Vatican Museum and St. Peter's

Today we visited the Vatican Museum and had special permission to visit the Museo Gregorio Profano, a museum within the Vatican Museum.  Included in this collection is the famous Augustus Prima Porta.

A statue of a statesman that looks an awfully lot like Cicero.

and some mosaic floor that came from Hadrian's Villa.

There was also a statue of one of the daughters of Niobe, killed by the goddess Diana because Niobe boasted that she was better than Diana's mother because she produced more children.  Niobe was turned into a rock, by the way.

Here we see a relief originally commissioned by the emperor Domitian to celebrate his "victory" over the German Chatti tribe.  When Domitian was assassinated, his head was replaced with the head of his successor, Nerva.

In this relief, since it celebrates his father Vespasian (on the right), Domitian's head was allowed to remain.

Here is the sarcophagus of Ulpia Erigone

Another sarcophagus showing chariot racing.

A statue of a barbarian.

A statue of Antinous, the emperor Hadrian's boy-toy/lover that Hadrian tried to elevate to god status when Antinous died.

Mars.

Omphale, wearing Hercules' lion skin.  Hercules killed a man in a fit of madness and was sentenced by the oracle at Delphi to serve Omphale as a hand-maiden for three years.  He was forced to dress in women's clothing and Omphale wore his lion skin.  Different versions of the story have him fathering as many as three sons with Omphale.

A porphyry sculpture of a general.

The famous pinecone and peacocks.  The pinecone is actually a fountain that was located at a temple of Isis.  The peacocks were placed at Hadrian's Mausoleum.

The head of the colossus of Constantine.

The famous statue of Apollo Belvedere.  The statue depicts Apollo having just fired an arrow (the bow is lost).  This statue is a Roman copy (made around 120 AD) of what was originally a Greek bronze made several hundred years earlier.

The river god of the Arno River.

Laocoon and his sons being killed by sea serpents.The statue was unearthed in 1506 but was known to the ancients, being described in a letter from Pliny the Younger.  Vergil in Book II of the Aeneid wrote that Laocoon tried to warn the Trojans that the Trojan Horse was a trick, saying Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes (I fear the Greeks even bearing gifts).  He even threw a spear into the side of the horse.  Neptune and Minerva (Poseidon and Athena) sent two sea serpents to attack him and his sons.  After killing Laocoon, the serpents slithered up and hid in the temple of Athena, convincing the Trojans that they should bring the horse through the walls and into Troy.

This statue of Perseus holding up the head of Medusa is not ancient, but was carved by Antonio Canova in 1800-1801.

Shown here are two boxers, named Creugas of Durres and Damoxenos of Syracuse, who met during the Nemean Games. According to legend, the two were so evenly matched that the competition lasted for hours without a decision. When there was no foreseeable end, both men agreed to take a single, undefended blow from the other. Creugas delivered the first punch, striking Damoxenos on the head. Damoxenos, struck Creugas on the side and tore out his intestines. The Argives disqualified Damoxenos, for killing his opponent and Creugas was posthumously declared the winner.  These statues are not ancient, but were carved in 1794-5 by Antonio Canova, using ancient sculptures as his models and inspiration.

A Mithras statue, shown killing the bull.  If you look closely you will see the dog lapping the blood from the bull's neck and the scorpion attacking the bull's gonads.

The "Belvedere Torso" is another statue that was made as a copy of an earlier statue.  This copy was made around the time of Christ, of an original Greek statue from a century or two earlier.  This statue was inspirational to Michelangelo.  He was asked to sculpt arms, legs and a face to complete it, but he declined, claiming it was perfect and he could not improve it.

This Hercules statue, similar to the Hercules in the Capitoline Museum, was found in the ruins of the Theater of Pompey.  It was buried carefully, covered by tiles.  The reason it was buried is that it was struck by lightning.  It was inscribed FCS: fulgor conditum summanium--buried, lightning of Summanus.  Summanus was the god of lightning at night (Jupiter threw his bolts during daylight hours) and was related to an old Etruscan god.

Juno Sospita: Juno the Savior, always pictured as a war goddess.

The porphyry sarcophagus of Helena, mother of Constantine.  I

The porphyry sarcophagus of Costantia, the daughter of Constantine.  It is so heavy it is said that it took 40 teams of oxen to pull the wagon on which it was loaded.

This 13 meter diameter porphyry bowl was likely part of an imperial fountain.

This famous statue of a two-horse chariot was likely carved in the first century AD.

The School of Athens, by Raphael.  Since I saw his tomb the other day, I figured I'd best see his art.

After the museum, we had a chance to visit St. Peter's Basilica.  Here is the Pope's Balcony.

 Michelangelo's Pieta.

Our final stop was the Necropolis under the Basilica, but we were not allowed to photograph anything.  Not a big fan of it anyway.  More tomorrow, on the Via Appia!