Today we saw the Pantheon. It is has the largest solid concrete dome in the world even though it was built over 2000 years ago. The Pantheon used to be a place to honor the Roman gods but all of the marble statues were taken away. There is a hole in the top of the Pantheon; it was supposed to be there so Jupiter, the Roman god, could look down on everybody. Once we were done there we went on a tour of the Vatican. The Vatican is part of a city called Vatican City. It is the smallest country in the world. There are giant walls in around the city as if they might get attacked at any time. We went into the Vatican. There are so many pieces of art in the Vatican that if you spent a minute in front of each you could be there for over 12 years. I really liked all of the statues and tapestries but the real thing was in the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was forced to paint the Sistine Chapel even though he was more of a sculptor. To show his dislike for Pope Julius the 2nd , Michelangelo painted some things that could have gotten him killed. For example he painted some angles behind the Pope’s picture giving him the 'fig' (similar to flipping someone the bird). Also right above where the pope would sit he painted God flying up into the sky with his tunic falling down (thus making him mooning the Pope). Once the tour was over we took a peek into the Basilica of St. Peter, the biggest cathedral in the world. Finally we walked home in the rain.
No comments:
Post a Comment