I visited several of the 26 Vatican museums in the Vatican City. Some of the museums include Pinacoteca, Pio-Clementino museum, Sistine Chapel, and Raphael’s Rooms. The museums display a rich religious heritage, and in particular, the history of the Roman Catholic Church and Papacy. Some of the collections in these museums include Renaissance art, paintings, sculptures, and monuments. Aside from three-dimensional photos of the artworks, I also viewed videos of the museums. Although, I took a virtual tour, the technology employed made me feel as if I was physically there.
The museum that struck me the most was the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel has many great artworks by famous artists such as Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sandro Botticelli, Cosimo Rosselli, and Pietro Perugino. During my tour, I was captivated by The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgment, which are both frescoes done by the Italian painter, Michelangelo (Vatican Museums, n.d.). In The Creation of Adam, God is portrayed in mauve robes in the air being held by angels. On the left, a nude Adam stretches out his hand towards God. Their fingers are outstretched towards each other without touching. This painting caught my attention because it captured the beginning of life from the creationist perspective. The Last Judgment, which occupies the entire wall behind the chapel’s altar, intrigued me because of how detailed it was (Vatican Museums, n.d.). Jesus Christ occupies the center position of the image and is surrounded by saints. Similar to The Creation of Adam, most of the saints are portrayed nude.
The virtual tour of the museums was effective in showing the art collection. The photo tour provides a 360-degree view of the Sistine Chapel. This option was not as clear as the video tour. In the former, the paintings are clustered and it is difficult to see individual artworks. However, the video tour showed them clearly and I was able to identify some famous paintings such as those discussed. On the downside, the tour did not include any audio elements and it was difficult to recognize all the displayed outworks. Nevertheless, it is fascinating that it was possible to visit a museum virtually and get such an experience.
Reference
Vatican Museums (n.d.). Sistine Chapel. Musei Vaticani. Web.