Beautiful Italian art and architecture!!

[jjohnson]

I just love Italian art and architecture, but I may never get to go there in person (I hope to someday though!!). But, I love that I can see it like this on the internet! Just hold down the left mouse button and move around the room. You can move in and out also. It's almost, but not quite, as good as being there. It will have to do for me for now! Hope you all enjoy them as much as I did:

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_giovanni/vr_tour/index-en.html

[Charles]

Those are great links, thanks John. I was at the Vatican Museum in the 90s and I'll never forget the experience. When I got to the Sistine Chapel, I was awestruck. As it turned out, the only spot that was the center of the floor. The visitors were congregating closer to the walls. So for around 20 minutes I stood in the center of the Sistine Chapel, right below where God and Adam are touching fingers. I thought to myself, this is my moment in the history of this place. At this juncture of time and space, it is my fortunate destiny to be standing here in the heart of the Sistine Chapel, with a space all my own, to wonder at the marvel of this great work.

The link you posted took me right back to that moment.

Something else I'd like to mention as a result of what I saw. I remember when there was a big controversy about cleaning the frescoes, getting rid of centuries of soot and grime. Some people thought that Michelangelo purposely tinted his paintings and it was his intention to mute the colors. After seeing the Sistine Chapel for myself, I can say with certainty as far as my opinion goes, that this was not the case. From everything else I saw at the Vatican Museum, it looked to me that his frescoes started a trend of ceiling paintings. They were all over the place following the Chapel, and everything was in brilliant color.

[SNAKEBITE]

I especially like the copyright for the Vatican. priceless.

[Jose Saenz]

Wow! Great links! Thanks for sharing.