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Had a full day...
Sep. 14th, 2003 12:24 am.
I was given a ticket to Saint Peter and the Vatican: the Legacy of the Popes for today. Actually, if you look at the exhibit schedule, you'll see I was actually lucky -- it's skipping around pretty broadly, and to have it within easy driving distance....
If you have a chance, you SHOULD see this. It doesn't matter if you're Catholic, 'generic' Christian, or even anti-christian of some stripe -- this is an important chunk of the history of Western civilisation. See it from the inside.
Also, the Vatican has maintained a collection of art and artifacts that is unparalleled, mostly because of the contiguity of the existence of the Pontifical office over millenia (amazing thought, isn't it?). The exhibit has artifacts dating back to the 4th century. THE FOURTH BLEEDING CENTURY!!! It's also interesting to see the consistency of the depictions of Peter in the earliest art -- apparently he had compelling eyes.
( Some notes for the SCAdians and other detail geex: )
We (the five of us attending the exhibit) were perplexed by one item, described on the placard as 'liturgical drinking straw'. I had to go digging through the exhibit catalog and the Internet for a definition to share:
( use of the 'liturgical drinking straw' a/k/a 'fistula' )
From the catalog's description, it was originally used to test the quality of the Communion wine -- liiiike, lack of poison, for one. Wanna bet it started being used during the period of the Borgias?
As I mentioned, I did buy the exhibit catalog if anyone local would like to see it. It has excellent photos of the items I've mentioned, although I wish there were closeups on the embroidery.
I was given a ticket to Saint Peter and the Vatican: the Legacy of the Popes for today. Actually, if you look at the exhibit schedule, you'll see I was actually lucky -- it's skipping around pretty broadly, and to have it within easy driving distance....
If you have a chance, you SHOULD see this. It doesn't matter if you're Catholic, 'generic' Christian, or even anti-christian of some stripe -- this is an important chunk of the history of Western civilisation. See it from the inside.
Also, the Vatican has maintained a collection of art and artifacts that is unparalleled, mostly because of the contiguity of the existence of the Pontifical office over millenia (amazing thought, isn't it?). The exhibit has artifacts dating back to the 4th century. THE FOURTH BLEEDING CENTURY!!! It's also interesting to see the consistency of the depictions of Peter in the earliest art -- apparently he had compelling eyes.
( Some notes for the SCAdians and other detail geex: )
We (the five of us attending the exhibit) were perplexed by one item, described on the placard as 'liturgical drinking straw'. I had to go digging through the exhibit catalog and the Internet for a definition to share:
( use of the 'liturgical drinking straw' a/k/a 'fistula' )
From the catalog's description, it was originally used to test the quality of the Communion wine -- liiiike, lack of poison, for one. Wanna bet it started being used during the period of the Borgias?
As I mentioned, I did buy the exhibit catalog if anyone local would like to see it. It has excellent photos of the items I've mentioned, although I wish there were closeups on the embroidery.
