2017 Rome Spring

THIRD POSTING FROM ROME -- 26 February 2017

Greetings, we hope you all are well.

I did manage to shake a leg one morning (eek, 11 days ago already) and went early to St. Peter's, well ahead of the usual throng. I waltzed right through the security check point and was not surprised, but still slightly stunned to see the nave almost empty. There have been times when we've visited where the throng was so thick it was like being in a NYC rush hour subway car. But not this time, arriving at 8 a.m. there was no line for the airport-level security screening!

Here's a view of the famous dome, as seen from a bit further up the Tiber. This photo was snapped a few years ago, but is the best one I have for this.
YES, those tiny dots on the right walkway just above the water are people. Those 70 foot high flood walls were added after the 1870's. 
The edge of the Castle Sant' Angelo peeps out from the trees on the right hand side.

 

This view from the steps of St. Peter's itself shows the width of the piazza enclosed by Bernini's colonnades, done at the order of
Pope Alexander VII Chigi.
(done 1656-67. the oval is 240 meters across -
or 787 feet) (photo is also from a few years ago)
Wait until you see Bernini's tomb for that Pope!

Below is the fate of those who sleep in and don't show up early at St. Peter's. YUP, the line ends as far back as the obelisk and each photo from a few years ago shows only HALF the line.

Above left, one of the giant t.v. screens for when there are public "outdoor" events, placed before the large statue of St. Paul, who, along with St. Peter, are the Patron Saints of Rome.

Right, a glimpse inside the colonnade. There are four rows of columns,, creating a welcome respite from the sun and showers for pilgrims.

Here's the view of the nave at 8:10 a.m.

I have seldom seen the Pietà without a large crowd, often 

15 or 20 people deep before it. So I did have to wait about 

12 seconds for the OTHER tourist to move out of the way. The protective glass wall has been fortified by barricades keeping everyone at least 100 feet back. 

On this handy annotated map from planetware.com,
the Pietà is at #3, near the bottom, right.

The holy water stoop or basin is near #4, a little further up.

The large bronze statue of St. Peter is at #10, near the main altar.

One of the holy water basins, for the faithful to bless themselves near the entrance. The basin is about at my shoulder height, 
and I'm 5 foot 6 inches tall.

I've been here when the open area to the left was packed solid with people. The main altar is off-camera immediately to the left of the open area.
Pilgrims have worn smooth the foot of this statue of St. Peter, so a protective "shoe" was added. Nearly everyone who so reaches for a blessing has to raise their arm to reach this talisman. 

Bernini also created this canopy or baldacchino over the main altar. 
(The columns are 20 meters or 66 feet high. 
The bronze came from the underside 
of the porch of the ancient Pantheon.)

You have to come here when the crowds are 

not at full flood to have a sense of the space.

(This is hard to see, but those columns on the second level choir loft, right, are believed to be part of the ones brought back from Jerusalem from Solomon's Temple by the Emperor Constantine and placed in the original St. Peter's that he had built. 
 The giant bronze columns of the baldacchino were designed with those older ones in mind.)

A view of the underside of the baldacchino, done at the order of the Barberini pope, Urban VIII. By "sheer coincidence" the emblem underneath 

the canopy behind the dove representing the Holy Spirit is a full sun disk, another of the Barberini family emblems.

The dome is a sufficient distraction that I didn't notice this on previous visits.
So the habit of blasting one's family name or crest all over the buildings one is associated with
is not a modern American phenomenon,
but these somehow look better. 

Here's an earlier view of the dome, with the streaming sunbeams not very visible, despite some photographic tinkering. It is almost worth the hour-plus wait to enter the Basilica and the rib-crushing crowds to see these lighting effects in the afternoon.

I was standing at the railing overlooking the shrine (bottom center, mostly hidden) that is above what is believed to be the tomb of 

St. Peter himself.

 Further back, through the open area of the baldacchino is a bright gold confection done by Bernini's 

talented crew 

for what is called 

the throne of St. Peter.

It may help the overall wow factor of this confection to be seen in the light of the later afternoon, when the gilding and gold dazzle. 

(Here's my non-Catholic view again. Would Peter, the first leader of the Christians, have EVER used such a "throne" or chair of state, or even the simpler wooden relic enclosed therein? Oh well, it is quite a shimmering eye-catcher none the less, and it uses all the tricks and tools in Bernini's very fertile mind.) 

This entire basilica was done as part of the "Counter-Reformation", a push-back of the Catholic Church against the simplicity urged by some of the relatively recently formed Protestant churches. 

My apologies to my Catholic friends for vastly oversimplifying all this.

Just like in baseball, "you can't tell the players without a scorecard", so here's that handy map again. I will print this out and take it with me on my next visit.

One sad note for the tourist: In both 2016 & 2017, the entire right aisle was closed off to us heathens. IF you wish to pray or to confess, then you may enter this area. Better do so looking devout and NOT have your camera ready for action. I didn't even think of attempting a visit there.

You see the main altar in the clearing of the transept (arms) and the nave.

You'll next be seeing the tombs at #18 and #23, upper left.

At #18 is the location of an altar and tomb of Pope Leo I, the Great (440-461). This large marble relief by Alessandro Algardi, (done in early 1600's when Bernini was temporarily out of favor with a new Pope), illustrates an episode in 452 AD when Attila the Hun was about to battle papal forces near Manuta (south of Venice). The Pope's speech to convince Attila to not attack Rome (or Italy) was given extra weight by the sudden appearance to Attila of the heavenly figures of Saints Paul and Peter, brandishing swords. Rome however was later sacked by the Vandal tribes in 455.

The last time I was able to come near this altarpiece was many years ago. Its general location at the end of the church is closed off to ordinary visitors. There appeared to be a very early morning Mass being said for two people, a very rare privilege.

 

The tomb of Pope Alexander VII Chigi, (1655-67). 

I hadn't realized this was the last big work by the 80 year old Bernini (and assistants, of course). The Pope is shown absorbed in prayer, which is a usual attitude for a tomb. There are four statues of the virtues of this Pope, Charity (holding a child), Truth (her foot touches England on the world map--Anglicanism was not to be quelled there, having begun some 150 years earlier), further back are Prudence and Justice. These four virtues are often represented on tombs.

The Pope's praying statue doesn't even notice the skeleton of Death, popping out from the drapery (of Sicilian jasper stone) brandishing his hour glass as a reminder of "tempus fugit". It is possible that Bernini's own age may have influenced this reminder of the flight of time, nonetheless the message is clear enough.

There are many books on Alexander VII Chigi (I've read a couple of them), and I will somehow refrain from saying anything about that remarkable pope and his exceptionally wealthy family now.

There are many other papal tombs in St. Peter's and many fine books tell all about them. 

But you may be ready to hit the "close window" button, so I'll pop in some snapshots. 

One is lucky to find this much info/labeling
inside St. Peter's.
Pont. or Pontifex || Max. or Maximus
is an adaptation of the Roman title of Chief Priest, an office that was assumed by the Emperors.

It helps to know "Roman" numerals.
Many people know those mostly
from the numbering of Super Bowl games.
M= 1,000
D = 500
C = 100
L = 50
X = 10
V = 5
I = 1

The digits' position and order matter:
XI = 11 but IX = 9; XC = 90; IV = 4 but VI =6
Try doing business calculations with these!

Here's a further back view on the Left aisle, to show the framing effect of the archways. At the back is a mosaic copy of Raphael's last masterwork, The Transfiguration altarpiece.

Below left, the original painting, now is the Vatican Museums' painting gallery. At right, the church of St. Pietro in Montorio, the original home of the image.

These young priests came up from the stairs to the Papal Tombs area beneath the main nave. They were very happy having said a Mass down there, and were heading into the sacristy through a door under another papal tomb on the right.

Papal tombs tended to follow the usual formulae of the time, with some slight variations (the Chigi tomb being an exception, but its imagery was based on traditional forms).

I was puzzled by this one by its design and because Pius VIII is not a well known pope, having reigned for less than 2 years after his 1829 election. I was half considering making some snarky remarks about his image being shown rather prominently with the three of the "heavy hitters" of Catholicism -Christ, Peter and Paul.

I since read a few nice things about him and his Church career. The most striking to me was, in complete contrast to several of his predecessors in the previous few centuries, when he became Pope, Pius VIII ordered ALL of his relatives to resign any and all Church offices or positions they held.

Had any of those "bad boy" popes used a small amount of self restraint and kept their own and their relations' hands OFF the Church's funds and powers, the Protestant Revolution might not had gained as much ground as quickly as it did.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12134a.htm
will take you to a few informative paragraphs. 

These two figures at the lower part of Pius' tomb were interesting. It is possible Justice is seated with her scales empty due to space constraints, and she is represented as being thoughtful, observant and at repose. Pius did have a distinguished career in the field of Canon or Church Law. The other virtue shown, this one on the right, is of "Sapienza", a complex virtue based on self knowledge and wisdom. It is often represented by a snake, an ancient symbol of wisdom.

DOWN IN THE PAPAL TOMBS

On that day, ordinary visitors were allowed to descend to the papal tombs area after nine a.m. There were signs in several languages informing that NO photos were to be taken.

This is a photographer's dilemma. If a place, or more importantly to my mind, if a person says NO, that's it, No photos.

In a special exhibition in a museum, where the owners of the art mandated no photos, again, thou shalt not shoot.

If there is anyone praying, NO photos (at least not where it is in any possible way an intrusion).

I surmised the reason for the prohibition was to prevent what should be a sacred place from turning into a free for all like when a movie star makes a public appearance. The tomb of John Paul II is down there, and is a big attraction. There are thousands of people who make sacrifices to travel there to pray. But that area was closed off that morning, the few guards were barely able to yawn themselves awake, and there were very few people. So here are the few that I took "shooting from the hip" in the papal tombs area. (Many of the more interesting areas are accessible only through small passageways that are gated off from the general public.)



This is the actual tomb of Queen Christiana of Sweden, who abdicated her throne in 1654 to convert to Catholicism. She was welcomed with enormous hoopla, in the vain hopes that there would be mass conversions away from Protestantism. 



Here's her memorial in the main part of St. Peter's,
 in the right aisle past the Pietà. 




Here's the cause of all the hoopla of this Basilica, a shrine above the area where St. Peter is supposed to have been buried. It is directly under the main altar, and I'm seeing it through a couple layers of protective glass. 



For foot traffic control, once you enter the papal tombs area, the only way out is through a side door to the outside of the Basilica. You are still in the secured zone, so you do not have to go through the clearance procedure again and can reenter the Basilica if you wish.
The little balcony above is a special tour-groups entry and exit direct to the Sistine Chapel.

Nearly 10 a.m. and there is only a bit of a line forming to enter the security checkpoints.

Be certain when you come, it is as early in the day as you can arrive. Bring a small guide or at least a detailed map, comfy shoes and enjoy.

Thanks for sloughing through to
END OF THIS POSTING.