"that" photo/statues/cupola/curved dome walls/ceiling outside/dead pope guy/child sleeping but secretly praying/Michelangelo's Pietà/floor/skeleton/gold bird
The first thing we did at St. Peters was climb all the way to the top of the cupola. Five hundred and something stairs, nooooo problem. LeAnne got it dead right when she said that walking up those stairs in circles around and around was what purgatory must be like. When the dome got too small the walls began curving and it was like walking in a tiny corridor-ed funhouse (see fourth photo: was taken straight up and down. The walls really were curved that much). At the top, it was insanely crowded and almost not worth it, but there's a 360 degree view of the city and, you know, "that" shot.
The church itself is unbelievably large. My lens couldn't even encompass how large it really was (hence no "full church" shots). Besides the fact that there were twelve bajillion people inside. The kid sleeping was really cute, neither I nor LeAnne could get a clear shot of him so I think he's secretly an angel or something (for those who believe in such things).
The Pietà was much smaller than I thought it would be, Christ is a maybe a little smaller than life-size. Its only about 69 inches tall (aka five foot nine). Its behind bullet-proof acrylic glass because in the 70s some crazy geologist attacked it with a hammer, shouting "I am Jesus Christ" (according to his wiki page). Soo it was a bit hard to get a photo; that one was the best I could do. It is very beautiful though, and was always one of my favorite pietà portrayals (just like, uhh, everybody), with the very young Madonna and the totally altered proportions (yet somehow maintaining naturality) to make a fully-grown Christ look small in her lap.
Next post: Musei Vaticani.
We are headed down to Pompeii and Napoli tomorrow (yes, Kristina, I will get you things with your last name on it). I've heard Naples is not-so-safe, so I'm wondering how we will fare; just as long as no one tries to steal my camera, I won't have to hurt anyone too badly.
2 comments:
"That" photo is a beauty. In some ways, it could almost be thought of as a view taken in the ancient times, aside from a few visible vehicles on the right.
Lol. Yay!!! These pics are b-e-a-utiful btw! Stuff I've only ever seen in my art text books! I'm oh so jealous.
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