Friday, October 27, 2006

Bernini sculpted the high altar canopy shown at the top; called a baldacchino. It is so gorgeous, and so large that it is hard to get a good photo of it. The area is somewhat dark and with the crowds of people, one cannot get a good perspective on the canopy.

Sorry about the dome photo being blurry. I could blame it on someone jiggling my arm, but I probably just moved the camera too much, or zoomed in too far.



This third shot is one of the seeming hundreds of statues there, and I was struck by the fluidity of the marble. Truly, the fabric of her cloak looked as though it were being blown by the wind. And though she was clothed, the human form was evident under all the clothing. The mark of a sculptural genius, I think.




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21 comments:

Tracie Nall said...

I am glad that you posted all of the pictures. It truly is so beautiful!! And the amount of detail is amazing!

Here via Michele!

Anonymous said...

These are so beautiful I'm actually tongue (or is that type?)-tied. Thank you for sharing them.

Here from Michele's.

Anonymous said...

oh how i miss italy! somehow i missed you saying that you were going.

what a lovely trip down memory lane for me. i loved Rome!

Michele sent me today!

Carli N. Wendell said...

great photos, thanks for sharing. It's so cool to have this connection to a world that existed so many hundreds of years ago. . . it's so foreign to us North Americans!

Anonymous said...

I wish everyone could see the beauty of St. Peter's Basilica. It is breathtaking, and as my husband walked through the door he said wow makes me want to turn Catholic, lol. Your pictures are lovely.

Anonymous said...

I would love to stand in the vestibule and just look around in awe. Great photos and I am glad you posted them all.

Anonymous said...

Sweeping...magnificence...I feel like I'm falling into a bowl!

Anonymous said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Star said...

One of the things I liked best about touring Germsny ws that so many of their buildings from cnturies past are still being used. They don't rope them off . America is not nearly as old and we rope off our istory.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for taking me on a trip to Rome the easy way! I had a wonderful time traveling with you and I didn't have to get up early in the morning to catch the train or plane!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Gorgeous photos of a stunningly beautiful place...I have never been to Rome or in fact, to Italy...and I most likely never will get there because of my health issues, so I thank you Judy for this incredible opportunity to travel with you and see the fantastic places you have just seen...particulatly this amazing building and all that it encompasses inside and out...

Catherine said...

Those are just wonderful! There is nothing in New Zealand to rival this, the country is just too young, youber than America even (well, at least out architectural history is too young, the land of course has been here for millions of years). I'm not sure where in America you refer to though, when you suggest that Americans think they have brought beauty and architectural genius to the world. I can't think of anywhere that would make me think that - I would always look to the great cathedrals of Europe.
It looks like you had a great trip. Here from Michele's today.

Anonymous said...

Hi Judy ~ Thank you so much for all your travel stories and the wonderful photos.
It is great to see and hear about these famous places that many of us will never see so thanks for sharing with us.
Also thanks for your comments, I liked Katharine Hepburn a lot, and the quote is so like her. No good regretting the past as it can't be altered. Take care
Love, Merle.

Anonymous said...

Italy is one of my favourite countries - everything is a masterpiece! I'm impressed by your restraint in photographing the Basilica. I won't tell you how many photos I took ;)

Mike said...

Wonderful pictures. I hope to make the trip to Italy myself someday.

Michele sent me

carmilevy said...

I would have the same problem as you, Judy: I wouldn't be able to decide which ones to display, so I'd post them all!

They're wonderful, but not simply because they're great pictures. Rather, they remind us of a time when craftsmanship mattered, when the world was different, and when so much of what we take for granted today was still being shaped. Amazing.

MaR said...

I am glad you are posting all your pics. It is a hard decision to select only a few and I really can't get enough of these majestic works!

srp said...

I love the domes inside that cathedral. The workmanship is absolutely amazing. They told us that many of the huge paintings by the masters that look to be hanging out in the open are really reproductions. That made sense to me but I don't know if it was really true.

Michaelangelo's "Pieta" statue was behind the glass and I couldn't get a good picture. He made another, slightly different one that he apparently didn't completely finish for some reason. It is in one of the museums in Florence.

Someday..... I will return. Perhaps I will be like the lady in "Under the Tuscan Sun". Who knows?

Miss Cellania said...

Beautiful. I don't know about the American hubris, I never met anyone who thought America's architecture was any good at all!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing those magnificent photos, what beautiful works of art to feast one's eyes on.
Cheers Margaret

Shephard said...

The sculpture in Florence was so overwhelming. It was everywhere. Sounds like the same is true in Rome?
I love painted and decorated domes.
~S