The first experience on my “365 days til 30” list, was the Vatican Splendors Exhibit at the Heinz History Center. In addition to always wanting to go to the Heinz History Center, I’m really into anything and everything that has to do with ancient religion, especially ancient Catholic.
The Exhibit was displayed in only three North American cities, and somehow Pittsburgh made the list. Perhaps it has something to do with us having the most Catholics per square mile or the fact that St. Anthony’s Chapel (which is, incidentally enough, one block from my house and on the same street) holds the most Catholic relics next to the Vatican.
Whatever the reason, I was immediately intrigued. I grew up Catholic, went to a Catholic school, went to church twice a week, was involved in all things Catholic, didn’t know people that weren’t Catholic, thought people were sinners if they weren’t Catholic.
Then when I was 11-years-old, I moved. I started meeting people that were different from me, I started thinking differently, and so like many Catholic teenagers, I left to explore my own spirituality. I also started getting into the controversial and dark, cool, ancient stuff that is associated with old religions. And this is really where the Vatican Splendors story begins.
I didn’t do my research, so I really had no idea what was to be displayed. I just knew it was all from the Vatican, which made my mind naturally go to old, cool, dark, ancient stuff. I probably should have thought that through a little more. I also wanted to go before Christmas. I thought it would be a nice tie into the season as well as help me get a jump-start on my list of things to do. So I called my friend Maren who agreed to go with me the Monday before Christmas. When we entered the museum, there was a lady in front of us that turned around and asked if we needed tickets to the Vatican Exhibit. We said yes and she explained that she bought one for a friend who never showed and asked me to buy it for $15 (discounted from the regular $20). I said ok, I didn’t want to leave her hanging. Maren bought her ticket from the counter and we went to the back to enter.
When the guy looked at my ticket, he told me it was the audio ticket that was worth $5 and that I still needed to buy the $20 Exhibit ticket! I couldn’t believe it, conned by a lady at the Vatican Exhibit of all places. I told them she obviously wasn’t Catholic and that I was going to kick her a** if I saw her in the parking lot. Although I was clearly joking, they looked scared and gave me a free ticket. I told them they didn’t have to, but they saw her talking to me and knew I wasn’t lying. Very cool, kinda funny, but that’s how the Vatican Splendors Exhibit began.
Maren and I entered and watched the Intro video, nothing too exciting. Then we went in. It was pretty much nothing I had imagined. It truly was an exhibit of art that was taken from the Vatican. As I began my journey through, I started thinking about it and realized they would probably not put anything controversial or dark in the Vatican, and while it seems pretty obvious now, it didn’t really dawn on me when I was planning it.
All art was displayed with both English and Spanish explanations. The first headline about Peter read, “Pedro No Esta Aqui.” The silence of the museum was broken when Maren and I busted out laughing at the site of that. We will never grow up. The Exhibit was in chronological order beginning with St. Peter’s time and death in Italy. There was a model of Nero’s Circus and Constantine’s Basilica that was built over it.
When I tried to take notes, I was ambushed by young people wearing black (and I swear they had secret service thingys in their ears) telling me I was not allowed to use any writing utensils because the Vatican forbids it. When I asked why, they told me people have defaced the artwork. I concluded that was a good reason, so decided not to defy them and tried to rely on my photographic memory. We moved into the works of Michelangelo (which was definitely my favorite part) and an entire section about the Sistine Chapel. I am a terrible artist in everyway so to see not only the detailed paintings but also the intricate sculptors that where once just a slab of stone but now looked real, blew me away.
A series of paintings followed with no familiar artist names, at least to me. Some of them were pretty cool, others a little boring. My next favorite part was the section about the mass. I of course know all of the elements to a mass, but to see what they use at the Vatican, the jewel encrusted chalices, the gold host boxes, the elaborate censers, the thrones, were nothing like we used at St. Athanasius.
The next section or art depicted ministry and traveling. At first glance, one of my favorite paintings was that of a beautiful Japanese woman surrounded by men. Then I noticed the man burning at the stake in the background and realized what the painting was about. Next was a section devoted to portraits and busts of all of the popes throughout history, including a handprint of Pope John Paul II, that we were allowed to touch.
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