5/31 Vatican City

Although no notes were taken on this day, it is important to mention that this day was Vatican City Day.

Even though my religious preferences are not in line with the Catholic traditions, I still found myself anticipating this day unlike any other we had experienced yet on this trip, for the reason that we were able to go UNDERNEATH St. Peter’s Cathedral. Apparently, only 30 people per DAY only get to experience the necropolis underneath, and permission needs to be granted 6 months in advance. As well, the entrance is defended by the Swiss Guard (who protects the Pope) which should tell you about the importance and sacredness of this space. Underneath St. Peter’s is the Vatican Necropolis, where members of the wealthier families from around Rome would bury their dead. Ages range from young children to adults to the elderly, and various-sized sarcophagi have been constructed to fit the needs of these spaces. Also buried down there (but on a different level) are most of the Popes which have presided over the Vatican. Excavations began here in the 1940’s, while Rome was under the rule of Benito Mussolini, probably as part of a propaganda campaign that would attempt to tie his Fascist rule to that of ancient Rome, giving the Italian state the continuity it required to maintain control over the population. What I found amazing about the structure is that it’s supporting all of St. Peter’s Cathedral on what looks to be fairly meager foundations. Although modern construction techniques have allowed us to stabilize this extremely valuable area, and the area which it occupies is directly underneath the Baldacchino with the dome further above taking its weight and distributing it evenly over a large surface area, I am nevertheless surprised at the seemingly unsubstantial substrate layer. One other feature which brings many flocks of tourists to this underground city is the supposed spot of St. Peter’s bones. While it may be a subject of contention for a few, it is undoubtedly the exact resting spot of the 1^st Pope of Christianity. Peering through a small crack in a wall, one can see the area where it is thought to contain his bones, but no bones are actually visible. Nonetheless this is one experience that not many people get to have, and I am grateful for it.

Prior to this adventure below St. Peter’s, we all stood in line with the other hordes of tourists to get into the Vatican Museum, home of the Sistine Chapel. While the museum holds hallway after room after hallway of every type of bust, statue, painting, tapestry, and mosaic from the ancient world, everything seemed to be a prelude to the main event, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. I did find the build-up to the chapel quite enjoyable, as around every turn you were confronted with another room filled with ancient relics and a sign saying “Sistine Chapel à”. One piece of art which I was a fan of and did not expect to find here was the School of Athens by Raphael. Some of the members of our group said they could not locate it, and it was more along the lines of stumbling upon it rather than actively seeking it out, since the maze of rooms and hallways made it nearly impossible to search for a particular work of art. Finally arriving at the Sistine Chapel felt like a real occasion, as if I had entered a room with much weight and history behind it. I constantly was reminded from the guard, however, not to take pictures and to be quiet, which led to the feeling to being scolded by a grown-up. Nevertheless I admired the work of Michelangelo for as long as I could, because if it had taken this long to get here, I was going to enjoy it. The quality of his work and the way he represents the projecting cornices in perspective is quite a sight to see. Each figure that sits between the pediment sections near the top of the wall is positioned between the two cornices, and is meant to be viewed in pairs as such. All of the shadows are represented correctly, as if the room had one imaginary light source. The people are represented in Michelangelo’s typical bulky, muscular Mannerist style, naked and innocent. It’s strange, however, to look at these groups of figures along the top of the wall in a different pattern. If one were to look at the projecting cornices in pairs on either side of the pediments, neglecting the figures, the perspective changes and becomes wildly distorted. I suspect that in order to counteract people viewing the Chapel in this way Michelangelo painted the sections above the pediments darker and the sections with the seated figures with the correct perspective lighter; a subtle but important trick to prevent any visual discomfort.

In any case, I can honestly say that up until this point it has been an absolute privilege to be part of this trip and to be experiencing these places and spaces. Not many people in the world have the means to go on an excursion such as this, or they’re in such dire straits of basic human needs that a trip to Italy would seem preposterous given their current circumstances. I have an extra feeling of gratitude toward this trip as well because of the scholarship I received from Georgia Tech. I was given the opportunity to be awarded the Robert Daniel Betzel Memorial Scholarship, one that typically goes to a student who participates in the Paris program. Because this program had been suspended for this year (and possibly indefinitely), I was chosen among the Italy/Greece participants and to hear of the origin of the scholarship put this trip into a more humbling life experience. Robert was a student at Georgia Tech in the early 90’s, engaged, and by all accounts was a tremendous student. He was finishing up his graduate studies when he was unfortunately killed in a car accident before he could graduate. On his behalf, Georgia Tech set up a scholarship that for the past 20 years has honored a student studying abroad. I feel honored to be a part of this tradition and am trying my best to produce a quality end product in honor of Robert.

Continuing on a day of highlights, the inside of St. Peter’s was next up. For a person who is a fan of “tall” spaces, those where you can just lean your head back and say “wow!” St. Peter’s is one of the pinnacles of architectural expression in this regard. Every aspect of it is blown up in scale, double even triple the size of normal churches. While I tend to prefer those churches whose focus is more on complex geometries, I can appreciate St. Peter’s for what it is: a representative for all of Christianity, an enormously welcoming church which welcomes hordes of tourists throughout the years, and is a bastion for Catholic beliefs and their particular way of life. Stylistically, it has Roman roots: its arches, pendentives, domes, and overall geometries can all be derived from this source. On such a grand scale, however, these elements wipe away all of the church’s sense of directionality and procession, and leave you staring up at the ceiling with your mouth agape. The most important lesson I learned from this day at the Vatican was that if you’re intending for your audience to feel a sense of religious awe, you want your structure to physically make them feel that way simultaneously.