As a group, we toured the Vatican Museums with Professor Liz Lev as our private guide. Now don't build up your expectations about seeing photos of the museums and the Sistine Chapel. Since photos are prohibited in the Sistine Chapel, I did not take my camera with me. It was a wonderful tour because of the ways in which Professor Lev described, as only an art historian can, what we were looking at. At one point, the Curator of the Early Christian Museum, a friend and colleague of Professor Lev, joined us and talked in great detail about early Christian art forms and symbols and the artists' objective to convey in art theological and scriptural texts. As you might suspect, the highlight of the tour was at the very end when we visited the Sistine Chapel. No photos or art books can ever capture the extraordinary brilliance and beauty of the chapel. We were lucky to be able to visit the Sistine Chapel because it will be closed in the next few days in order to prepare the chapel for the conclave of cardinals. As you know, the election of the pope takes place within the Sistine Chapel. Adding to the excitement, tomorrow will be the final General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square. A crowd of more than 200,000 people are expected to fill the Square. And on Thursday, Benedict XVI leaves the Vatican by helicopter at 5:00 PM and will officially no longer be Pope as of 8:00 PM. Another throng of people are expected in the Square on Thursday evening. The excitement is still building in anticipation of the conclave.
So you are not totally disappointed, I have attached 2 photos to this posting. The one above is a decorative flower pot in front of the chapel at the North American College, which is pictured below.
That is it for photos on this posting. Tomorrow I expect to post photos from our field trip to the catacombs of Santa Priscilla. Stay tuned!
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