Art in the Vatican

Rebecca Demers
Vatican Museums

In August 2006, I had gone to Europe, and was able to see some of the most famed and beautiful pieces of art in the world. I spent an entire day in the Vatican Museums--if you ever have a chance go! Everything there is stunning! Yet, even after spending hours there,I felt like I was only able to see very limited portions of the museums. I did however get to see some of the works I had only ever seen in books, and that was beyond amazing! Some pieces include: The Sistine Chapel (which sadly you can no longer take pictures in, and you get yelled at, in Italian, to shut up while in there--haha) and The Pietà (inside St. Peter's Basilica--which is a work of art itself!) by Michelangelo, the painting "The Entombment" by Caravaggio, Works by Raphael (Sanzio)--although I cannot recall exactly which ones I saw, I am pretty sure I did at least see "The School of Athens", The Gallery of Maps by Ignazio Danti (I think he was a priest), and the sculpture "Laocoön and His Sons" by three sculptors --Agesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus (I knew the name of the sculpture, but not who it was by, so thanks wikipedia!). It was incredible! but as I did a tour of the grounds of the Vatican, and later the other cities in Italy, I began to realize that it was not just the works in the museums that was art. The buildings we passed, the Tuscan landscape, the Basilicas, and even the Italian language itself was all art. I was constantly surrounded by new ways of thinking, and the old architecture, and all the music. Italy itself is a museum! It blew me away. And the actual art, was among the best in the world! While I was not actually allowed to touch any of the artwork in the Vatican, I got closer to some pieces than I ever dreamed I would! The Pietà, although encased in glass (because some crazy man tried to attack it with a hammer in the 1970s), was the piece that stood out the most for me. To be able to carve something so beautiful, and so intricate from a giant block of marble escapes me completely. I have tried to carve things out of a block of plaster and I usually managed to mess up anything decent i had made. He must have had the patience of a saint! It also intrigues me because it is the only work that Michelangelo ever signed. While it is a phenomenal piece, why did he sign that one specifically? It got me thinking more than any other piece I had seen in the museum. I'm not saying that the other works weren't as magnificent, because they definitely were, just that the Pieta intrigued me most. Its funny, the trip I had gone on for a vacation turned out to be quite a learning experience too!
The websites I referenced:
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Storia.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo%27s_Piet%C3%A0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_his_Sons

For the Natural/Artificial project, I am doing intelligence. My original idea was to have a brain being thrown through a computer. That was probably the most literal way to show the concept. I had originally found articles on Artificial Intelligence. Instead, after talking to Lauren, we came up with a better idea that may require a little more thought from the viewer, and hopefully make the brain more memorable (haha!). Originally, I had given little thought to the display, and currently I am debating about having the brain on top of an open head. I might even make it removable. We'll see about that. Instead of having the brain going through a computer, we decided to put the computer in the brain. My idea in progress is to have a brain with wires and computer chips/parts in very specific areas of the brain. the brain is also going to be severed, to illustrate the internal goings on better. The article I found, is not exactly an article. It explains brain functions and structures. This is pretty important to my project, and it is also something I know little about. It also has pictures and links to important phrases and ideas, and has really helped me to grasp the brain a little bit better. While I was debating about messing up memory (which, thanks to the website I know is in Cerebrum, in the temporal lobe), however, I may do something that involves motor functions, or even involuntary actions like breathing. The website I found has taught me much more about the brain, and will hopefully help keep me inspired, and my brain working for this project.
the website: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html