Rome and the denouement

August 20 - exquisite Roman ruinations!


It is the exceptional morning that I leap from bed and say 'get thee to church'. This morning is one such morning. It is off to the Vatican. In the distance Michelangelo's dome rises over 100 meters above the buses and the tourist bustle.

We dive into the fray, first through the museums. Pio Clemente's museum holds the Lacoon, the ancient Greek sculpture which, along with the Apollo Belvedere, is said to have inspired Michelangelo's robust treatment of the male form (and decidedly more robust treatment of the female form).




The occasional portal allows a glimpse of the papal grounds. Very nice! swank!




We march down galleries so laden, no overburdened, with priceless art and religious artifact; our wee profane brains numb out from the grandeur. But then the genius that surrounds us shouts to us to pay attention, even from the gallery ceilings, and so we gape on.



Raphael commands attention with, among others, his iconic The School of Athens. Felicity now has a print of it hanging from her wall at McGill.



In the distance we see Michelangelo's Pieta. Its genius shines distinctly through the dimness and the distance.


We traverse the Sistine Chapel, eyes glued heavenward to those frescos first seen in childhood picture books: the Creation, the Fall, the Last Judgment and all of the other themes and representations commencing long before the time of Abraham.


Then we pass into St Peter's Basilica, shrinking to insignificance, along with all the others, under Michelangelo's supreme dome. Here I profane the holy place by taking a picture of my daughter. Humans! will they never get it right?


Later we explore the ruins of Rome's Republican and Imperial days, starting, where else?, at the Colesseum. From there one can wander to the seven hills of Rome but the one I head for is Capitoline Hill.





Climbing higher I pass under the Arch of Septimius Severius, one of only three arches surviving time's erosion and the frequent looting and destruction by invading tribes.




As I top the hill the neo-classical corners of the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument and Palazzo Venezia abruptly bring me back to ersatz and recent history. Perhaps a fitting enough place to end this walk in antiquity.





Several days later Felicity and I return to Toronto full of stories of our adventures and keen to share them with Verity. While we played in Italy Verity slaved away at her summer job inToronto. Doesn't seem fair. Oh well! We'll make it up another day.