4-22-2010 The Juxtaposition of Religion and Science

Today was a pretty important day for me. I have always wanted to see the Sistine Chapel and this was my chance. But first, we walked through the Vatican Museums, oohing and aahing at all of the collected statues, paintings, tapestries and other pieces of art collected by the Vatican over the centuries. There was everything from Ancient Rome all the way up to the late 1800s or so. And the things we saw were just a small portion of the inventory. The contrast of the different time periods was much more obvious when you travel from one end of the galleries to the over and travel through time. Maybe until we can figure out to travel in time in actuality, this is the next best thing.

One of the galleries was dark and enclosed by glass doors. In this gallery was a whole series of tapestries that had already faded to a large extent, and some extensive efforts were being made to preserve as much of the original colors as possible. Even though many of the colors were dull from the effects of time, there were still enough of a vibrancy to the pieces, that it just sent chills up my spine a few times, especially the near life-size portrayal of the Last Supper.
After the mind-blowing experience of walking through all those galleries, many of them with frescoed ceilings and walls we entered the Sistine Chapel and my mind was just blown away. I stood there in the crowded chapel looking up at the marvel created by Michelangelo and I was taken away from the noise and jostling of the crowd by the awe of beauty and power of the work. Michelangelo swore he was a sculptor and not a painter, but I think, like Moses and Aaron, God made him more than what he thought he was. There's just no other explanation that I can think of that applies. I'm not an outwardly demonstrative spiritual or religious person, but I do feel my faith deeply, and it still brings tears to my eyes to think about it even now. I imagine it always will.

St. Peter's Basilica was beautiful as well - and big, too. There has to be enough room in there to hold 25 to 30 thousand people. The Pieta done by a young Michelangelo was there as well as the tomb of Peter in the very center. There was such opulence, I couldn't take it all in. I was so focused on seeing the Sistine Chapel, the basilica almost seemed anticlimactic - almost. It's impossible to dismiss something so big and so rich in visual treasures.

After a morning of the divine, we moved to the secular. In our free afternoon, a few of us decided to venture out to Piazza de Popolo and the Borgese gardens. At the edge of the piazza is a museum with small scale models of many of the machines that da Vinci drew in his notes. I have always admired his genius, especially with the measuring and drawing parts of the human body. I knew that he had also diagrammed many innovative machines, but I didn't really appreciate the magnitude of his physics and engineering knowledge in addition to his anatomy and artistry. He didn't just diagram a primitive early helicopter, he also improved on many previous ideas, especially in regards to changing rotary motion to linear, and vice versa. My admiration of him has only increased after this trip.

At the top of a long trip up steep and sloping stairs, we reached the edge of the beautiful and serene Borgese gardens overlooking the city. Looking down from the platform, you can see almost the entire city below you. It's almost like a plain of buildings with "hills" of cathedral/basilica domes dotting the landscape. Our tour guide mentioned that there are something like 600 churches in the city, but you don't really realize what that means until you see multitudes of crosses rising up from the mass of buildings or silhouetted against the sky. Rome looks quiet from this height, the hustle and bustle of city life hidden in among the narrow winding streets.