Value is in the eye of the beholder. The value of the art being viewed depends on the person doing the viewing. Art can be valued differently by different people. Even a couple married 50 years can value the same art differently. The challenge is trying to see each other's perspective and respect each other's opinion of value. The fun part of having my own blog is that I can include the art I valued the most from our recent Italy trip. I am happy that my husband and I share many of the the same values and opinions about art. It definitely adds to the value!
I know I took over 2000 photos and I think my husband said he took about 3000 photos on our trip to Italy. I know we likely took most of the same photos from different perspectives. Here I have carefully picked some of my favorites of the art-related photos I captured from each of the main places visited that had art in both Rome and Florence presented in two separate posts. I have also linked each place to information the reader could easily look for more detail and likely information about all the art I may not have mentioned. I know I can come back and enjoy the art I valued at this time and maybe even expand my perspective and knowledge in the years to come!
Huge 2000 year-old bronze doors are truly a work of art as is the architecture of the whole building!
Standing under the open center of this circular building is a vantage point to capture the view all around the interior where there are alters, chapels, tombs, and art.
High Alter up close (early 15th Century)
High Alter area (early 15th Century)
Wooden Crucifix (16th century)
Wooden Icon of the Holy Virgin Mary of Santa Maria and Martyrs copy (609 AD)
Annunciation (early 16th Century)
Alter area of Virgin with Child between St. Francis and St. John the Baptist (15th Century)
Virgin with Child between St. Francis and St. John the Baptist up close (15th Century)
The Catacombs are a sacred place. No photography is allowed once you enter the underground. I have included the entrance area and the information board of symbols we were directed to observe while on the tour. Please click on the link above for much more information, photos, and the meanings of the symbols.
Stone Wall Plaque I purchased in the shop on site. I also took a pinch of the dirt inside the catacombs during the tour and wrapped in in a foil gum wrapper as my own little icon memory.
Vatican City is a separate country; the smallest in the world. It is vast and overwhelming in many ways. Definitely worth the time and effort to explore as little or as much as one can absorb. I can only present a fraction of my favorite art from the 4-hour tour. I know I will come back to the above link many times and learn more! I have included the art of St. Peter's Basilica separately.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1508-1512 for the Creation of the UniverseVault and 1536-1541 for the Last Judgement)
Fresco is a mural painting technique that involves painting directly onto wet plaster with water-based paint. The word "fresco" comes from the Italian word for "fresh." As the plaster sets, the paint becomes an integral part of the wall. Camera flashes are harmful to the precious artwork and no photography was allowed during the tour.
The room is used for great ceremonies such as electing and inaugurating new popes. I felt the reverent nature and understand the symbolic meaning for the papacy in this chief consecrated space in the Vatican. I felt humbled and grateful for this History of Creation and the connection with a loving Heavenly Father. I really didn't want to leave this room which is my all-time favorite spiritual and physically! It is the cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. Definitely worth the time to check out the link I provided above for more details!
Raphael Sanzio
(1508-1524 for The School of Athens)
This fresco includes ancient philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists. It is regarded as one of Raphael's best-known works described as his "masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the Renaissance."
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The School of Athens - In the center Plato points his finger upward holding his book Timaeus. Raphael used the face of his friend and artist Leonardo de Vinci as a model.
The School of Athens - The artist Raphael includes himself looking straight at you.
The School of Athens - The artist includes his friend and fellow artist Michelangelo sitting on the step portraying Heraclitus. Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel at the time.
The School of Athens - This unknown scribe has become famous to heavy metal music lovers as he was on the album covers of "Use Your Illusion" by the band Guns N' Roses.
Ignazio Danti
(1580-1585)
The frescos were made by Italian and Flemish artists covering the 6x120 meter long corridor to the Sistine Chapel. There are 40 maps of various Italian regions and the main Italian ports of the 16th century.
The ceiling adjacent to each region have representations of the main religious events that took place in it.
Our tour guide points out some important places along the way. I find it interesting especially since mapping has been a major part of my life throughout my 30-year career as a real estate appraiser in Missouri. I am fascinated how places develop and grow historically and geographically!
Lacoon and His Sons is a marble sculpture that depicts a Trojan priest and his sons being strangled by serpents sent by a Greek goddess (age estimated at 200 BC; discovered in 1506).
The Resurrection of Christ is located in the Tapestry Gallery. It was designed by Raphael Sanzio's former assistants based on a cartoon from Raphael's school in Brussels, Belgium which was likely completed in 1516. It is one of seven in a series.
In this tapestry, Jesus seems to stare you in the eye and then follow you down the hall with His piercing gaze in a miracle of artistic illusionism.
This is Emperor Nero's 2,000-year old bathtub. It's made of an extremely rare Egyptian marble called porphyry. If one would acquire that much today it would cost around $1 billion.
Vatican City - St. Peter's Basilica
It is most famous for the marble mosaics, paintings, tapestries, and columns. There are over 28,000 mosaics pieces covering over 33,000 square feet on view. Many are replicas of paintings that had been damaged by mold due to uncontrolled high humidity. The Vatican Mosaic Studio has been responsible for preserving, restoring, and replicating the mosaics for centuries.
The most obvious features are the dome over St. Peter's Tomb and the Baldacchino (canopy over the tomb which is currently under restoration) and the Alter of the Chair. Art adorns many different areas that attract visitors for various reasons. There are hourly Holy Mass services, Adorations, Celebrations of the Sacraments, services available for Pilgrims, and ongoing tours for the general public with over 100 tombs and 4 relics to see. It is an atmosphere of reverence with a modest dress code. There's even a open confessional-like booth with a priest available for personal blessing requests with a very long line!
Main entry
Main entry with ceiling
Under the covered structure is the Baldacchino. It is a bronze canopy over the Tomb of St. Peter under restoration at this time. Where you see the golden area is the original oak chair used by the apostle Peter. It was enveloped with an ornate gilded bronze throne cover by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1642-1653. He also created the bronze Baldacchino.
(part of the Baldacchino restoration cover can be seen on the far right)
The Baldacchino (under restoration) over the Tomb of St. Peter is centered under the dome and in front of St. Peter's Chair
The Baldacchino (under restoration) as viewed from the center of the building.
Located on the structure cover of the Baldacchino restoration is this photograph of the bronze canopy which is being restored at the time of our visit.
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The Pieta (1498-1499)
Sculpted by Michelangelo Buonarroti when he was 23 years old from Carrara marble and is the only piece he ever signed. It is most famous because it balances early forms of naturalism with the Renaissance ideals of classical beauty.
Pieta is Italian for "pity" or "compassion." Mary is sorrowfully contemplating the dead body of her Son which she holds in her lap after His crucifixion and descent from the cross. It shows the Virgin Mary's grief as well as her youth and purity. It is a sorrowful scene but one that holds the promise of hope and redemption. We can still find comfort in Mary's presence.
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The Pieta (1498-1499) is now protected by a bulletproof glass screen since 1972 when a mentally disturbed man vandalized it on Pentecost Sunday. He damaged the arm, nose, and eye of Mary with 15 blows from his geologist's hammer. It was restored.
From my journal, "So many photos were taken! So much history! ...We got the 2-hour tour which was amazing and exhausting! Just being in the presence of a place so important and old overwhelms me! We kept up barely as it was so very much worth the effort." I realize later that I should have wrote down more information as much of the identification later online was difficult to verify. This castle had so many different uses and reconstructions since it was originally built as a Mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian and his family in 135-139 AD. Over the years, the structure served as a fortress (5th Century), prison, and Papal Quarters with underground passage from the Vatican. The military use ended in 1901when restoration was begun; now a museum of military history. The art and artifacts are quite diversified!
IHS Christogram has multiple meanings: Greek most common religious meaning is "Iesus Hominum Salvator" or "Jesus Savior Mankind." Acronym and Jesuit symbol for "In His Service." The 3 nails represent the nails used to crucify Christ and the sunburst is an image of Divinity. This was the first thing I noticed and photographed as I went inside the Castel Sant'Angelo.
Emperor Hadrian
Fresco walls - artist unknown but similar to those uncovered in Pompeii (age unverified)
The Barberini family symbol was the bee. Probably one of the early works of Michelangelo according to our tour guide (unverified).
St. Michael the Archangel is a bronze statue on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo. I stayed there admiring it as my most favorite piece of art here for the longest time along with enjoying the awesome view over the River Tiber and all of Rome!
The legend goes that in 590 AD, "during the plague, Pope GregoryI had a vision of the Archangel Michael sheathing his sword on top of the castle, interpreting it as a sign of the end of the plague." Because it happened during a penitential procession to end a plague in Rome, the castle was subsequently named Castel Sant'Angelo which translate to "castle of the Holy Angel." The first bronze statue was then placed on top although it has been destroyed many times over the centuries. The current statue has been in place since 1753.
Sala Paolina and adjacent rooms are some of the greatest art episodes of the Roman Century depicting scenes during the life of Pope Paul III (b. 1469 Alessandro Farnese d.1549); his namesakes were Alexander the Great and St. Paul. Frescos painters included Perin de Vega, Pellegrino Tibaldi, Luzio Luzi, Dominica Ritti, Giacomo Bertucci and Peter John Bonaccorsi about 1545.
Saint Michael Archangel by Pellegrino Tibaldi (est. 1543-7)
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Piety (1480-1490) made of polychrome terracotta; artist unknown.
The Bath by Dasso Dossi (aka il Bagno) early 16th century (est 1514)
Purchased in Rome on May11, 2024; arrived on
June 11, 2024
All 4 items were well packed and arrived with no damage.
Pieta in white marble
Crucifix in white marble
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Cherubs (angels) with basin white marble wall plaque is a small reproduction of the famous all marble Holy Water Font at St. Peter's Basilica front door (below).
Marble Mosaic of the Creation Hands by Michelangelo in
Sistine Chapel (below).
Back of Creation Hands Mosaic signed by the artist with note from shop keeper. Red wax seal is artist's skill authentication from Pope's Vatican Mosaic Studio.
We spent one week in Rome and one week in Florence. They are similar in many ways especially with religious art dominant and much Roman and Greek ancient influence. I think Rome was my favorite of the two probably because I am Catholic and it is the center of the world's religious history. It is a much larger city so the crime and negativity that comes with that is apparent and one must always be aware and cautious. Still, there are areas of reverence and holiness that overwhelmingly feel protected by a greater force. It is an atmosphere of Love. I can't think of a better place to be on our 50th Wedding Anniversary!
