Virtual Tour of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome

Beautiful!

Kings College Chapel & Organ

Kings College Chapel & Organ, originally uploaded by Heaven`s Gate (John).

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

This lovely stained glass window can be found in the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto, California.

And a Great Sign Appeared in Heaven...

DSC_1073, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

This lovely statue of Our Lady is from Mission Santa Ines in Solvang, California. According to the Mission Website, it's a statue of "Our Lady of the Rosary, an excellent Mexican Baroque period sculpture from the mid-18th century."

Old St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel

We just went to an exhibit on objects from the Vatican. They mostly had works of art having to do with St. Peter and the popes, but also about St. Peter's Basilica - both the old one (built by Constantine) and the new one (built during the Renaissance). We also got to talk to a nice volunteer who told us a lot about Old St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel and answered our questions we had about them.

They had a neat model of the Old St Peter's at the exhibit - we found a drawing of it on the Internet (shown above with link to the site). I was excited to see it, because I never knew what it looked like and we were just reading about it yesterday. Old St. Peter's was built in the 300s at the place where St. Peter died, which was a Roman circus (it's not a circus with clowns and jugglers, it's more like the Colosseum - they might have chariot races and gladiator fights and things like that). Around 1450, the pope decided to take it down because it was falling apart. From 1475-1483 they built a chapel and when it was completed, the pope hired Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Rosselli, and Perugino to paint the walls on the sides of the chapel. They painted the ceiling blue with stars. In 1508, another pope, hired Michelangelo to paint frescoes of the twelve apostles on the ceiling. After he started the work, Michelangelo decided that he didn't like them and came up with a different idea that we can see today. He finished the frescoes in 1512.

The groundbreaking for the new St. Peter's Basilica was in 1506 and it was consecrated in 1626.


Side commentary on another favorite from the exhibit, as explained by my then seven year old daughter:

We saw the Mandylion. The frame was made only out of gold, silver and jewels. It had angels on each side - their wings were gold and their bodies were silver. The picture was of God's face. It was really neat.

NOTE: I've transferred this several-years-old post from a different blog as it relates here - my children helped piece together this info.

St. Peter's Basilica: Links

History of St. Peter's Basilica from Catholic Encyclopedia
Tour of St. Peter's Basilica (this one has pictures)
Old St. Peter's Basilica (circa 300 AD - 1450 AD)
Building Big - St. Peter's Basilica
Pictures from St. Peter's Basilica
Vatican Museums Online - The Sistine Chapel

Mission San Juan Bautista

San Juan Bautista, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Happy Feast Day to Blessed Junipero Serra, founder of the California Missions.

The Beautiful Little Church at San Juan Capistrano

Fray Junipero Serra

Fray Junipero Serra, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

from Mission San Diego

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Tile picture at Mission San Carlos Borromeo (Mission Carmel)

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

Stained glass window above the altar at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto, California.

Happy Easter!

The Lamb of God, originally uploaded by *clairity*.

Beautiful Outdoor Stations of the Cross

Stairway to Station IX, originally uploaded by stuffle.

at Holy Hill in Hubertus, Wisconsin

"Heart in Stained Glass"

heart in stained glass, originally uploaded by Mathieu Struck.

from Curitiba's Metropolitan Cathedral in Brazil