Monday, July 25, 2011

Two more weeks!




Hello!

This past weekend was a whirl of amazing scenes and places.

On Friday, Jill and I went to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican has a wonderful collection of not just Christianity related items, but also those pertaining to Ancient Rome. There were rooms and rooms full of interesting artifacts, paintings, and statues. Also, almost every room had gorgeous frescoes painted on the walls and ceilings. One of my favorite exhibitions housed there is on Ancient Egypt. Two different mummies were displayed in their entirety; it was very creepy, but also very interesting.
Of course the Sistine Chapel was beautiful! I could have just stood in that room for hours on end. There was so much to look at. The artistry is so detailed, I cannot imagine the amount of work that Michelangelo put into that endeavor. It took him between 1508 to 1512 to finish the entire expanse of 1,100 square meters.

On Saturday, I toured the Villa Borghese. I could not have imagined what beauty and grandeur would greet me there. This Villa turned museum houses some of the most wonderful Bernini sculptures and countless other priceless art pieces. We were only given two hours to tour the entire Villa and private gardens, definitely not enough time. We started on the second floor, where the collection of paintings is gathered. The paintings are accentuated by the frescoes that adorn the ceilings in each room; all depicting Roman gods and goddesses. There were large couches that you could lay on and stare up at the amazing works of art above your head. My favorite room was the "Caravaggio" room. This room holds numerous pieces of his art. Each was so detailed and beautifully colored.
Downstairs, the frescoes continued; however sculptures filled the rooms and niches. Some of Bernini's most famous works were on display, such as David, Apollo and Daphne, Pluto and Proserpina, and Truth unveiled by Time. My favorite was Apollo and Daphne, where Apollo is chasing Daphne as she is turning into a tree. Once again, the detail was amazing. Everything was so beautiful.

Hopefully this week doesn't go by too fast!

Love,
Kalyn

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