We had some breakfast and took the metro to the Vatican.

The Vatican has a ridiculous amount of ancient treasures.  It’s mind-boggling.  On the one hand, they have protected a tremendous amount of priceless art- art that has a historical impact, art that is a high watermark of human achievement.  On the other hand, much of what they have just seems like it should belong to ALL people.  To their credit, it is fairly accessible.

They have Laocoon and the belvedere torso, both of which were ancient to Michelangelo.  They inspired his art and you can even see those poses and body forms in the Last Judgement.

 

The interior of the museum was lavishly decorated in nearly every possible space.  There were a lot of papal coats of arms displayed.

We also saw paintings by Raphael, including the School of Athens.  Raphael and Michelangelo were painting in the Vatican at the same time.  Michelangelo kept to himself and wasn’t very sociable as he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Raphael had completed School of Athens and shortly after Michelangelo unveiled a portion of the ceiling he had been working on.  Raphael was so impressed with Michelangelo’s work that he went back to his own painting, School of Athens, and added Michelangelo to it.

After the Vatican museum we saw St’ Peter’s Basilica.  Here we saw Michelangelo’s Pieta and a number of incredible works by Bernini.

 

Yes, that’s marble.

I did the cupola climb to the top of St. Peter’s and took a few photos from Michelangelo’s dome.

After climbing down, we walked by Castel Sant Angelo before heading off to our cooking class.  While we didn’t really learn anything new in the class, we made an excellent dinner and enjoyed some wine!