when in Rome

To visualize any of Michelangelo's designs, we must seek to capture not a determinate solution, but the spirit and goals of a process.

History of Art class takes a weekend jaunt to Rome:

Catching sun in the Vatican gardens. Admire Mike's dome.

View of the colonnade from the top of St. Peter's dome. The climb to the top is five hundred and some stairs, though there is an elevator that takes you about half way. The easier half. The harder half is a series of extremely narrow, winding staircases, slanting and tilting at odd angles. The ceilings and walls are cut strangely, at diagonals. It's enough to turn any person claustrophobic. The trick is to think about it as the world's best club house - especially for the winding metal staircase where you hold onto a knotted rope for support.

Worth the view once up there. Vatican City at sunset.

Our private two hour after-hours tour of the Sistine Chapel. We practically skipped through the halls upon halls of the Vatican museum, what forms the usual line for the chapel. We were lightheaded as we got closer, so excited with anticipation. 20 people + complete silence + professor who happens to be a premier art historian on the history of Michelangelo with serious connections = the most incredible encounter with a masterpiece imaginable.


Old couch. Old drapes. Old wallpaper. New light. New folds. Newly forming dust. Daily challenge: find the relevant specific to one's own life.