The walk from St Peter’s Square was fairly uninspiring, and it is best to close your eyes to the "tat" trying to be passed off as religious souvenirs, which are on display on your route. You’ll also need to be prepared to queue for your entrance, and if it’s a hot day, you will need plenty of water.
Security at the Vatican is, as you would expect, fairly tight, and they don’t like you taking too much in. Bags are stored for you, but cameras are allowed. Flash photography, however, is not permitted, and at some points, photography is banned.
The Vatican is a splendid monument, symbolising the power and spiritualism of the papacy. Once you’re in, you will quickly realise that you haven’t enough time to do justice to this incredible building that houses a staggering quantity of artwork. There’s Egyptian, pre-Roman work, Greek, and Roman art, medieval and renaissance masterpieces, and contemporary collections.
We gazed at the gallery of maps and mused at the 16th-century interpretation of what the world looked like, took in the terrific tapestries displayed in the gallery of the same name, and raved about the frescoes in the four Raphael Rooms.
As you walk through the corridors of the Vatican, it’s hard to know where to look. The ceilings are glorious as works of art are encapsulated within gold surrounds and the colours of the frescoes are truly vibrant. But the sight we all queue to see is that of the Sistine Chapel. This is a positive feast of colour and is crammed with pictorial interpretations of biblical stories by some of the finest artists of their day: Botticelli, Rosselli, and Signorelli. But of course the main man was Michelangelo. His great altar wall fresco, The Last Judgment, presents a cacophony of ideas from the dead rising up to face the wrath of God and the agitation of the Saints surrounding the athletic Christ figure, who appears to be unmoved by the torment surrounding him. Look out for Michelangelo’s self portrait on the skin held by one of the martyrs.
As if that wasn’t enough, the infamous ceiling painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 is above you. Picture the dedication of the man, who, on specially designed scaffolding, depicts the creation of the universe, represents the scenes of original sin, portrays the ancestors of Christ and the prophets, and displays a variety of Old Testament Scenes. Imagine the satisfaction that all concerned must have felt when they finished each of the sections, and then try to put all that into words or express the emotional trauma that you will feel when you sit and take in the vision of this incredible room. Photography is not allowed in this part of the Vatican, but we could see the surreptitious slow shutter speeds operating as tourist tried to capture the wonder of Michelangelo’s masterpiece.
Enjoy your experience but to take it all in you’ll have to go again and probably again.