We had dinner with some friends last week who told us about a fabulous trip to Rome that they have planned. In addition to the usual stops at the Colosseo, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, they have lined up a private tour of the Sistine Chapel, led by the head restorer.Can you imagine?? The chance to see this beautiful work of art without all the tourist crowds and with the person responsible for the restoration? I am sooooo jealous!
And then I saw this: a high resolution, interactive virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel produced by the Vatican.
It takes a little work to get used to the controls in the bottom left of the screen, but then you are on your way to an up-close, private viewing of one of the greatest works of art in the world.Wikipedia has an excellent summary of the Chapel's history, a discussion of the method and content of the paintings and architectural and pictoral maps.
I'm still jealous.
1 comment:
You can make yourself dizzy looking at this presentation - it is necessary to go very slow!
Wondering if the "drapes" hanging all along the sides are covering paintings that haven't been restored yet, or if they are actually part of the decor. But then, there's so much to see on the upper walls and ceiling, drapery has to be part of the decor - how could the mind focus on anything more?
Seeing this makes we want to read "The Agony and the Ecstasy" again - if I recall, Irving Stone really depicted Michelangelo's hardships in painting the Sistine Chapel. Now that I think about it, looking at my huge book of the complete works of Michelangelo (wanted to be sure I spelled his name right), I guess I'll renew my interest in his art work.
MOM
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