I always visit the Sistine Chapel with kids.
(Including the time I was a kid.)
Last weekend we took a ten-year-old to San Francisco’s St. Mary’s Cathedral to see lifesize high definition photographs of the frescoes up close.
While I’ve been to the actual Sistine Chapel in Rome four times, this was an opportunity to really see what Michelangelo painted.
Michaelangelo’s work up close amazed me–and charmed both the child within and the one standing next to me!
Running through the Vatican Museum–to see what?
My family spent the summer camping through Europe when I was fourteen.
Since this was a cultural trip, Mom determined we should visit seemingly every art museum on the continent.
Italy, of course, produced museums everywhere we turned. She had her sights set on “the big one,” the Vatican Museum, and particularly, the Sistine Chapel.
Someone told us the best way, the very best way, to see the gem of a chapel was to get there first.
So, we rose early, arrived at the museum doors with the first dozen visitors, paid for our tickets, and ran.
Three children, fourteen, eleven, and nine, sprinted along the painted lines to the chapel.
Mom and the family friend traveling with us were gym teachers. They moved quickly.
Dad brought up the rear, laughing as he followed, though I’m sure he paused to contemplate the mosaics in the room of maps.
My siblings and I knew nothing about what we hurried to see. We burst into the 15th-century jewel right behind a young couple.
We gasped and stood with mouths agape, looking up.
Even all those years ago before the Vatican (finally) cleaned the frescoes, the vibrant colors and painted stories amazed us.
And we didn’t have much context to understand what was happening 60 feet above our heads.
Visiting as a Mother
I’ve been the mother on all my subsequent visits and know far more about preparing the children beforehand.
My boys were two and four, so we did not arrive early, and we did not run through the Vatican Museum. (Which now is sensibly outlawed).
We took our time following the same lines painted on the floor. I could explain and tell them a lot more about what they saw and we paused so they could ask questions. (“Why doesn’t that lady have any clothes on?” Sigh.)
By the time we entered the chapel (a 15-minute sprint in my prime; a much longer stroll if you examine museum exhibits!), crowds filled the parquet floor.
I drew the boys to the side of the chapel and we sat on the floor to admire the frescoes overhead.
The precocious four-year-old identified God, Adam, Eve, Jesus, snake, Noah, and a few others.
But then a guard approached, chastened me in Italian, and I realized we were not allowed to sit on the floor. (Not that the height made much difference for the two-year-old!)
My husband hoisted one, I held on to the other, we pointed out what they could see, and then left.
Subsequent visits were with college students. They prepared ahead and told me things!
Sistine Chapel in San Francisco?
An ad caught my eye several months ago announcing a photographic, life-sized exhibit of the Sistine Chapel in San Francisco.
It was a lot cheaper than returning to Rome, so I purchased four tickets. We wanted to get a closer look.
Nothing about the afternoon disappointed me.
With excellent descriptions both beside the large photographs and through the headset audio explanation ($5), I learned a lot!
I saw even more!
These were the frescoes in bright living colors, the figures enormous in front of my eyes, and easy to admire.
Finally, I had explanations for the Sibyls and their order in the chapel. But more importantly, I could see the details.
I didn’t realize that was Judith and Holofernes.
I’m studying the book of Jeremiah right now. Being able to view his tragic face up close helped me reflect even more on his weeping.
And how interesting to learn Michelangelo empathized with the prophet.
We discussed the Last Judgement on the way home. None of us had ever noticed the flayed figure below Jesus, much less knew it bore Michelangelo’s face.
Sobering.
Startling.
Glorious.
What about the most recent kid viewing the Sistine Chapel?
She had no problem identifying the same characters her uncle recognized all those years before.
When we pointed out details in the other photographs, she immediately saw them.
But unlike her father, she could sit on the floor and admire the artwork!
It makes so much more sense when you can put the figures and stories into context.
Who wouldn’t recognize Adam and Eve, or Noah and his ark?
(She made no comment about the many naked figures, having looked through Susie Hodge’s illustrated book Why is Art Full of Naked People? the night before.)
I don’t know if she’ll ever get to the actual Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museum.
But, you can never start them too young on appreciating art.
(Michelangelo’s Sisting Chapel: The Exhibition will visit 36 cities around the world. For more details, see the website www.chapelsistine.com. It will run in San Francisco until early 2022.)
Tweetables
Kids, the Sistine Chapel, and Me–a wonderful opportunity to view up close. Click to Tweet
A novel way to view the Sistine Chapel frescoes–up close. Click to Tweet
Would like to see this presentation. Do you suggest seeing it multiple times over one/several days? 60-90 minutes seems very limited to view such a magnificent display.
If you, like me, want to listen to the recording, read everything, and really examine the “paintings,” I’d go alone and give myself 2 hours, maybe a little more.
I’ve thought about returning by myself just to savor everything and really look and think, but if you go with people who like to take their time, I think you’d be fine in a day.
This was the 10-year-old’s first art experience. We all, however, benefited and enjoyed the videos we watched outside the exhibit explaining everything in cartoon fashion. I’ve gone looking for them on the Internet since, to, as yet, no avail! Enjoy !