Travelogue: The Sistine Chapel (Capella Sistina)

Above, Sistine Chapel. Below, Vatican Museum.



We visited the Vatican on December 26. The line is long, outside of those medieval walls with their gunports looking out over souvenir stands and cafes, but the wait was relatively short I'm told compared to the summer months.

Inside, we alternately browsed, amazed, at the corridors filled with art and religious objects, and rushed headlong (well that was mostly me) through the halls until we reached the Sistine Chapel.

Entering that vaulted space, just so taken over by the reality of being in the presence of this almost mythical object of Western art. Beautiful, fascinating. Folks crowding into the space, trying not to bump into fellow gawkers and sightseers as we stared up at the ceiling and walls. Lots of visitors being shushed by security, this is a sacred religious space within the Vatican after all, or prevented from taking photos. On this day, the Chapel was so crowded though that we already had taken a couple of photos before we realized it was verboten.

I was captivated and overwhelmed by the experience of being there with Judy and our kids. But, anyway, as with all things in the modern pop life, it resonated again later in January, when we were back in NYC, and I watched the Agony and the Ecstasy on Turner Classic Movies. Seeing of course that I am not the only one to have imagined -- and reimagined -- that work of profound art and spiritual discovery.

--Brooklyn Beat