Continued from yesterday”¦ Going back to the dozen or so painted rooms “¦ Some of the rooms were chapels, some living quarters or offices of the popes. Most of these rooms were painted by incredibly famous artists, such as Raphael and Perugino. Most were done in roughly the same time period as the Sistine (late 1400’s through the 1500’s). Every inch of ceiling and wall were painted. Each painting had a religious theme. Something that really struck us as odd is that many of these paintings incorporated images of pagan Greek/Roman gods and goddesses, as well as Greek scholars and philosophers, alongside Jesus and bishops. There were also scenes depicting stories from pagan mythology, both Greek and Egyptian. We think the paintings are bizarre given how adamant the church was at destroying heretical pagan religious beliefs and repressing Greek knowledge. There are some bible scenes depicted, as well (of course). Probably the majority of the artwork was depictions of martyrdoms, conquests, miracles and other significant events from post bible Christian history. Every one of these rooms was spectacular. Every one of the rooms you could sit in for days just staring at the walls and ceilings before you really could fully take in and appreciate the artwork. Here are a couple photos. We know the paintings look small, but remember that these are whole entire walls in fairly large rooms.
In addition to the regular tour, there were several optional galleries along the way, as well, usually doorways off to the side where you could leave the main trail. Every single optional gallery was huge, with a trove of exhibits. The Greek & Roman art gallery has Continue reading
