The Glory of the Vatican
- Dora Ozyurt
- Jun 23, 2024
- 3 min read
My first stop was the Vatican. Vatican City is the smallest religious country in the world with only 1200 citizens.
San Pietro Square, where the entrance gate of the Vatican is
In San Pietro Square at the entrance to the Vatican, there was a statue made by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz, representing the peoples who were forced to migrate throughout history. For the first time in 400 years, a new statue has been added. In the sculpture, there are 140 human figures on a boat with angel wings, representing people who were forced to migrate from different parts of the world. It's a very impressive sculpture. It was as if he was saying that we are all only human beings with 2 hands and 2 eyes, even if we have different languages, cultures, colors and races gathered on Noah's Ark at the same time.
San Pietro Square / Timothy Schmalz 'Migration' Statue
It was very crowded because of New Year's Eve. After waiting in line for an hour and a half, I got Michelangelo's masterpiece in Saint Pietro's Basilica.
Michelangelo / Pieta
In Christian art, especially sculpture, the scenes showing the Virgin Mary holding her dead son Jesus in her arms are called "Pieta", and the most famous of these is the only marble sculpture made by Michelangelo at the age of 25 and with his signature.
In 1972, Laszlo Toth severed Mary's arm and hand holding Jesus' head with 12 hammer blows, broke the tip of her nose, and created a hundred small fractures in various parts of the statue. After about 10 months of work, the broken pieces were joined together with an invisible adhesive.
My next stop was the Vatican Museum, which is behind the entrance to the Vatican.
Hall of Animals
The Vatican Museum is so full that I think it is a museum that can be visited for days. So I went in in the morning and was able to leave when it got dark. But I'm not satisfied, so I'll go again in the future.
Statues of Gods from the Egyptian Civilization
The museum has set a sightseeing route for itself, and in this way, we can see the different parts of the museum without missing anything. The first part is the very impressive Egyptian Museum, where sculptures, mummies, tablets and mosaics from Ancient Egypt are exhibited. There are so many artifacts that for a moment I thought I was in Egypt. In the museum you can see a complete mummy with its face, hands and feet open.
Tablet of the Egyptian Civilization
The Giant Tapestry Carpet gallery is fascinating. It was woven with fine threads and became a story. There is so much effort that it is impossible not to admire it.
Tapestry Carpet on the birth of Jesus
In the 120 m long map room, you don't know where to look. This room, which is like a giant jewel with special lighting on the ceiling, is actually a map room and maps are displayed on the right and left of the room. It's like you're walking around the tiny world in this room.
Map Room where maps are placed on the right and left
The frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were the first major work of Michelangelo and lasted for 4 years. Stories from the Bible were told on the 8600 m2 ceiling. I had seen it in art books before, but it was very impressive to be under this giant work made by lying on the piers. It was like a dream. I was right below the wonder of Michelangelo that I had seen in the books. I don't have a photo because it is forbidden to take photos in this section, but when I ask Uncle Google, it shows it.
One of the things that surprised me was to come across modern artifacts in a museum with so many religious artifacts. You can see Rodin's Thinker sculpture, Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse and Salvador Dali works in 36 rooms in the Contemporary section of the museum. It was a New Year's gift for me to find the works I saw in the books right in front of me.
Dali's 'Angelic Landscape'
The "Snail Ladder", made by Guiseppe Momo in 1932, was as if to say, 'Come again!'
Snail Ladder from the top and side
The museum was truly dizzying, awesome and magnificent. When you leave, it's like you're a different person. You are filled with color, inspiration, happiness. You are in the art history book and you are living in the book like a Liliputian in Gulliver's World. If you happen to be on your way, I think you should not miss this art history invitation.
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