Renaissance, Vatican, Vatican Tour
Tweet One wall of the Gallery of the Tapestries in the Vatican Museums is lined with wool tapestries telling stories from the life of Christ. They were woven in Brussels at the workshop of Pieter van Aelst in the early 16th century. Roman in design (they are the work...
Art History, Fresco, High Renaissance, popes, Renaissance, Rome, Vatican
Tweet Negotiating the labyrinth of the Vatican Museums one runs the risk of running out of steam on the way to the Sistine Chapel. But do keep some energy in reserve for the Raphael rooms. In 1508, Raphael, then 26 years old, was called in by Julius II to decorate his...
Art History, Caelian, Churches, Counter Reformation, Empire, Fresco, High Renaissance, Late Medieval, Late Medieval Art, Medieval Art, Vatican
Tweet In the mid 8th century, a beleaguered Pope named Stephen “found” a document of inestimable value. Purporting to have been written over three centuries earlier, in it the Emperor Constantine handed over complete power of the city of Rome, amongst...
Art History, Early Renaissance, Melozzo da Forli', Vatican
Tweet Anyone visiting Rome over the next week or so may have been dismayed to find that at 1pm today the Sistine Chapel closed to allow preparations for the conclave to take place, and will remain closed as long as is necessary. The next time it opens there will be a...
Art History, Baroque, Michelangelo, Renaissance, Rome, Vatican
Tweet Recently I’ve been thinking about ceilings. Elaborately painted ones to be precise. A couple of weeks ago I took a group of 41 seventeen-year-old girls from the James Allen’s Girls’ School, plus their teachers, to see two of them. In the morning we visited the...
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