temple of the Sky (originally from the 15th century but re-done in the 18th century), the Altar of Confucius and the Shintoist Temple of Nara, Japan’s ancient capital city. The Buddhist devotional statues are testimonies of spiritual life in Tibet, Indonesia, India and the Far East; the findings of Islamic and Central African culture are also interesting, and so are objects and works of art, especially from Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Museo Gregoriano Egiziano, inaugurated on February 2, 1839 to commemorate the anniversary of Pope Gregory XVI‘s (1831-1846) accession to the papacy, was formerly housed in the Lateran Palace. In 1970, Pope John XXIII had it relocated in the Vatican. The museum houses a grand collection of Ancient Egyptian material such as papyruses, the Grassi Collection, animal mummies and reproductions of the famous Book of the Dead.
The Vatican Historical Museum (Italian: Museo storico vaticano), founded in 1973 at the behest of Pope Paul VI, was initially hosted in environments under the Square Garden. In 1987, it was moved to the main floor of the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran and opened in March 1991. It has a unique collection of portraits of the Popes from the 16th century to date, the memorable items of the Papal Military Corps of the 16–17th centuries and old religious paraphernalia related to rituals of the papacy.
The Carriage Pavilion, a section of the Historical Museum located in a large room under the Square Garden, was founded by Paul VI in 1973. It contains saddles, carriages, papamobili (Popemobiles), automobiles (including the first cars used by popes) and sedan chairs used by various popes and cardinals. Curiosities include some 19th century carriages, a model of Vatican City’s first train engine (1929) and a Berlin built for Pope Leo XII, used by popes for gala occasions until Pius XI’s time.
The Pius-Clementine (Pio-Clementino) Museum, founded Pope Clement XIV in 1771, originally contained Renaissance and antique works. Pius VI, Clement’s successor, enlarged the museum and its collection and, today, it houses works of Greek and Roman sculpture. After passing through a square vestibule and a small room with a magnificent marble cup, visitors enters the Cabinet of Apoxyomenos (shows an athlete scrapping off his sweat with a strigil, a kind of razor used in antiquity), named after a Roman copy of an original Greek bronze work by Lysippos (c. 320 B.C.). Bramante’s Staircase, seen from the next room, was commissioned by Julius II in 1512 as a link between the Palace of Innocent VIII (1484-1492) and the city of Rome. The spiral staircase, built in a square tower, could also be climbed on horseback.

Apoxyomenos

The Sobieski Room (Sala Sobieski) derives its name from the large painting by the Polish painter Jan Matejko (1838-1893), which represents Polish King John III Sobieski’s victory over the Turks in Vienna in 1683. All the other paintings in the room date from the 19th century.

The large painting by the Polish painter Jean Matejko (1838-1893) in the Sobieski Room (Sala Sobieski)

The Room of the Immaculate Conception (Sala dell Immacolata Concezione) contains a big showcase, a gift from the French company Christofle, full of books given to Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) by kings, bishops, cities and dioceses, when the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated.

Room of the Immaculate Conception (Sala dell Immacolata Concezione)

The Octagonal Courtyard (Cortile Ottagono), named after its shape by Clement XIV in 1772, houses famous statues such as the Apollo Belvedere, a Roman 2nd century copy from a Greek bronze original possibly by Leochares (330-320 B.C.), originally placed in the Agora of Athens and brought to the Vatican by Pope Julius II; the Perseus with the head of Medusa between two boxers by Antonio Canova (1800-1801); and the celebrated Laocoon group, a 1st century Roman copy from the Greek original in bronze by Hagesandros, Athanadoros and Polydoros, found in Rome on the Esquiline Hill in 1506 and purchased by Julius II who had it set in the Vatican. The latter sculpture represents the Trojan priest Laocoon who warned his fellow citizens about the ruse of the wooden horse, a gift of the Greeks. With his two sons, he was condemned to die by the wrath of Athena, victim of some serpents emerging from the sea.

Octagonal Courtyard (Cortile Ottagono)

Apollo del Belvedere

The Picture Gallery (Pinacoteca), situated in a building that dates back to 1932 and designed by the architect Luca Beltrami, was commissioned by Pope Pius IX (1922 -1939) expressly to house a collection of paintings, belonging to various popes and started by Pope Pius VI (1775-1799). It is connected to the Museum complex (at the entrance of the Quattro Cancelli) by an elegant portico. The works, covering a period from the Middle Ages to 1800, are set in chronological order, in eighteen rooms.
Pio Christian Museum (Museum Christianum), founded by Pius IX in 1854, contains Christian antiquities such as statues, sarcophagi, inscriptions and archaeological findings dating from the 6th century, all originally exhibited in the Lateran Museum. Noteworthy is the statue of the Good Shepherd (represents a beardless young man wearing a sleeveless tunic and a bag) restored in the 18th century.
The Gregorian Profane Museum, founded by Gregory XVI, was also formerly housed in the Lateran Palace but relocated to the Vatican in 1970 by Pope John XXIII. It contains original Greek works, Roman copies and sculptures dating from the 1st to the 3rd century A.D. The most famous group is Athena and Marsyas, a copy of a Greek original by Myron (c. 450 B.C.).

Other highlights of the museums include:

The red marble papal throne, formerly in the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano;
Roman sculpture, tombstones, and inscriptions, including the Early Christian Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus and Dogmatic sarcophagus, and the epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus.
The Raphael Rooms (Stanze di Raffaello) form a suite of four reception rooms in the palace, the public part of the papal apartments for Pope Julius II. They are famous for their frescoes painted by Raphael and his workshop, including the masterpiece The School of Athens. The rooms are the Hall of Constantine (Sala di Costantino), the Room of Heliodorus (Stanza di Eliodoro), the Room of the Signatura (Stanza della Segnatura) and the Room of the Fire in the Borgo (Stanza dell’Incendio del Borgo).

Hall of Constantine (Sala di Costantino)

Room of Heliodorus (Stanza di Eliodoro)

Room of the Signatura (Stanza della Segnatura)

Room of the Fire in the Borgo (Stanza dell Incendio di Borgo)

The Niccoline Chapel
The Sistine Chapel, including the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Courtyard of the “Pigna,” named after a colossal almost 4 m. high bronze pine cone which, in the Classic Age, stood near the Pantheon in Rome, known as the “Pigna Quarter,” was probably first moved to the atrium of the ancient St Peter’s Basilica during the Middle Ages and then moved here in 1608. Two bronze peacocks, copies of 2nd century A.D. originals in the Braccio Nuovo, flank the pine cone. In the middle of the wide-open space are two concentric spheres by sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro (1990).

Courtyard of the Pigna

The Borgia Apartment (Appartamento Borgia) a private wing built for Pope Alexander VI (Borgia,1492-1503), was decorated with frescoes by Bernardo di Betto (called il Pinturicchio) and his assistants. After the pontiff’s death, the work on the apartments stopped. However, at the end of the 19th century, they were only reopened to the public. Most of the rooms are now used for the Collection of Modern Religious Art.

Borgia Apartments (Appartamento Borgia)

The double spiral staircase, designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932, has two parts. A double helix, of shallow incline, being a stepped ramp rather than a true staircase, encircles the outer wall of a stairwell of approximately 15 m. (49 ft.) wide and with a clear space at the center. The balustrade around the ramp is of ornately worked metal.
The Apartment of Pius V, built for Pope Pius V (1566-1572) and frescoed by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari, consists of a gallery, two small rooms and a chapel. It contains Flemish tapestries of the 15th and 16th centuries. The first of the two small rooms, next to the gallery, contains a rich Medieval and Renaissance collection of ceramics found in the Vatican Palaces and in other Vatican properties in Rome; the other room has a suggestive collection of minute mosaics, made in Rome between the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century.

Apartment of Pius V

Vatican Museums: Viale Vaticano, 00165 Rome, Italy. Open in winter Mondays to Saturdays, 8:45 AM to 1:45 PM, and at Easter, July, August and September, Mondays to Saturdays, 8:45 AM to 4:45 PM. Entry is free on the last Sunday of every month. Admission to the museum allowed up to 45 minutes before the closing time. Closed on Sundays, except the last Sunday of the month. The entrance to the museums is on Viale Vaticano, near Piazza Risorgimento.

Papal Audience with Pope Francis (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Papal Audience at St. Peter’s Square

To the east of the basilica is the Piazza di San Pietro (St. Peter’s Square), site of the papal audience with Pope Francis. As Pope Francis was in Rome during our visit, a Papal Audience was held on Wednesday (our second day in Italy) and we, as well as other pilgrims and visitors, took this golden opportunity to see the successor of the Apostle Peter.

Check out “St. Peter’s Square“

The Pope making the rounds in the Popemobile

The Papal Audience was scheduled to start at 10:30 AM (sometimes in summer, due to the heat, they may start the audience at 10 AM instead) but there were already large numbers of people queuing when we arrived at 9 AM. Security opened between 8 – 8:30 AM and we needed to pass through security scanners similar to those at the airport to access.

Cheska and Grace making their way to the seating area

Near the front is a seating area for those with tickets but, to get a good seat, it is still a first come first served basis. We were not able to get a ticket in advance but, as we arrived early, we were able to get fairly good seats facing the podium.

Pope Francis greeting the crowd

Shouts of joy heralded the arrival of the Pope in his Popemobile which circled the square, stopping occasionally for the Pope to kiss babies handed to him by his security from parents as well as wave to the crowd. Upon reaching the podium, he alighted and took his seat.

The papal podium

The Pope spoke in Italian, which I didn’t understand, but I gather it consisted of small teachings and readings. He then made greetings in each language, including in Pilipino. At the end of the 1.5-hour Audience, the Pope prayed, together with the attendees, the Our Father prayer in Latin (said to be normally printed on the back of the Papal Audience ticket). At the end of the prayer, the head of the Catholic Church imparted his Apostolic Blessing upon the crowd.

L-R: Cheska, Kyle, Grace, Jandy and the author

Papal Audience: Papal Audience tickets are free. If you need less than 10 tickets, you can normally pick up tickets, without a reservation, from the Swiss Guards at the “Bronze Doors” located just after security at St Peter’s Basilica. You can pick up tickets the day before the audience, after 3 PM until 7 PM (summer) until 6 PM (Winter). You can also pick up tickets on the day of the mass, from 7 AM until 3 PM. You must collect your tickets one day before (not sooner) for the papal audience/mass with the pope subject to availability without a reservation. If you prefer to pre-book tickets and If you need more than 10 tickets, you will need to make a reservation in advance (https://www.vaticantour.com/images/Vatican_Ticket_request.pdf.). Tickets should be picked up from the Vatican Offices located at the Bronze Doors. Website: www.papalaudience.org.

St. Peter’s Square (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

To the east of the basilica is the Piazza di San Pietro (St. Peter’s Square), a forecourt in two sections – the first is oval and the second, nearest the basilica, is trapezoid., The two distinct areas are framed by tall colonnades formed by doubled pairs of columns supporting an entablature of the simple Tuscan Order.

St. Peter’s Square

The present arrangement, the Baroque inspiration of Bernini, was constructed between 1656 and 1667. The colonnades consist of 284 13 m. high Doric columns, arranged in four rows, and 88 pilasters of travertine marble. With the trabeation surmounted by a balustrade, the overall height is 21 m.

Statues above the collonnade

The colonnade, on the north side, masks an assortment of Vatican structures. Above it rises the upper stories of the Vatican Palace. On the south side, they define and formalize the space, with the Barberini Gardens rising to a skyline of umbrella pines.To link with the basilica’s façade, Bernini built two straight 120 m. long covered wings (Charlemagne on the left, Constantine on the right).

St. Peter’s Square facing Via della Conciliazione

A centrally placed ancient Egyptian obelisk, known as “The Witness,” is revered as a “witness” to Peter’s death by crucifixion, with head downwards, on October 13, 64 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. Here are some trivia regarding the obelisk:

It is the second largest standing obelisk.
It is the only one to remain standing since its removal from Egypt and re-erection at the Circus of Nero in 37 AD.
It has a height of 25.5 m. (84 ft.).
If its base and the cross on top are include, it has a total height of 40 m. (130 ft.).
Its removal to its present location September 28, 1586, by order of Pope Sixtus V, was engineered by Domenico Fontana in a difficult operation that nearly ended in disaster. During the operation, the ropes holding the obelisk began to smoke from the friction. Fortunately, this problem was noticed by Benedetto Bresca, a sailor of Sanremo, who swiftly intervened. As a reward, his town was granted the privilege of providing the palms that are used at the basilica each Palm Sunday.

The Egyptian Obelisk

To ornament the square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, two fountains were created by Carlo Maderno (1612–1614), the nephew of the architect Domenico Fontana, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1667–1677. The fountains, like all fountains of the time, had no pumps and operated purely by gravity, with its source of water, the restored Acqua Paola (on the Janiculum hill, 266 m. above sea level) higher than the fountain which caused the water to shoot 20 ft. upwards into the air.

Fontana Antica (Carlo Maderno)

The older fountain, by Maderno, on the north side of the square, is located on the site of an earlier fountain (reputed to be the finest fountain in Rome), built in 1490 during the time of Pope Innocent VIII. The new fountain had an octagonal base on top with a large irregular basin, decorated with steps and small columns, to hold the water. Maderno kept the the old fountain’s large lower stone vasque and ornamented the pedestal above it with four stone scrolls.

The author in front of the Fontana Antica

However, the smaller upper vasque was removed and replaced it with an inverted vasque or cap like a mushroom and covered with stone scales. From the top, water spouted poured down over the top of the upper vasque, its flow broken and made to sparkle by the stone scales. Maderno also removed the coats-of-arms of the 3 previous popes (including the 3 coats-of-arms of Pope Innocent VIII, carved by Alonso du Capua), replacing them with plaques honoring his patron, Pope Paul V.

The collonnade

The second, 8 m. high fountain, on the left, was built for purposes of symmetry. It closely followed the design of the Maderno fountain and was built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini who was commissioned in 1667 by Pope Clement X. The fountain was completed in 1677.

Via della Conciliazione

The long and wide Via della Conciliazione, built by Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaties, leads from the River Tiber to the piazza. It gives distant views of St. Peter’s as the visitor approaches.

St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City)

Posted on 25 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

St. Peter’s Basilica

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri; Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter’s Basilica, the most prominent building in the Vatican City, is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines and the most renowned work of Italian Renaissance architecture. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. Located west of the River Tiber, near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian’s Mausoleum, its central dome Its dome is a dominant feature of the skyline of Rome. Best appreciated from a distance, the basilica is approached via St. Peter’s Square.

Jandy and the author at St. Peter’s Basilica

The basilica has the following specifications:

Area: 2.3 hectares (5.7 acres)
Cost of construction of the basilica: more than 46,800,052 ducats
Geographic orientation: chancel west, nave east
Total length: 730 ft. (220 m.)
Total width: 500 ft. (150 m.)
Interior length including vestibule: 693.8 ft. (211.5 m.), more than ⅛ mile.
Length of the transepts in interior: 451 ft. (137 m.)
Width of nave: 90.2 ft. (27.5 m.)
Width at the tribune: 78.7 ft. (24 m.)
Internal width at transepts: 451 ft. (137 m.)
Internal height of nave: 151.5 ft. (46.2 m.) high
Total area: 227,070 sq. ft. (21,095 m²), more than 5 acres (20,000 m²).
Internal area: 163,182.2 sq. ft. (3.75 acres; 15,160.12 m²)
Height from pavement to top of cross: 448.1 ft. (136.6 m.)
Façade: 167 ft. (51 m.) high by 375 ft. (114 m.) wide
Vestibule: 232.9 ft. (71 m.) wide, 44.2 ft. (13.5 m.) deep, and 91.8 ft. (28 m.) high
The internal columns and pilasters: 92 ft. (28 m.) tall
The circumference of the central piers: 240 ft. (73 m.)
Outer diameter of dome: 137.7 ft. (42.0 m.)
The drum of the dome: 630 ft. (190 m) in circumference and 65.6 ft. (20.0 m) high, rising to 240 ft. (73 m) from the ground
The lantern: 63 ft. (19 m.) high
The ball and cross: 8 and 16 ft. (2.4 and 4.9 m.), respectively
Peter’s Square: 1,115 ft. (340 m.) long, 787.3 ft. (240 m.) wide
Each arm of the colonnade: 306 ft. (93 m.) long, and 64 ft. (20 m.) high
The colonnades have 284 columns, 88 pilasters, and 140 statues
Obelisk: 83.6 ft. (25.5 m.). Total height with base and cross, 132 ft. (40 m.).
Weight of obelisk: 360.2 short tons (326,800 kgs.; 720,400 lbs.)

The author within the nave

Here are some interesting trivia regarding St. Peter’s Basilica:

It is probably the largest church in Christendom.
The dome, rising to a total height of 136.57 m. (448.1 ft.) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross, is the tallest dome in the world.Its 41.47 m. (136.1 ft.) internal diameter, greater in diameter by approximately 30 ft. (9.1 m.) than Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia church (completed in 537), is slightly smaller than two of the three other huge domes that preceded it – the 3 m. (142 ft.) of the Pantheon of Ancient Rome and the 44 m. (144 ft.) of the Early Renaissance Florence Cathedral. Conceived, from the outset, as the greatest dome of Christendom, the architects of St. Peter’s looked for solutions as to how to go about building the dome from the domes of the Pantheon and Florence Duomo.
While it is neither the Pope‘s official seat, mother church (this honor is held by the Pope’s cathedral, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran) of the Catholic Church or the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter’s is certainly the Pope’s principal church in terms of use because most Papal liturgies and ceremonies take place there due to its size, proximity to the Papal residence, and location within the Vatican City proper. The Pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year, drawing audiences of 15,000 to over 80,000 people, either within the Basilica or the adjoining Peter’s Square.
One of the holiest sites of Christianity, Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is traditionally the burial site of its titular, Peter, head of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, the first Bishop of Antioch and later the first Bishop of Rome, rendering him the first Pope Supposedly, St. Peter’s tomb is directly below below the baldachin and high altar of the Basilica in the “Confession.”
Peter’s, one of the Papal Basilicas (previously styled “patriarchal basilicas”), is one of the four churches of Rome that hold the rank of Major Basilica (all of which are also Papal Basilicas), the others being the Basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul outside the Walls. However, unlike all the other Papal Major Basilicas, it is wholly within the territory, and thus the sovereign jurisdiction, of the Vatican City State, and not that of Italy.
Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop. The Cathedra of the Pope, as Bishop of Rome, is in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
Within St. Peter’s Basilica are over 100 tombs (extant to various extents), many located in the Vatican grotto, of 91 popes (the most recent interment was Pope John Paul II, on April 8, 2005), since the Early Christian period, in the necropolis beneath the basilica. Many of the tombs of popes are considered outstanding artworks. Other notable people are also buried here. They include, St. Ignatius of Antioch; Holy Roman Emperor Otto II; the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina; exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart; Cardinal Bishop of Frascati (having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI); Maria Clementina Sobieska (wife of James Francis Edward Stuart); Queen Christina of Sweden (who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism); and Countess Matilda of Tuscany (supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy). Beneath, near the crypt, is the recently discovered vaulted 4th-century “Tomb of the Julii.”
The “Chair of Saint Peter” (cathedra), an ancient chair sometimes presumed to have been used by St. Peter himself and used by many popes, was actually a 12th century gift from Charles the Bald.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the façade of the basilica, designed by Maderno, is 114.69 m. (376.3 ft.) wide and 45.55 m. (149.4 ft.) high and is built of travertine stone, with a giant order of Corinthian pilasters, all set at slightly different angles to each other (in keeping with the ever-changing angles of the wall’s surface), and a central pediment rising in front of a tall attic surmounted by 13 statues: Christ flanked by 11 of the Apostles (except St. Peter, whose statue is left of the stairs) and John the Baptist.

The inscription below the cornice on the 1 m. (3.3 ft.) tall frieze reads: IN HONOREM PRINCIPIS APOST PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS PONT MAX AN MDCXII PONT VII In honour of the Prince of Apostles, Paul V Borghese, a Roman, Supreme Pontiff, in the year 1612, the seventh of his pontificate)

The huge cornice, above them, ripples in a continuous band, giving the appearance of keeping the whole building in a state of compression. The facade stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand two 5.55 m. (18.2 ft.) statues of Saints Peter and Paul, the 1st-century apostles to Rome. Construction of the current basilica, replacing the Old St. Peter’s Basilica begun by the Emperor Constantine the Great (between 319 and 333 AD), was started on April 18, 1506 by Pope Julius II. In the next 120 years, after a succession of popes and architects, it was solemnly dedicated by Pope Urban VIII on November 18, 1626.

The nave

Cruciform in shape, the basilica has an elongated nave in the Latin cross form with a central space dominated, both externally and internally, by one of the largest domes in the world. In the towers to either side of the facade are two clocks, designed by Giuseppe Valadier from 1786-1790. The one on the right, called the Oltramontano Clock, has one hand showing European mean time. The one on the left, called the Italian Clock, shows Rome time. The oldest bell of the clock on the left, operated electrically since 1931, dates from 1288.

The clock on the left of the facade

Behind the façade of St. Peter’s, stretching across the building, is a narthex (long portico or entrance hall) such as was occasionally found in Italian Romanesque churches. Part of Maderno’s design, it has a long barrel vault decorated with ornate stucco and gilt and successfully illuminated by small windows between pendentives. Its ornate marble floor is beamed with light reflected in from the piazza

The Narthex

A mosaic, one of the most important treasures of the basilica, is set above the central external door. Called the “Navicella,” it is mostly a 17th-century copy of Giotto‘s early 14th century and it represents a ship symbolizing the Christian Church. At each end of the narthex is a theatrical space framed by Ionic columns. Within each is set a equestrian statue – an 18th century equestrian figure of Charlemagne by Cornacchini in the south end and Constantine the Great by Bernini (1670) in the north end.

Statue of St. Peter

Of the five portals (three framed by huge salvaged antique columns)from the narthex to the interior, three contain notable doors. The Renaissance bronze door (called Filarete), the central portal created by Antonio Averulino in 1455 for the old basilica, was somewhat enlarged to fit the new space. The “Door of the Dead,” the southern door, was designed by 20th-century sculptor Giacomo Manzù and includes a portrait of Pope John XXIII kneeling before the crucified figure of St. Peter. The “Holy Door,” the decorated northernmost bronze doors leading from the narthex is, by tradition, walled-up with bricks and opened only for holy years such as the Jubilee year by the Pope. The present door is bronze and was designed by Vico Consorti in 1950 and cast in Florence by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry. Above it are inscriptions commemorating the opening of the door.

The design of St. Peter’s Basilica and, in particular, its dome, has greatly influenced church architecture in Western Christendom. They include:

Sant’Andrea della Valle (Rome) – designed by Giacomo della Porta before the completion of St Peter’s Basilica, and subsequently worked on by Carlo Maderno.
San Carlo ai Catinari
Sant’Agnese in Agone
St Paul’s Cathedral(London, England) – designed by Christopher Wren
Karlskirche(Vienna, Austria)
Nicholas Church(Prague, Czech Republic)
Pantheon(Paris, France)

Elements of St Peter’s Basilica’s were imitated, to a greater or lesser degree, by a great number of churches built during 19th and early-20th-century Post-Modernism architectural revivals. They include:

Compared with other churches, its entire, “stupendously large” interior, lavishly decorated with marble, reliefs, architectural sculpture and gilding, has vast dimensions so much so that it is hard to get a sense of scale within the building. The nave, framed by wide aisles (which have a number of chapels off them), lead to the central dome and is in three bays, with piers supporting a barrel vault, the highest of any church. In keeping with Michelangelo’s work, it has huge paired pilasters.

The central dome

The aisles each have two smaller chapels and a larger rectangular chapel, the Chapel of the Sacrament and the Choir Chapel. Though lavishly decorated with marble, gilt, sculpture, stucco and mosaic they, remarkably, have very few paintings, although some, such as Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” have been reproduced in mosaic. A small icon of the Madonna, removed from the old basilica, is the most precious painting.

The sanctuary culminates in a sculptural ensemble, also by Bernini, and contains the so-called “Chair of Saint Peter” (Cathedra Petri ), a large bronze throne in the apse enshrined, with great celebration, in its new home on January 16, 1666. Symbolizing the continuing line of apostolic succession from St. Peter to the reigning Pope, the chair is raised high on 4 looping supports held effortlessly by massive and dynamic bronze statues, with sweeping robes and expressions of adoration and ecstasy, of the four Doctors of the Church – Saints Ambrose and Augustine, representing the Latin Church, and Athanasius and John Chrysostom, the Greek Church. A window of yellow alabaster, behind and above the Cathedra, illuminates, with a blaze of light, the Dove of the Holy Spirit at its center.

The Nave

Two holy water basins, fluttering against the first piers of the nave, are held by four cherubs, each commissioned by Pope Benedict XIII from designer Agostino Cornacchini and sculptor Francesco Moderati, (1720s). They appear of quite normal cherubic size but, once approached, it becomes apparent that each one is over 2 m. high and that real children cannot reach the basins unless they scramble up the marble draperies.
Markers, showing the comparative lengths of other churches, starting from the entrance, are found along the floor of the nave.
Medallions, with relief depicting the first 38 popes, are on the decorative pilasters of the piers of the nave.
Statues, depicting 39 founders of religious orders, are in niches between the pilasters of the nave.
A statue of St. Peter Enthroned, set against the north east pier of the dome, is sometimes attributed to late 13th-century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio (some scholars dating it to the 5th century). One foot of the statue is largely worn away by pilgrims kissing it for centuries.
The sunken, crypt-like Confessio or “Chapel of the Confession” (in reference to the confession of faith by St. Peter, which led to his martyrdom), leading to the Vatican Grottoes, is located at the heart of the basilica, beneath the dome and high altar. Maderno’s last work, it contains a large kneeling statue, by Canova, of Pope Pius VI, who was captured and mistreated by the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. Two curving marble staircases, remnants of the old basilica, lead to this underground chapel at the level of the Constantinian church and immediately above the purported burial place of Saint Peter. Here, cardinals and other privileged persons could descend in order to be nearer to the burial place of the apostle. Around its balustrade are 95 bronze lamps.
The Niche of the Pallium (“Niche of Stoles”), in the Confessio, contains a bronze urn, donated by Pope Benedict XIV, to contain white stoles embroidered with black crosses and woven with the wool of lambs blessed on St. Agnes’ Day.

The badalchin

The High Altar, surmounted by a baldachin (baldacchino), its central feature, was the first work designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini at St. Peter’s. This 30 m. (98 ft.) high, pavilion-like structure, claimed to be the largest piece of bronze in the world, stands beneath the dome and above the Papal Its design, based on the ciborium (of which there are many in the churches of Rome), serves to create a sort of holy space above and around the table on which the Sacrament is laid for the Eucharist and emphasizing the significance of this ritual.
As part of the scheme for the central space of the church, Bernini had the piers, , hollowed out into niches, and had staircases made inside them, leading to four balconies. On the balconies Bernini created showcases, framed by the eight ancient twisted columns, to display the four most precious relics of the basilica. Set in each of the niches, within the four huge piers (begun by Bramante and completed by Michelangelo) supporting the dome, are the huge statues of the saint associated with the basilica’s primary holy relics – Saint Helena, Constantine’s mother, holding the True Cross and the Holy Nails (by Andrea Bolgi); Saint Longinus holding the spear that pierced the side of Jesus (by Bernini, 1639); Saint Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, with the Andrew’s Cross (by Francois Duquesnoy) and Saint Veronica holding her miraculous veil with the image of Jesus’ face (by Francesco Mochi).

Statue of St. Longinus (Bernini)

North Aisle

Michelangelo‘s Pietà is in the first chapel of the north aisle.
The monument of Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated in 1654 in order to convert to Catholicism, is on the first pier in the right aisle.

Monument to Pope Innocent XI

The second chapel, dedicated to Sebastian, contains the statues of popes Pius XI and Pius XII. The space below the altar, housing the remains of Pope John Paul II (placed here on May 2, 2011), used to be the resting place of Pope Innocent XI whose remains were moved to the Altar of the Transfiguration on April 8, 2011.

Altar of the Transfiguration

The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, the large chapel on the right aisle, contains the tabernacle by Bernini (1664). Resembling Bramante‘s Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, it is supported by two kneeling angels and, behind it, is a painting of the Holy Trinity by Pietro da Cortona.
The monuments of popes Gregory XIII by Camillo Rusconi (1723) and Gregory XIV are near the Altar of Our Lady of Succor.
An altar containing the relics of Petronilla, with an altarpiece “The Burial of St Petronilla by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1623, is at the end of the aisle.

South Aisle

Baptistery

The baptistery, the first chapel in the south aisle, was commissioned by Pope Innocent XII and designed by Carlo Fontana, (great nephew of Domenico Fontana). The font, previously located in the opposite chapel, is the red porphyry sarcophagus of Probus, the 4th-century Prefect of Rome. The lid came from a sarcophagus which had once held the remains of the Emperor Hadrian. Previously stored in the Vatican Grotto, workmen broke it into ten pieces during removal and Fontana restored it expertly and surmounted it with a gilt-bronze figure of the “Lamb of God.”

Monument to the Royal Stuarts

The Monument to the Royal Stuarts, set against the first pier of the aisle, is a Neo-Classical tomb (designed by Canova and unveiled in 1819) for James and his sons, Charles Edward (known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie”) and Henry, Cardinal and Duke of York. Opposite it is the memorial to Maria Clementina Sobieska, James Francis Edward Stuart’s wife.

Monument to Maria Clementina Sobieski

The second chapel, that of the Presentation of the Virgin, contains the memorials of Pope Benedict XV and Pope John XXIII.

Monument to Pope Benedict XV (Pietro Canonica, (1928)

The tombs of Pope Pius X and Pope Innocent VIII are set against the piers.
The Choir Chapel, the large chapel off the south aisle, contains the Altar of the Immaculate Conception.
The tomb of Pope Pius VIII is at the entrance to the Sacristy.

Monument to Pius VIII (Pietro Tenerani, 1866)

The altars of Saint Thomas, Saint Joseph and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter are at the south transept.
Towards the end of the aisle is the tomb of Fabio Chigi, Pope Alexander VII. The work of Bernini and called by Lees-Milne “as one of the greatest tombs of the Baroque Age,” it is awkwardly set in a niche above a doorway, utilized by Bernini in a symbolic manner, into a small vestry. Pope Alexander, facing outward, kneels upon his tomb. The tomb, supported on a large draped shroud in patterned red marble, is supported by four female figures, of whom only the two at the front, representing Charity and Truth, are fully visible. The foot of Truth rests upon a globe of the world, her toe being pierced symbolically by the thorn of Protestant England. The skeletal winged figure of Death, coming forth, seemingly, from the doorway as if it were the entrance to a tomb, has its head hidden beneath the shroud, but its right hand carries an hour glass stretched upward towards the kneeling figure of the pope.

Monument to Pope Leo XI (Alessandro Algardi)

The white marble Monument to Leo XI, by Alessandro Algardi (1595-1654), has roses carved on the plinth and the inscription “Sic florui”, refer to the fact that he reigned only 27 days, in 1605. Beside him are two female allegories: Fortitude and Generosity.

Monument to Pope Pius VII

The Monument of Pius VII, occupying part of the left wall of the Clementine Chapel, is the work of the Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844).Two winged cupids, one symbolizing time (hourglass) and the other history (book), are located on the sides of the throne. The two statues of “Knowledge” and “Fortitude,” on high pedestals, are located on the sides of the Doric door. The first is depicted in a meditative pose, with the Bible open and, at its feet, an owl, the symbol of prudence. The second figure is dressed in lion skins, while one foot stands on a club.

Altar of the Lie

Passing from the transept to the left aisle, on the left is the Altar of the Lie or the Altar of Ananias and Sapphira. Its mosaic, after a painting by Cristoforo Roncalli (known as Pomarancio, 552-1626), shows the punishment of the couple who had lied to St. Peter about the price of a field sold by them, and were therefore immediately struck dead.

St. Peter’s Basilica: Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City. Open daily, April -September, 7 AM -7 PM; October – March, 7 AM – 6 PM.

How to Get There:

By Subway – Take Linea A (red line) toward Battistini and exit at Ottaviano-S. Pietro. Walk south on Via Ottaviano toward St. Peter’s Square.
By Walking – From the city center, the most direct route is to cross the Tiber and walk straight up Via Conciliazioni. A more interesting route is to go under the Passetto arch near Castel S. Angelo and walk up Pio Borgo, providing a more dramatic entrance from the right (north) side of the Piazza.

Spanish Steps (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 24 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

The monumental Spanish Steps

The monumental Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti), a stairway of 135 steps (the slightly elevated drainage system is often mistaken for the first step), climbs a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, was built from 1723–1725 with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi.

Piazza di Spagna

Designed by the little-known architect Francesco de Sanctis (though Alessandro Specchi was long thought to have produced the winning entry), following a competition in 1717, it links the Bourbon Spanish Embassy and the Trinità dei Monti church (under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France), both located above at the top, to the Holy See in Palazzo Monaldeschi below.

Trinità dei Monti Church

At the base of the stairway is the Fontana della Barcaccia (“Fountain of the ugly Boat”), an Early Baroque sculptural fountain built, with travertine as its material, from 1627–29. It is often credited to Pietro Bernini who, since 1623, was Pope Urban VIII’s architect for the Acqua Vergine, an aqueduct from 19 BC which is the source of the fountain’s water. His more famous son, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, was recently said to have collaborated on the decoration. According to a legend, the pope had the fountain installed after he had been impressed by a boat brought here by the 1598 flood of the Tiber River.

Fontana della Barcaccia

The center baluster

Made into the shape of a half-sunken ship, with water overflowing from its sides into a small basin, it was built slightly below street level due to the low water pressure (hence no water spectacle) from the aqueduct which flows from seven points of fountain: – the center baluster; two inside the boat (from sun-shaped human faces) and four outside the boat. As a reminder of Pope Urban VIII’s ancestry, the fountain is decorated with the papal coat of arms of the Barberini family.

Sun-shaped human faces

As one begins to climb the steps one can see, at the corner on the right, the house where English poet John Keats lived and died in 1821. It is now a museum dedicated to his memory, full of memorabilia of the English Romantic generation.

The Spanish Steps was featured in a number of films, TV shows and music albums:

The 1953 film Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, made the Spanish Steps famous to an American audience.
Halfway up the steps, on the right, was the apartment that was the setting for the 1961 film The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.
A house next to the Steps is also the setting or Bernardo Bertolucci‘s 1998 film Besieged.
The Steps were featured prominently in the film version of The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Matt Damon in the title role.
The Spanish Steps are featured in a scene in the 2015 film The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Steps are featured in numerous scenes in Alfred Bester‘s 1956 novel The Stars My Destination.
In an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond which aired on October 2, 2000, Ray, Debra, Frank, and Marie climb the Spanish Steps during a family vacation in Rome.
Refugee, a progressive rock group, recorded the song “Credo” in 1974. It contains the lyrics “I believe in constant pauses / Like a Roman holiday / And I often stop for air / As I climb the Spanish stairs.”
“When I Paint My Masterpiece,” a Bob Dylan song first recorded in 1971 by The Band and later appearing on the album Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II, mentions both the “Spanish Stairs” and the Colosseum.
In 1995, Norwegian singer/songwriter Morten Harket, from A-ha, released a song called “Spanish Steps” on his album Wild Seed.
“Walk Through the World,” a Marc Cohn song released in 1993 album The Rainy Season, includes the lyric “From the Spanish Steps to the Liberty Bell, I know the angels have seen us.”
The title song from Guy Clark‘s Dublin Blues album (1995) contains the lyric: “I loved you on the Spanish Steps / The day you said goodbye.”
The song “Spanish Steps of Rome,” a bonus track in the North American & Japanese versions of the Mindfields album released in 1999 by American rock band Toto, describes a femme fatale romance that takes place on and around the Spanish Steps.
In 2005, American rock band Of A Revolution released One Shot from their album Stories of a Stranger, which contains the lyrics “Rome is burning, you can taste the embers / I am walking hard on Spanish Steps.”
In 2007, John Tesh of Entertainment Tonight fame, recorded an instrumental tune called “Spanish Steps” on his A Passionate Life.

The Spanish Steps have been restored several times, most recently in 1995.

L-R: Jandy and the author

Spanish Steps: Piazza di Spagna, Rome, Italy

Trevi Fountain (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 24 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Trevi Fountain

The impressive Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi), designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci, is one of the most famous fountains in the world and arguably the most beautiful fountain in all of Rome. The fountain, located at the junction of three roads (tre vie), marks the terminal point of the “modern” Acqua Vergine, the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome.

Bas-relief of the virgin pointing to the source of the spring

Bas-relief showing the virgin pointing to the source of the spring

Legend has it that in 19 BC, thirsty Roman soldiers, supposedly with the help of a young virgin girl, located Salone Springs, a source of pure water some 13 kms. (8.1 mi.) from the city (This scene is presented on the present fountain’s façade). The discovery of the source led Augustus Caesar to commission the construction, by Agrippa, his son-in-law, of the Aqua Virgo (Virgin Waters, in honor of the legendary young girl), a 22-km. (14-mi.) aqueduct leading into the city. The aqueduct served the hot Baths of Agrippa, and Rome, for over 400 years.

Bas-relief showing Agrippa, explaining his plan for the aqueduct to Augustus Caesar

Work on the fountain began in 1732 and it was completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762, long after Salvi’s death in 1751, when Pietro Bracci‘s Oceanus (god of all water) was set in the central niche. Pannini substituted the present allegories for planned sculptures of Agrippa and “Trivia,” the Roman virgin. On May 22, 1762, it was officially opened and inaugurated by Pope Clement XIII. Today, it remains one of the most historical cultural landmarks in Rome.

Palazzo Poli and the Trevi Fountain

The Palazzo Poli, the backdrop for the fountain, was given a new façade, with a giant order of Corinthian pilasters linking the two main stories. Taming of the waters is the theme of the gigantic scheme that tumbles forward, mixing water and rockwork, and filling the small square. A chariot in the shape of a shell, the central feature of the monument, is drawn by seahorses with as their guide.

Corinthian pilasters

Even the palace in the background blends perfectly with the composition and the game of space and mass gives an air of movement to the entire statue.

Oceanus riding a shell-shaped chariot

At the center, superimposed on the palazzo façade, is a robustly-modeled triumphal arch. For maximum light and shade, the enormous central niche (exedra) framing Oceanus (or Neptune), god of the sea, has free-standing columns. He rides a shell-shaped chariot that is pulled by two hippocamps (sea horses), one calm and obedient and the other one restive, and each guided by a Triton.

The calm and obedient hippocamp and his Triton

Sculpted by Pietro Bracci, the statues symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea. Even with the maximum contrast in their mood and poses, both hippocamps and Tritons provide symmetrical balance.

The restive hippocamp and his Triton

In the niches flanking Oceanus are the statues of Abundance (spills water from her urn) and Salubrity (holds a cup from which a snake drinks).

Statue of Abundance

Statue of Salubrity

Above, bas reliefs illustrate the Roman origin of the aqueducts. The bas-relief on the left shows Agrippa, the general who built the aqueduct that carries water to the fountain, explaining his plan for the aqueduct to his father-in-law Augustus Caesar. The one the right captures the moment the virgin points to the source of the spring. The allegorical statues on the top, in front of the attic, symbolize the Four Seasons. Crowning the top is the coat of arms of Pope Clement XII.

Bas-relief of the virgin pointing to the source of the spring

All around, natural and artificial forms merge together in a representation of rocks and petrified vegetation that run along the foundation of the palace and around the borders of a large semicircular basin that represents the sea.

Two of the Four Seasons

Every day some eighty million liters of water flow over artificial rocks through the fountain. The water is reused to supply several other Roman fountains, including the Fountain of the Four Rivers, the Tortoise Fountain and the Fountain of the Old Boat in front of the Spanish Steps.

Coat-of-arms of Pope Clement XII

Here are some facts and trivia regarding the Trevi Fountain:

The largestBaroque fountain in the city, the fountain stands 26.3 m. (86 ft.) high, 49.15 m. (161.3 ft.) wide and occupies more than half the square.
Salvi, before he died in 1751 with his work half finished, made sure a stubborn barber’s unsightly sign would not spoil the ensemble, hiding it behind a sculpted vase, called by Romans theasso di coppe, the “Ace of Cups.”
The majority of the fountain was made fromTravertine stone, quarried near Tivoli, about 35 kms. (22 mi.) east of Rome.
In 1973, Italian National Postal Service dedicated a postage stamp to Trevi Fountain.
In 1998, the fountain was refurbished; the stonework was scrubbed, all cracks and other areas of deterioration were repaired by skilled artisans, and the fountain was equipped with recirculating pumps.
In January 2013, it was announced that Fendi, the Italian fashion company, would sponsor a 20-month, 2.2-million-euro restoration of the fountain, the most thorough restoration in the fountain’s history. Restoration work, including the installation of more than 100 LED lights to improve the nighttime illumination of the fountain, began in June 2014 and, on the evening of November 3, 2015, the fountain was reopened with an official ceremony.
There is a curious tradition regarding the Trevi Fountain. It is said that if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the water, you will be sure to return to Rome. Coins are purportedly meant to be thrown using the right hand over the left shoulder (or your left hand over your right shoulder), with your back to the fountain. While you’re tossing the coin, you’re not allowed to look behind you but the fountain is so large it’s basically impossible to miss.

Trevi Fountain scene at La Dolce Vita

The fountain has appeared in several notable films, including Federico Fellini‘s renowned 1960 Italian film La Dolce Vita. The scene, on a quiet night in an almost unreal Rome (actually shot over a week in winter), features an alluring Anita Ekberg jumping into the Trevi Fountain, with her clothes on, and invites Marcello Mastroianni to join her. The coin tossing tradition was also the theme of 1954’s Three Coins in the Fountain and the Academy Award-winning song by that name which introduced the picture.

Trevi Fountain scene in the movie Three Coins in a Fountain

An estimated 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome’s needy.
It is illegal to steal coins from the Trevi Fountain. Still, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain.

Grace, Jandy, the author and Cheska at Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain: Piazza di Trevi, Trevi district, 00187 Rome, Italy

Arch of Titus (Rome, Italy)

Posted on 24 May, 2016 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Arch of Titus

The fluted and unfluted column section

The Arch of Titus (Italian: Arco di Tito; Latin: Arcus Titi), located just to the southeast of the Roman Forum, is one of the most celebrated monuments in the Forum Romanum. This honorific arch was constructed from A.D. 82 – 85 by Emperor Domitian, shortly after the death of his older brother Titus (who died suddenly during a plague A.D. 81, after only a two year reign), to commemorate the immensely popular Titus’ victories, including the Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE).

Since the 16th century, this 1st-century A.D. arch has provided the general model for many triumphal arches erected. Perhaps, most famously, it is the inspiration for the Arc de Triomphe (which maintains the exact proportions of the Arch of Titus, though several times larger), in Paris, France. Domitian‘s favored architect Rabirius, sometimes credited with the Colosseum, may have executed the arch based on the style of sculptural details.

The large 15 m. high arch has both fluted and distinguishably unfluted columns, the latter being a result of modern restoration, starting with Raffaele Stern in 1817 and continued in 1821 by architect Giuseppe Valadier, under Pope Pius VII (with new capitals, new inscriptions on the opposite side, and restoration intentionally made in travertine masonry to differentiate between the original and the restored portions).

Winged women, personifications of victory, at spandrels

Winged women, personifications of victory, are found at the spandrels on the upper left and right of the arch. They stand on a globe and hold banners, trophies, laurel wreaths, and palm fronds. The keystone, between the spandrels, has a female on the east side and a male on the west side, both representing Roma and the Genius of the Roman people.

The deeply coffered soffit of the axial archway has, at the center, a relief of the apotheosis of Titus, showing him riding an eagle to heaven, where he’ll become one of the gods. Two 2.04 m high by 3.85 m long panel reliefs, commemorating the joint triumph celebrated by Titus and his father Vespasian in the summer of 71, line the passageway within the arch.

The apotheosis of Titus

The south panel (likely originally colored gold, with the background in blue) depicts the triumphal procession as it passes through the Porta Triumphalis to the Forum Boarium, with the participants carrying booty taken from the Temple in Jerusalem (one of the few contemporary depictions of Temple period artifacts).

It features a golden 7-branched Menorah (candelabrum), carved in deep relief, as the main focus plus other sacred objects being carried in the procession such as the Gold Trumpets, fire pans (for removing the ashes from the altar), the Table of Shew bread and, perhaps, even the Ark of the Covenant. In 2012, remains of yellow ocher paint on the menorah relief were discovered by the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project. The menorah depicted on the Arch, later to become a symbol of the Jewish diaspora, served as the model for the menorah used on the emblem of the state of Israel.

The quadriga (four-horsed chariot) carrying Titus

The north panel depicts Titus as triumphator, attended by various genii and lictors that carry fasces. The quadriga (four-horsed chariot) carrying Titus, crowned with a laurel wreath by a winged Victory, is lead by Valour, a helmeted Amazon holding the bridle of one of the horses. The two figures to the right of the chariot personify the people of Rome (naked torso) and the Senate (wearing a toga).

Significant as one of the first examples of divinities and humans being present in one scene together, it contrasts with the panels of the Ara Pacis, where humans and divinities are separated. It is also the first full attempt by Roman sculptors to create the illusion of space.

“The Roman Senate and People (dedicate this) to the divine Titus Vespasianus Augustus, son of the divine Vespasian.”

In the Middle Ages, when the Frangipani family turned it into a fortified tower, the sculpture of the outer faces of the two great piers was lost when the arch was incorporated in medieval defensive walls. The attic of the arch was originally crowned by more statuary, perhaps of a bronze quadriga, and the main inscription used to be ornamented by letters made of perhaps silver, gold or some other metal.

“(This) monument, remarkable in terms of both religion and art,
had weakened from age: Pius the Seventh, Supreme Pontiff,
by new works on the model of the ancient exemplar
ordered it reinforced and preserved in the 24th year of his sacred rulership”

Arch of Titus: Via Sacra, 00186 Rome, Italy.

This travel blog, a diary of the author’s local and international travels, aims to provide the reader with news and information on people, places and events that would interest the avid traveler and tourist. But, it also aims to be much more, providing insights on the wonders of this beautiful country, as well as the world, beyond the strict confines of the city. Have a BLAST seeing old churches, exotic temples, educational museums as well as palm-fringed islands; white sand beaches; thundering waterfalls; placid lakes; fiery sunsets; turquoise seas; cathedral-like caves; swirling rivers; majestic mountains; stupendous, amphitheater-like rice terraces; awesome volcanoes and the like. Get to know the movers and shakers in the tourism industry; find out where to titillate the palate; rejuvenate your body; feed your adrenalin, unwind and relax; satisfy your craving for history and culture; and find out what's being celebrated and where.

BENJAMIN “BENJIE” LAYUG, an architect by profession (he finished his B. S. Architecture degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1982), is also a copy editor for two publishing houses; travel writer; blogger; architectural historian; author; concert. movie and musical reviewer (for www.pep.ph); and a motivational speaker.

As a free-lance travel writer, he has, in the past, contributed articles to Travel Update, Philippine Daily Inquirer, COLORS, TODAY, 7107 Islands Magazine, Business Day and Bluprint. He currently writes for Artplus Magazine and the Business Mirror.

He is also the author of the following travel books:

A Philippine Odyssey (New Day Publishers, 2005)
Pathfinder’s Travel Guide: Boracay (Great Books Trading, 2006)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Churches (New Day Publishers, 2007)
A Tourist to Notable Philippine Historical Landmarks, Monuments and Shrines (New Day Publishers, 2010)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Museums (New Day Publishers, 2012)

Some of his books now appear in the local library shelves of the National Library of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Sto. Tomas, U.P. Diliman, Centro Escolar University, San Sebastian College, Miriam College, Silliman University, to name a few, as well as internationally at the National Library of Australia and the University of California Berkeley Library.

Now a senior citizen, he is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest, active travel blogger in the country today. He also has a lifestyle blog called F.Y.I.:Firing Your Imagination (www.firingyourimagination.blogspot.com). Benjie has traveled to two-thirds (53) of the country’s 81 provinces and over 20 countries in 4 continents.

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