Musei Vaticani

One of the benefits of visiting Rome during the "off-season" is not having to wait in lines.  I read about 2-hour waits at the museum (and how to avoid them, if possible.)  We walked right in.  With several miles of exhibits to see, we opted to focus on the highlights from Rick Steve's and just awe at the rest as we walked right by. And there's plenty to awe over.  It's one of the most ornate buildings I've ever been in, very fitting for a papal palace.  (kind of...)

I was most impressed with how every surface was decorated, be it huge murals by Raphael done in the living quarters, a 1/8 mile stretch filled  with floor to ceiling tapestries, or Greek marble statues taken in by the Romans.  And it all culminates at the Sistine Chapel at the end, which although amazing, is different than expected.  For everything Michelangelo fit on the ceiling, the chapel is not very big.  And it's full of people.  And the guards walk around yelling, "Silence!  No Photo!" every 30 seconds.  Which made Hyrum take a picture just to prove he could. (No flash. of course).  The Sistine Chapel is impressive because of the detail and quantity of images everywhere-- almost the whole Bible is depicted on the ceiling, including some people I've never heard of.  (Persica? Libica? Ozias?  Where were these during seminary??)

If you want to be impressed by sheer size, the attached St Peter's Basilica does the trick.  But I'll save that for another day.

Room of the Immaculate Conception.  Fresco in the Papal living quarters.

Lots of statues of animals.  

This gives an idea of just how big the artwork is!

Laocoon, a famous sculpture than influenced Michelangelo's work

The ceilings of the tapestry room were more impressive than the tapestries themselves.  It's all just paint on a flat surface, despite the 3-d appearance.

Egyptian art has never really been my thing, but a 3000 yr old woman is always worth stopping for!

Renaissance fresco by Raphael, School of Athens, showing Plato and Aristotle walking down the hallway. 

Right before the Sistine Chapel, we looked down a hallway and spotted a familiar style.  Botero is a Colombian artist famous for painting short, round people; this one happens to be the Pope!

And the [illegal] grand finale.