The Vatican is an incredible treasure trove of culture and art, in particular. As it was a source of immense wealth and the Church was one of the most important patrons in the world for centuries, the body of artworks that has been built up within its walls is pretty much without parallel. Great works, such as Michelangelo's impossibly famous painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, are very well known but there are many other works beyond it that are worth taking the time out to see and learn more about. In fact, there is an endless list of other works that we could mention but, in this new series, we'll be choosing some of our best picks to help you narrow it down to some truly excellent works of art. Just find a vacation rental in Rome, head to the Vatican and begin getting stuck into this endless well of cultural and artistic gems.
The Vatican Museums were founded in the 16th century until Pope Julius II and make up one of the most visited museum complexes in the world. Among the 54 rooms of the galleries is the Sistine Chapel but, before you get there (it's the very last gallery), make time to seek out the rooms that house the Vatican Collection of Modern Religious Art. Here you will find some less expected and more (relatively) recent names like Rodin, Gauguin, Dali, Picasso and Van Gogh. Among the over 800 works of this collection is the stunning first version of "The Pietà (after Delacroix)" (1889) by Van Gogh.
Maintaining the subject and composition of the original but very Van Gogh in style, it is a dark and moody piece. Van Gogh was very aware of how haunting and dramatic his work is, recorded as having said of it: "The Delacroix is a "Pietà" that is to say the dead Christ with the Mater Dolorosa. The exhausted corpse lies on the ground in the entrance of a cave, the hands held before it on the left side, and the woman is behind it. It is in the evening after a thunderstorm, and that forlorn figure in blue clothes - the loose clothes are agitated by the wind - is sharply outlined against a sky in which violet clouds with golden edges are floating. She too stretches out her empty arms before her in a large gesture of despair, and one sees the good sturdy hands of a working woman. The shape of the figure with its streaming clothes is nearly as broad as it is high. And the face of the dead man is in the shadow - but the pale head of the woman stands out clearly against a cloud - a contrast which causes those two heads to seem like one somber-hued flower and one pale flower, arranged in such a way as mutually to intensify the effect."
The overall effect is a work that displays the deep sorrow and humanity of the moment of a real woman and her dead child and how simply and terribly sad a thing that really is. One of those works that imposes itself on your memory, it is certainly a striking and important addition to the Vatican's collections.
Maintaining the subject and composition of the original but very Van Gogh in style, it is a dark and moody piece. Van Gogh was very aware of how haunting and dramatic his work is, recorded as having said of it: "The Delacroix is a "Pietà" that is to say the dead Christ with the Mater Dolorosa. The exhausted corpse lies on the ground in the entrance of a cave, the hands held before it on the left side, and the woman is behind it. It is in the evening after a thunderstorm, and that forlorn figure in blue clothes - the loose clothes are agitated by the wind - is sharply outlined against a sky in which violet clouds with golden edges are floating. She too stretches out her empty arms before her in a large gesture of despair, and one sees the good sturdy hands of a working woman. The shape of the figure with its streaming clothes is nearly as broad as it is high. And the face of the dead man is in the shadow - but the pale head of the woman stands out clearly against a cloud - a contrast which causes those two heads to seem like one somber-hued flower and one pale flower, arranged in such a way as mutually to intensify the effect."
The overall effect is a work that displays the deep sorrow and humanity of the moment of a real woman and her dead child and how simply and terribly sad a thing that really is. One of those works that imposes itself on your memory, it is certainly a striking and important addition to the Vatican's collections.
