Rome wasn't built in two blogs...

O.k... the Vatican City was...vast. I guess that's why they call it a city. We split up the city into two days; one for the incredibly huge museum, and one for St. Peter's Basilica.
The museum was awesome in its rather excessive collection of art and statuary. Though awe-inspiring, the collection is somewhat maddening in that few pieces are labeled, and even fewer, if any, are labeled in English. *Note: if you intend to visit the vatican museum, purchase the audioguide or bring a vatican-specific guidebook or do both. Do not attempt it on your college history course knowledge; you will drown in a puddle of idiocy, frusteration and regret... which is bad, because they don't allow liquids in the museum.* However, with our guide in ear, we managed to bask in the glory of Raphael's Transfiguration (which we saw a copy, though still by Raphael, in the Prado in Madrid). The painting is humongous and vibrant... which is surprising considering the age (though it has undergone restoration).
     In fact, that was a theme we encountered many times when viewing Renaissance art; it's quite sizable and beautifully bright-colored. We saw a few masterfully done Caravaggios, as well as a fascinating statue called Laocoon, which depicts snakes devouring the man (I forget who, sorry) who warns his fellow Trojans to distrust a gift from the Greeks, the gift in this case being the Trojan horse. The gods, angered by his lack of trust (rightfully so) in the Greeks, sentence him and his two sons to death by snake eating.
     Among this art-hoarder's paradise, we were able to find Leonardo's St. Jerome, as well as many, many awesome but unlabeled statues from antiquity, many prudishly outfitted later with fig leaves. But the icing on the cake, of course, was the Sistene Chapel. Everyone always talks about Adam touching God's finger, and while that's certainly moving, there is SO much more to it than that. The entire ceiling, as well as ever square inch of wall is covered in enchantingly beautiful frescoes (though the frescoes on the side walls are not Michelangelo's and they date earlier- still breathtaking in their own right.)
     I (Kayla) was most impressed, and moved to tears, by Mike's Last Judgment on the front wall. It's chock full of allegory, theology, history, humanism, artistic mastery and the artist's own internal struggle. In his terrible depiction of hell, you can see the darkness of doubt that apparently hovered over Michealangelo in his later years. However, in the upper center of this enormous work, is the pinnacle of hope: Jesus and the faithful in their new, glorified (and unnaturally muscular) bodies. Though these are not my original insights, its clear enough through Michealangelo's depictions of demons that he indeed had his own, but just as his painting illustrates, in the end hope and light and the justness of God prevail.
     I (Aaron) also was quite impressed with the Sistine chapel.  Anybody who cares about a project enough to work singlehandedly on it for four years should be given a prize. I was also challenged by these paintings to make sure I put all of my energies into glorifying God.  The artists had such devotion to thier work, and it showed greatly in how their works demonstrated God' greatness.
     The next morning we went to church at St Peter's Basilica.  What an amazing place.  Every inch is covered in one of three things: gold, marble, or mosaics.  Talk about eye-boggling.  Seriously, I had to make up a saying to describe it.  Visually it hurts a little, and your eyeballs get A.D.D. and they aren't sure what to focus on.  A lot of the same feelings about art and dedication to a craft remained, but a new feeling was creeping into me, sadness.
     Let me explain.  The churches are incredible to look at and tell an amazing history.  The only thing is that Jesus was a small portion of what was being displayed.  I missed Jesus.  Sure Kayla's and my favorite paintings were of grace and Jesus conquering death, but there was much more glorifying of old popes and saints then of Jesus.  We still got to see one of the most glorious statues ever, Michaelangelo's Pieta, which is Mary holding a dead Jesus, and that was just as stunning as all of the other things. 
     And that ends our Rome adventure.  A new theme started to develop towards the end: a realization that we really love our family and community that we have around us.  And most of all, we, just like everyone else, need Jesus.