The Sistine Chapel

     Being in the Sistine Chapel, a place that is only used rarely for the Conclave of Cardinals when electing a new pope, reminded me of being in my church, S. Maria in Aracoeli, on the Capitoline. Although very different in their own respects, the space held the same impact on me, and the scene in the front of the chapel especially drew my eye. There is not a lot inside of the Sistine Chapel that depicts Mary, where my entire church is about the mother of God. On the other hand, the painting on the front wall of the chapel, depicting Jesus and the saints and Judgment Day reminded me of the apocalyptic painting of Mary inside of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception inside of my church. In the painting by Michelangelo, painted in the 1470s under Pope Sixtus IV, Jesus is in the center of heaven surrounded by some of the more prominent saints - including Peter, Paul, and Bartholomew holding his flayed skin. Underneath him are the people being taken into hell and the people being brought up from purgatory. One man in particular, getting ready for damnation, is being attacked brutally by a snake in the corner of the painting. In S. Maria in Aracoeli, the apocalyptic painting is directly out of the Book of Revelation - depicting Mary as the Queen of Heaven with a crown of stars, standing on the moon, and being threatened by a seven headed, ten-horned dragon. The different tellings of the ending of the world shows viewers the important emphasis on death and eternal life within the Catholic Church, as well as how the belief in certain aspects of the church are bound to save you. Mary is the Protector of Rome, according to S. Maria in Aracoeli, and Jesus is going to save the Christians who have suffered in His name. These all lead to the same conclusion: if you follow and obey the Catholic Church you will be saved from eternal damnation.
     All of this helped me think more about the saint and martyr stories that we read in Reading Rome, the first section of the class, and how the Church began at the fringes of society before it was able to move into the center of Rome. We talked, before going into the Vatican Museums, about the collection being the best in the world - really being a fabulous collection of Rome itself. Being inside of the museums and seeing the immense number and importance of the objects held there truly showed the power of the Catholic Church inside of Rome. Just as the S. Maria in Aracoeli was built in the center of the Capitoline Hill to show the prominence of the Church, the Vatican Museums are meant to make visitors realize their amazing power throughout history. No, the Pope doesn't still have the same influence in the world as he used to (evidenced by the demolition of part of my church in 1886 for the Wedding Cake - or Victor Emmanuel II's monument) but the power he holds on Earth is still very present today, especially considering the impact the Popes have had on our history and our preserved artifacts and artworks.

(Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, June 1)