Our guide for the private tour of the Vatican Museums
and the Sistine Chapel, met us in the foyer of the Hotel Farnese at 9am on Saturday, 30th April. Having a guide isn’t necessary, especially for those who were raised in the Catholic school system, but we were promised a short cut from the museums and chapel to the basilica, so it seemed worth the price.
Decorated floor as we entered the museum corridors
Once inside the museum, Annalivia insisted on providing a twenty minute history lesson about the church and the papacy (most of which we knew) and describing the sections of Michelangelo’s ceiling, because, as we discovered later, speaking is not permitted in the chapel. One interesting snippet that I didn’t know, was that St Peter’s Basilica was only built after the popes returned from Avignon. Started in 1506, it was opened in 1626. Before that, the main papal church was on the other side of the river, in St John’s, which (I hope I’ve got this right) is still part of the Vatican territory, even though it’s outside their walls.
Tiled floor
A ceiling in the passageway
We eventually joined the throngs of tourists walking along corridors that seem to go for miles, with massive tapestries lining the walls, beautifully patterned, tiled floors and ceilings that are decorated with colourful paintings. In palatial style, the corridors look out onto courtyards and gardens, where former popes did much of their entertaining.
Biblical scene, Belgian tapestry
A small section of this Belgian tapestry
The tapestries depicted stories from the old and new testaments (Belgian artists) or scenes of papal grandeur (Italian artists.) Early versions 
of maps of the world and globes,
(often missing the Americas and never a sign of Australia) I found entertaining as well as educational because they portrayed what powerful people wanted to see rather than attaching much importance to the reality, even of the time. Unfortunately the passageways were crowded and narrow, and the lighting often poor. My sister has far more talent and better camera equipment than me, so I’ve used some of her photos. It was often a case of, ‘Quick, get that one,’ while I tried to stop people from walking in front of the camera.
St Peter on the steps,
Raphael’s Room, one of several that open out from the passageways, contained frescoes that mixed politics and religion. Philosophers, including Plato are portrayed in the same scene as St Peter, when, as we know, the two would never have met. In this room Raphael,
Raphael’s room
the artist, has placed himself on the side of one painting. They were made at a time when few people could read, so the art is a form of story-telling, not necessarily accurate history. A pope’s head can be placed on the body of some other, known character. Annalivia pointed out many examples, but with so many moving bodies getting in the way, we only managed to capture a couple of examples and each picture portrayed enough information and creative stories that we could have been there all morning.
Speaking was allowed until we walked into the Sistine Chapel. On my previous visit, in the 1980s we had a private tour which was amazing, but as the restoration is now complete it’s so much more colourful than I remembered. It’s also a lot smaller than I thought, but that, no doubt, was because the place was packed. No cameras allowed here (fair enough) but, without buying the huge, heavy book in the compulsory gift shop, we really had no way of capturing and remembering a lot of what we saw. And the order for ‘SILENCE’ barked out every few minutes, created far more noise than if we had all been permitted to talk quietly (which of course, most of us did.)
How could I not point out the Botticelli high up on the side wall? Our guide, like all the rest of them, had to tell us that this was originally the main chapel used by the popes; that it was built by Pope Sextus, and that Julius the 2nd commissioned Michelangelo to decorate the ceiling and walls. Being a sculptor, he wasn’t enthusiastic about that commission, especially as he had to learn from his assistants how to apply the material to make the frescoes. He started the ceiling in 1508, took four years and didn’t want others to help him. Bit of an ego there, but it must have been a rotten job, stuck up near the ceiling every day; fair enough that he didn’t want to share the accolades (or the payment I imagine.)
The ceiling is the only painted surface that follows time – God thinks of creation, then creates light out of darkness, followed by lands, seas, plants, animals and man. Michelangelo was asked to return in 1528 to paint the side panels. These don’t follow any particular order—among the prophets, Abraham is missing. Susanne searched for him, as the most obviously important person who should be on that side wall.
After walking from end to end of the chapel, and having to lean against something each time I wanted to look up (or risk falling over) I was looking forward to the next part of our tour, but the shortcut door was firmly closed.
Vatican wall and entry/exit to museums
We were shunted out onto the street, with the opportunity to walk around the Vatican Wall and again stand in line to gain entrance to St Peter’s. Rain and aching legs, plus the thought of further payment at 60 Euros an hour, had me bidding a hasty goodbye to our guide and searching for the nearest taxi.
St Peter’s Basilica had to wait for the next day.