Friday, June 18, 2004
Holy smoke
Tim and I woke up very early to spend the morning in the Vatican. Our plan was to visit St. Peter's and finish early enough to get a good spot in line for the Vatican Museum, before it opened at 8:45. The first part of the plan was executed perfectly. When we arrived at the basilica, there was absolutely no entrance line. The plaza outside the church was nearly desolate, which, combined with the gorgeous morning, made the setting surreal.
St. Peter's at 8 A.M.
Bernini's colonnade
We entered the church at around 8 AM. There were few people inside. I passed the Pietà — a renowned sculpture by Michelangelo that stands next to the church's portal — without recognizing it, since I expected it to be surrounded by a mob of camera-toting visitors.
The interior of the basilica is truly awesome. Every square inch is covered in marble or gilt. St. Peter's is the world's largest cathedral, and its ornaments are also on an immense scale. The most exceptional one is a canopy, or baldachino, over the altar. Made of bronze, it was worked by the Baroque sculptor Bernini.
Down the nave
 Baldachino and apse |
 Baldachino and dome |
As I walked around the basilica's chapels, I noticed a nondescript door opening up to a staircase. I followed it, and it led me down to the cathedral's crypt. This space was the complete antithesis to the building above. It contained several small chapels, some of them holding masses. The crypt was largely unadorned, save for a few mosaics that dated back to the first millennium. The mood was intimate, nothing like the pomp and grandeur upstairs.
Mass in the crypt
Historic tomb of St. Peter
We left St. Peter's at 8:30. I hoped that would be enough time to get a good spot in line for the museum. But as it turned out, every tour group in town had the same idea we had, except that they got there first. We queued up several hundred yards from the entrance. The line moved quickly, though, and we got inside in less than a half-hour.
The museum is enormous, but there is only one way through, more or less, if you want to see the highlights. We spent about 45 minutes walking through various rooms before we reached the first one, the so-called Raphael apartments. (Indeed, their walls were painted by Raphael.) My favorite piece is the fresco titled School of Athens, which depicts the great Greek philosophers assembled in one place, along with Michelangelo and Raphael himself. From there we took a detour down to the first floor, which houses modern art with religious themes, and then we went back up to the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was much larger than I imagined, but not quite large enough to accommodate the herd of tourists squeezed inside. Scores of simultaneous conversations amounted to a deafening roar, which was interrrupted every few minutes by an admonition over the crackling PA system to keep quiet and put our cameras down.
School of Athens, Raphael
Best picture I could manage of the Sistine Chapel
Another exhibit that I enjoyed was the Pinacoteca, the painting gallery. Its crown jewels are three large-scale canvases by Raphael, assembled side-by-side. The middle one is the famous Transfiguration of Christ.
After spending the whole morning in the Vatican, we went back into Rome, up a hill called Gianicolo (Janiculum). Gianicolo is wooded (providing relief from the hot day) but offers good views of the Vatican and Rome.
Rome
Vatican
For a second time, we descended into Trastevere. This neighborhood is charming. Its atmosphere is pleasant — it isn't nearly as choked by motorcycles and tourists as the other side of the river — but it still has much to see. We visited a couple of churches, the Santa Maria in Trastevere, which sits next to a piazza of the same name, and San Francesco a Ripa. The latter holds a sensuous sculpture by Bernini of a blessed woman in ecstasy.
Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere
Travestere
We roamed around town for the rest of the evening, soaking up the ambience. For dinner, we decided to venture into San Lorenzo, a neighborhood not far from our hotel that is adjacent to the University of Rome. We had one of the best meals of our trip here. It was served at a cozy trattoria named Il Pulcino Ballerino. The appetizers were delicious, but my piatto secundo, called (I think) involtini, was sublime. The dish consists of veal wrapped around bacon or pork fat. Like jamón serrano, it melts in your mouth, but its juices take it a mile further. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and, feeling the effects of a fine meal, I slept like a log.
Theater of Marcellus. Reconstructed several times over the centuries.
