112
Temptation and Expulsion of Adam and
PAPAL AUDIENCES Eve from the Garden of Eden famously de-
picts Adam and Eve being sent packing after
At 11am every Wednesday, the pope
accepting the forbidden fruit from Satan,
addresses his flock at the Vatican (in
represented by a snake with the body of a
July and August in Castel Gandolfo near
woman coiled around a tree. The Creation
Rome). For details of how to apply for
of Eve is then followed by the Creation of
free tickets, see the Vatican website
Rome & L a zio R
Adam. This, one of the most famous images
(www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/
in Western art, shows a bearded God point-
index_en.html).
ing his finger at Adam, thus bringing him to
When he is in Rome, the pope
life. Completing the sequence are the Sepa-
blesses the crowd in St Peter’s Square
ration of Land from Water; the Creation of
on Sunday at noon. No tickets are
the Sun, Moon and Planets; and God Sepa-
required.
rating Light from Darkness, featuring a
S iO
ogM
fearsome God reaching out to touch the sun.
mhts
Set around the central panels are 20 ath-
e
E
work illustrating Raphael’s masterful ability letic male nudes, known as ignudi.
to depict light. Opposite, on the west wall is Michelange-
The Stanza della Segnatura, Julius’ lo’s mesmeric Giudizio Universale, showing
study and library, was the first room that Christ – in the centre near the top – passing
Raphael painted, and it’s here that you’ll sentence over the souls of the dead as they
find his great masterpiece, La Scuola di At- are torn from their graves to face him. The
ene (The School of Athens) featuring philos- saved get to stay up in heaven (in the upper
ophers and scholars gathered around Plato right), the damned are sent down to face the
and Aristotle. The seated figure in front of demons in hell (in the bottom right).
the steps is believed to be Michelangelo, Near the bottom, on the right, you’ll see a
while the figure of Plato is said to be a man with donkey ears and a snake wrapped
portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, and Euclide around him. This is Biagio de Cesena, the
(the bald man bending over) is Bramante. papal master of ceremonies, who was a
Raphael also included a self-portrait in the fierce critic of Michelengelo’s composition.
lower right corner – he’s the second figure Another famous figure is St Bartholomew,
from the right. just beneath Christ, holding his own flayed
The most famous work in the Stanza skin. The face in the skin is said to be a self-
dell’Incendio di Borgo is the Incendio di portrait of Michelangelo, its anguished look
Borgo (Fire in the Borgo), which depicts reflecting the artist’s tormented faith.
Pope Leo IV extinguishing a fire by making The chapel’s walls also boast superb fres-
the sign of the cross. The ceiling was painted coes. Painted between 1481 and 1482 by a
by Raphael’s master, Perugino. crack team of Renaissance artists, including
SISTINE CHAPEL (CAPELLA SISTINA) Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchio, Peru-
gino and Luca Signorelli, they represent
This is the one place in the Vatican Museums
events in the lives of Moses (to the left look-
that everone wants to see, and on a busy day
ing at the Giudizio Universale) and Christ
it can attract up to 20,000 people. Home to
(to the right). Highlights include Botticelli’s
two of the world’s most famous works of
Temptations of Christ and Perugino’s Christ
art – Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes and the
Giving the Keys to St Peter.
Giudizio Universale (Last Judgment) – this
15th-century chapel also serves an impor- oCastel Sant’Angelo MUSEUM
tant religious function as the place where (Map p106; % 06 681 91 11; Lungotevere Castello
the conclave meets to elect a new pope. 50; adult/reduced €8.50/6; h 9am-7.30pm Tue-
The ceiling frescoes, which are best Sun, last admission 6.30pm ; g Piazza Pia) With
viewed from the chapel’s main entrance in its chunky round keep, this castle is an in-
the east wall (opposite the visitor entrance), stantly recognisable landmark. Built as a
are centred on nine panels depicting scenes mausoleum for the emperor Hadrian, it was
from the Creation, the story of Adam and converted into a papal fortress in the 6th
Eve, the Fall, and the plight of Noah. century and named after an angelic vision
As you look up from the east wall, the first that Pope Gregory the Great had in 590.
panel is the Drunkenness of Noah, followed Thanks to a secret 13th-century passage-
by the Flood, and Noah’s Sacrifice. Next, the way to the Vatican palaces (the Passetto di
