• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Krishnan Thiagarajan

Here's a first-hand feel of the Vatican City — seat of the Roman Catholic religion, touchstone of culture and a place where art, archaeology, history and theology have stood the test of time.

"For twenty centuries, the history of the Vatican has been the history of the world: the constant struggle of the spirit against matter; of order against disorder; of truth against falsehood; of freedom against slavery. Tempest after tempest, generations and centuries have come with their threats and perils: but all these have passed and the Vatican still remains."

Nothing sums up the historical greatness of the Vatican more aptly than this extract from a Souvenir Album of the 1950's. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that a visit to the Vatican city, alone, is worth a trip to Italy. For that matter, most visitors to Rome start their trips by first exploring the Vatican.

Anyone who knows a bit of history about the Vatican City will know that the Vatican City Museum celebrated the greatest period in human history: the High Renaissance. This was the period that produced some of the greatest and finest artists of the generation, lining up greats such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. The Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's creation, and the Room of Raphael at the Vatican Museum are said to be the finest manifestations of human glory, spirit and ingenuity. Needless to say it was St. Peter's Basilica, the bastion of the Roman Catholic Religion, and the residence of the Pope that we were looking forward to seeing.

That would have to wait, for now it was the Metro Railway within Roma Termini where we were headed. And what a scene greeted us there — almost every carriage was spray-painted with graffiti that made the Mumbai metro look quite respectable by comparison.

Incredible harmony

But the prospect of more exciting and exhilarating things to come brightened up the journey.

Such as the unique San Pietro (St Peter's square), which struck you with its incredible harmony.

It felt as though the sheer vastness of the square had dwarfed a throng of tourists milling around. It is on this grand square that thousands of pilgrims congregate from all over the world for the benediction of the Pope on Easter Sunday (celebrating the Resurrection of Christ). On either side is a semi-circular colonnade, which is the work of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, the most famous sculptor and architect of the 17th century. On top of the colonnade are numerous statues, bearing the distinct baroque style of Bernini's architectural genius.

In the middle of the square is the Vatican Obelisk, said to have been brought from Alexandria and erected in the square in 1586 AD. Adorning the square further are the two fountains, in perfect harmony with the vastness of the square. And facing this square is the magnificent St. Peter's Basilica featuring the overall architectural work and design of Bramante adopted by Michelangelo in mid-1500 AD.

The original Basilica was constructed on the orders of Emperor Constantine in 324 AD, over the tomb of St. Peter, the Apostle who was martyred around 64 AD. The entire reconstruction of the Basilica, as it is today, was done on the orders of Julius II around 1510 AD.

It is said that it took 176 years to complete and involved the application of mind and efforts of some of the greatest architects, sculptors and design artists of that generation such as Bramante, Raphael, Sangallo and Michelangelo. The colossal dome of St. Peter's towering into the sky is the creation of Michelangelo even though, the original idea was provided by Bramante. To heighten the magnificence of the Basilica, on either side of the facade stand two huge statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

The hours spent lapping up the grandiose exterior of the square were enough to whet the appetite for more breathtaking grandness and beauty that awaited us within the Basilica. Starting with the marvellous bronze door at the entrance, the interior of the Basilica is, in every fragment, as magnificent and imposing as the exterior. What is most compelling is its staggering size. The length of the interior is said to be nearly 690 ft and the dome is around 390 ft! There is so much to see inside that one can easily spend a day walking around. Some of the monuments and statues such as Michelangelo's Pieta, one of his most fascinating works in which the Virgin mother holds the body of Christ on her knees, clearly stand out in all their glory. So do Bernini's celebrated Baldacchino at the altar and the Throne of St. Peter in glory and a remarkable view of the interior of Michelangelo's dome (one can go to the top for a closer look).

Before long it was sunset and time to leave the Basilica. The next morning we walked to the Vatican Museum, which is housed in Palazzi Vaticani (The Vatican Palaces).

In a world of art

The Vatican Palace's history dates back to nearly fifteen hundred years ago. And over this period, thanks to the abiding interest of successive Pontiffs in art, this place has accumulated a truly stunning collection of Italian and other paintings, masterpieces of art, Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Egyptian antiquities, rare manuscripts and memorable book collections of all ages. And we were told that these splendid collections had been housedin over 10,000 rooms under separate sections named after different Popes such as the Pio-Clemintino Museum, Chiaramonti Museum, Gregoriano Etrusco Museum, Pinacoteca Vaticana and the like.

As we were cautioned about getting lost amidst this extraordinary collection of art and history, we decided to begin our tour of it all with the Sistine Chapel and Room of Raphael.

Inside the Museum, one has to first pass through the Raphael Stanza (or the Room of Raphael) before walking into the Sistine Chapel. The artistic greatness of the Raphael Stanza (Room of Raphael) is such that when Raphael first entered Rome in early 1500 AD, he was immediately summoned by Pope Julius II to scrap and rework the Pope's study chambers. The first of the masterpieces from Rapheal's brush is called The Dispute of the Blessed Sacrament, which celebrates the glory of the Eucharist representing Christ both in heaven and earth in the same fresco (wet plaster). This is said to be a fresco without parallel in the whole history of painting. Facing this painting, on the opposite wall, is The School of Athens in which Raphael has brought the entire galaxy of philosophers and other greats such as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Archimedes, Euclid, Pythagoras, Diogenes with others from the Renaissance cultural scene such as Sodoma, Raphael and Franscesco.

The other walls and ceiling of the study chamber adorn the representations of the sciences and arts ranging from Justice, Philosophy, Poetry and Theology.

Simply soul-stirring

But the true epitome of greatness of the High Renaissance era was only a couple of hundred metres ahead from Raphael's room. This is the Sistine Chapel. The uninspiring door that leads into the chapel is hardly any preparation for the arresting artistry within. One is literally thrown off balance by the size of the room and the frescoes from the Old and New Testament, which cry out for attention from all directions.

But all attention is riveted on the ceiling. Michelangelo's ceiling, which portrays key stories from the Genesis, has to be seen to be believed. It is almost inconceivable to even think how someone, single-handedly, could envision and complete such a grand project.

Commissioned again by Pope Julius II, Michelangelo started work on the ceiling in 1508 and took four years to complete this gigantic undertaking. In order to restore the brilliance of this work, the restoration of the ceiling was started in 1980 and took 12 years to complete, three times longer than what Michelangelo took to paint it.

And almost 23 years later, Michelangelo truly exceeded his own prodigious achievement on the ceiling with The Last Judgement portraying the Elected rising to Heaven and the damned tumbling into Hell. It adorns the entire length of one wall from the ceiling to the floor of the Sistine Chapel. It will be profane for a novice to comment on art, but one intuitively felt that paintings of this quality would never be attempted again and could not be seen anywhere else on the globe.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. With a heavy heart but treasured memories to last a lifetime, we left Vatican City behind for the more mundane tasks of the world.

Picture by the author

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
A stitch in time

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line