The Vatican in pictures

The Vatican is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Housing one of the largest collections of art and sculpture in the world, if you stood in front of each work of art for one minute each it would take you 10 years to see them all. It seemed like around every corner I turned there stood a sculpture I know to be of the best in the world. It was packed with people from a variety of countries. An estimated 17,000 people from around the world visit The Vatican EVERY DAY!


This was the ceiling in one of my favorite rooms. It is a long hallway full of maps made centuries ago during a time when there was no technology to help them. All of the maps are very accurate, large enough to fill a wall, and decorated with bright colors. The ceiling was the most impressive part of the room, shown here with painting and relief sculptures.















Once you have walked through the vatican museums you end up at the Sistine Chapel, my favorite work of art. I had prepared myself to be amazed by Michelangelo's masterpiece, but I wasn't prepared for how incredible the ceiling fresco actually is. This was the first professional painting Michelangelo had ever been commissioned for, and he did it against his will. He would have much rather worked on the tomb of Pope Julius II, who instead commanded him to paint the ceiling of the most sacred chapel in the Vatican. It is also amazing that all the Pope wanted Michelangelo to paint were the 12 apostles surrounded by a geometrical pattern. Going above and beyond, Michelangelo painted over 300 figures, playing by his own rules (as usual). You are not supposed to take pictures, but I couldn't resist. This masterpiece took the artist 4 years to complete, standing on scaffolding with his neck and back bent over backwards. After only a few short minutes my neck hurt from looking up at the ceiling. SO COOL!