The Vatican was wonderful and very draining at the same time.  I was blown away by so much of what I saw. The art was incredible; I particularly enjoyed the statues of various animals, both actual and fictional. In my limited study of Art History, I have not seen many animals as the main subjects of sculpture, and I particularly liked the camel head and fictional fish/horse/human creature. I may have enjoyed the animal statues in particular because it was rather early on in the day, before the heat, size of the building, and mass number of pieces wore down my energy.

I did love the modern art exhibit, particularly the Dali and an artist named Mirko Basaldella (1910-1969).  His two pieces depicting the Crucifixion I found very interesting.  He used a lot of lines and almost cartoon-like figures, but the effect was very neat, and he used cooler colors.

The Sistine Chapel is probably the most famous ceiling in the world, and I find it interesting that the ceiling was such an important space to artists in the Roman era.  I wonder why this trend faded.  While the size, colors, precision, and subject matter of the Sistine ceiling were incredible, the atmosphere was not. The masses of people mixed with shouts of museum workers, poor lighting, and tired legs did not meet my preconceived expectations of the space.  I would love to spend a few hours alone with the ceiling, and wonder why the viewing system is so hectic; in my opinion the current system does the piece a great disservice.  My favorite part of the ceiling actually wasn’t the ceiling at all but the ‘Last Judgment’ including Michelangelo’s self-portrait in the face of the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew.  This was painted between 1535 and 1541, and was criticized by the church for the ‘shameless’ nudity.