4/1/2005: Works of wonder
Vatican City is not only the smallest independent state in the world, it's possibly also the richest per square foot with its countless works of priceless and historic art.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is one of the most famous. Its many panels depicting biblical events are frescoes: rather than just laying paint onto a surface, pigments are mixed with water and applied to wet plaster. The pigment forms a bond with the plaster when it dries that's virtually permanent. When the Sistine ceiling was painstakingly cleaned and restored recently, the colors became brighter and almost glowed from within - much as they looked in 1512 when Michelangelo completed the job. It took him four years to finish the ceiling which, incidentally, he didn't want to do at all.
And it isn't just the ceiling that's incredible: the entire chapel is lined with equally breathtaking frescoes - take a virtual tour
But the Sistine is just one small corner of the Vatican, which has more paintings and sculptures by Michelangelo as well as works by Raphael, Bernini, Caravaggio, da Vinci, and many, many others. It's not just a repository for religious art: it's a treasury of human history and some of mankind's most outstanding creative works.
Visit the Vatican Museums site, which has many virtual tours, close-ups, and a newly-added section about the Vatican's Secret Archives. (This & the Sistine link above are on the official Vatican site so they may be a bit slow these days.)
View from St. Peter's Basilica (see it in Keyhole):
