Religious Rome and me
Finally let me talk a bit about Rome and I shall begin with my favourite place til now. A visit to the Vatican is a humbling experience. This trip has made me an early riser and so I was the Vatican metro station Ottavio by 7 AM. So I first went straight to the St Peters Basillica. Its huge and its beautiful. Not only is it among the largest church in the world, it is probably among the most beautiful. It has tombs of various popes apart from the main one of the apostle St Peter, it also has varied places of worship and someone like me found himself kneeling down to pary. Art is all around beginning from the statues of various apostles all around St Peters squares and moves on the frescoes and paintings along the celings and walls finally ending at the altar designed by Bernini and where only the pope has the authority to hold a mass. However the main piece of art is to your right as soon as you enter, Michaelangelo’s Pieta. Now I am not sure but I think a pieta is basically the virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ after the crucifixation and to that effect the statue is marvellous. I am no critic but pure beauty does not stay hidden from a human eye. Today it is protected by bullet proof glass ever since a maniac attacked it and broke a part of it claiming he was Jesus Christ! The walk to St Peters Square and the exit from the Basilica gives you a chance to see the famous Swiss guards, who are the police of the Vatican. I am trying to avoid most of the material you can get in any tourist books and making it a far more personal piece. On my way out and in between my ‘Excuse me sir! Could you please take a photograph for me’ I met an Indian lady who studies and works as a guide at the Vatican and unlike us consultants she was willing to share her knowledge and help me out without any charge.
After about forty five minutes in the line, making friends with Alessandro, braving tha rain and interacting with all the Bangladeshi street hawkers I finally entered the Vatican museums. I try and use the audio guide wherever available as it lets you go around the place without a group accompanying you and a guide rushing you and so declined the english tour got myself an audio guide and entered the museums. This place is beauty and history rolled into one that makes a very ordinary man like me a romantic and a believer at once. The romantic in me spent an inordinate amount of time in the very first gallery almost spell bound by the frescoes all around. Most of the works all around here are inherently religious in nature and so my missionary education did help a great deal in comprehending the stories depicted. I spent most of time in the first gallery looking up or sitting on the floor hopelessly trying to catch in a frame that which can never be done justice through that medium. The reason is that it is as much an experience of the human mind and heart as much as it is a feast of the eyes. It was finally when the guards politely asked me to move on that I realized how much time it had been.
Almost running through the other rooms I headed straight for what is arguably the world’s most famous chappel and also the greatest of art: Sistine Chapel. This is the place where the pope is elected and where the fire is lit for the white and black smoke signifying the election. That however is just a marginal occurrence in comparision for that which existst in the walls and the ceilings. Michaelangelo was just thirty three when he was commisisioned to make the frescoes and paintings on the walls of this chapel. The creation is timeless and inspires awe. The entire length, breadth and height of this place bears the mark of his genius. The walls and the ceilings depict stories from The Bible starting from the genesis, moving on to the stories of Moses and finally culminating in the life of christ. The word frescoes is derived from the Italian word fresh and means that the paintings were done when the plaster were still fresh. While the ones on the wall resemble rich drapery that on the ceiling took a heavy toll on the health and eyesight of the genius since for four years he had to lie stretched on his back to paint them. Legend says that the size of this chapel resembles that of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem to a tee. There are security guards and no photography is permitted at this spot but I must confess that I did steal a couple from my phone, since taking out the camera was out of question. If I have been saying that it was genius written all around I don’t know what to say about The Last Judgement. Is there a word above genius? Depicting the scene of the last judgement it is almost very similar to the picture of Krishna as seen by Arjun and described by Sanjaya in the Geeta. It shows Christ at the centre, with the virgin Mary beside him astonished at what is unfolding. The apostles are all around Jesus and man is being resurrected to either be allowed to cross Hades to heaven or for the gates be closed forever. There are numeroud other angles ranging from a human skin with what some critics believe Michaelangelo’s self portrait to pagan symbols and various other numerous insights. This place was full of tourists but I found myself silently praying moved beyond words. If you have ever prayed without really saying anything to God you would know what I felt at that moment.
I moved through a lot of other galleries but spent some extra time at three Raphael’s Rooms where my favourite painting is the one called School of Athens. This picture shows all the greats Greeks from Socrates, Aristotle to Pythagoras and Euclid along with a self portrait on the same canvas. Raphael tried to combine the religious with the humanist creating an unique spiritual experience. So while you have pictures of Peter’s sufferings to Charlamagne’s coronation.
The religious history of Rome has another rather different but equally famous resting place: the catacombs. In the times before Constantine made christianity the official religion of Rome christians were not allowed to bury their dead in the city. Hence a vast labarynth of tunnels were dug outside the cities were the dead were buried. Today these are places of tourist interest and pilgrimmage both. Being property of the vatican but being outside the walls photography is prohibited by law. A walk through these tunnels lined with graves on all sides is quite a harrowing and enlightening experience. An enlightening one because of a very personal reason but a harrowing one because if you imagine being caught alone at night in those labarynthine corridors it does cause a some discomfort.
As I said the personal reason for interest in the catacombs of San Sebastian believe it or not comes from a movie Quo Vadis. Forgetting the movie the story is that persecuted by Nero, Peter was leaving Rome for Naples when he saw a boy standing by the stone looking at him. Finding something strange Peter approached the boy and asked “Quo Vadis Domini” the translation of which if I am correct is “Who are you?” or “Where are you going?”. I am not exactly sure which one. Anyway at that time the boy replied “My people in Rome are in bondage and I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time” and disappeared. Realizing Christ had spoken to him Peter returned to Rome giving a lot of courage to the christians but himself was crucified upside on the cross. This stone where Peter met Christ is present in the church which is also the resting place of San Sebastian. In fact walking through this underground maze you are told that not only were christian catacombs found here but also pagan ones. This place was also the resting spot of Peter and Paul at the times when christians were being persecuted before Constantine. This entire knowledge comes from the graphitti on the walls, the study of which is a special part of archaelogy. You also see the fish in places which was an earlier symbol of christianity before the cross took its place. The fish was chosen because it was a secret code. The Greek translation of fish gives an acronym for Jesus Christs Son of God Saviour. In fact in the approach to this place you drive down the new Apian Way, a replacement of the famous road that many a victorious army walked down and my mother’s favourite Marcus Venicius (Robert Taylor) too!
After about forty five minutes in the line, making friends with Alessandro, braving tha rain and interacting with all the Bangladeshi street hawkers I finally entered the Vatican museums. I try and use the audio guide wherever available as it lets you go around the place without a group accompanying you and a guide rushing you and so declined the english tour got myself an audio guide and entered the museums. This place is beauty and history rolled into one that makes a very ordinary man like me a romantic and a believer at once. The romantic in me spent an inordinate amount of time in the very first gallery almost spell bound by the frescoes all around. Most of the works all around here are inherently religious in nature and so my missionary education did help a great deal in comprehending the stories depicted. I spent most of time in the first gallery looking up or sitting on the floor hopelessly trying to catch in a frame that which can never be done justice through that medium. The reason is that it is as much an experience of the human mind and heart as much as it is a feast of the eyes. It was finally when the guards politely asked me to move on that I realized how much time it had been.
Almost running through the other rooms I headed straight for what is arguably the world’s most famous chappel and also the greatest of art: Sistine Chapel. This is the place where the pope is elected and where the fire is lit for the white and black smoke signifying the election. That however is just a marginal occurrence in comparision for that which existst in the walls and the ceilings. Michaelangelo was just thirty three when he was commisisioned to make the frescoes and paintings on the walls of this chapel. The creation is timeless and inspires awe. The entire length, breadth and height of this place bears the mark of his genius. The walls and the ceilings depict stories from The Bible starting from the genesis, moving on to the stories of Moses and finally culminating in the life of christ. The word frescoes is derived from the Italian word fresh and means that the paintings were done when the plaster were still fresh. While the ones on the wall resemble rich drapery that on the ceiling took a heavy toll on the health and eyesight of the genius since for four years he had to lie stretched on his back to paint them. Legend says that the size of this chapel resembles that of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem to a tee. There are security guards and no photography is permitted at this spot but I must confess that I did steal a couple from my phone, since taking out the camera was out of question. If I have been saying that it was genius written all around I don’t know what to say about The Last Judgement. Is there a word above genius? Depicting the scene of the last judgement it is almost very similar to the picture of Krishna as seen by Arjun and described by Sanjaya in the Geeta. It shows Christ at the centre, with the virgin Mary beside him astonished at what is unfolding. The apostles are all around Jesus and man is being resurrected to either be allowed to cross Hades to heaven or for the gates be closed forever. There are numeroud other angles ranging from a human skin with what some critics believe Michaelangelo’s self portrait to pagan symbols and various other numerous insights. This place was full of tourists but I found myself silently praying moved beyond words. If you have ever prayed without really saying anything to God you would know what I felt at that moment.
I moved through a lot of other galleries but spent some extra time at three Raphael’s Rooms where my favourite painting is the one called School of Athens. This picture shows all the greats Greeks from Socrates, Aristotle to Pythagoras and Euclid along with a self portrait on the same canvas. Raphael tried to combine the religious with the humanist creating an unique spiritual experience. So while you have pictures of Peter’s sufferings to Charlamagne’s coronation.
The religious history of Rome has another rather different but equally famous resting place: the catacombs. In the times before Constantine made christianity the official religion of Rome christians were not allowed to bury their dead in the city. Hence a vast labarynth of tunnels were dug outside the cities were the dead were buried. Today these are places of tourist interest and pilgrimmage both. Being property of the vatican but being outside the walls photography is prohibited by law. A walk through these tunnels lined with graves on all sides is quite a harrowing and enlightening experience. An enlightening one because of a very personal reason but a harrowing one because if you imagine being caught alone at night in those labarynthine corridors it does cause a some discomfort.
As I said the personal reason for interest in the catacombs of San Sebastian believe it or not comes from a movie Quo Vadis. Forgetting the movie the story is that persecuted by Nero, Peter was leaving Rome for Naples when he saw a boy standing by the stone looking at him. Finding something strange Peter approached the boy and asked “Quo Vadis Domini” the translation of which if I am correct is “Who are you?” or “Where are you going?”. I am not exactly sure which one. Anyway at that time the boy replied “My people in Rome are in bondage and I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time” and disappeared. Realizing Christ had spoken to him Peter returned to Rome giving a lot of courage to the christians but himself was crucified upside on the cross. This stone where Peter met Christ is present in the church which is also the resting place of San Sebastian. In fact walking through this underground maze you are told that not only were christian catacombs found here but also pagan ones. This place was also the resting spot of Peter and Paul at the times when christians were being persecuted before Constantine. This entire knowledge comes from the graphitti on the walls, the study of which is a special part of archaelogy. You also see the fish in places which was an earlier symbol of christianity before the cross took its place. The fish was chosen because it was a secret code. The Greek translation of fish gives an acronym for Jesus Christs Son of God Saviour. In fact in the approach to this place you drive down the new Apian Way, a replacement of the famous road that many a victorious army walked down and my mother’s favourite Marcus Venicius (Robert Taylor) too!
posted by Abilin Mukherjee at 7:57 AM
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