Travelling with Stabilo #12: Finding Michelangelo Part 1 – Rome
经纬游踪 #12： 寻找米开朗基罗（上）- 罗马
The 16th Century was the height of the Renaissance. Throughout Europe, brilliant minds reigned during this period and have their name forever written in the history books. One of most brilliant artist and architect of this period is Michelangelo. Today, I will be taking you to Rome, Italy, to follow the footsteps of Michelangelo and discover the brilliance of his work.
十六世纪欧洲，正是文艺复兴进行得如火如荼之际。这个时代造就了很多名留青史的大艺术家。其中最出名的要数艺术家和建筑家米开朗基罗。我们这次去意大利罗马就是要寻找米开朗基罗的足迹。
Michelangelo first set foot in Rome in the late 1400s, when he was around 20 years old. At that time, Rome was essentially the centre of the Western World – where the Holy Catholic Church sat, and the busiest city in the whole of Europe. The classical buildings and ruins left over from the classical ages had a huge impact on the young Michelangelo's artistic style. Rome was also where Michelangelo spent his time when he was much older, who was working in Rome well past his 70s. A lot of Michelangelo’s work was done while he was in Rome, and the most famous of them all were the Sistine Chapel’s Frescos at the Vatican Museum, and the St Peter’s Basilica.
十五世纪的罗马是西方世界的中心。她是天主教的圣座所在，亦是欧洲最繁华的城市。米开朗基罗与罗马的渊源甚厚。罗马是米开朗基罗年轻时的灵感源泉，他的作品非常受罗马古建筑的古典风格所影响。罗马亦是米开朗基罗中老年时的艺术平台，很多名作都是在罗马时期完成。其中最有名的，就是梵蒂冈博物馆的壁画和圣彼德大教堂。
Vatican Museum was essentially where the Pope worked and lived during the middle ages. It is now one of the most famous museums in the world, hosting a large number of world famous arts and relics. One of the main drawcards of the Vatican Museum is the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s most famous frescos, the Genesis and the Last Judgement are. The Sistine chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV as the Pope’s personal praying room, and at the time he hired Michelangelo, who was quite famous already, to complete the fresco for the chapel ceiling. Interestingly, Michelangelo thought that it was a scheme by the equally famous artist Raphael and architect Bramante for humiliating him as he believed that he was a bad painter. Nonetheless he spent two years perfecting the master piece. He painted the entire story from the Book of Genesis, starting from god creating the world to the Great Flood. Many years later, Pope Clement VII seek out Michelangelo again to complete the fresco behind the altar. This time, Michelangelo used the story of the Last Judgement from the Book of Matthew, and vividly painted the anguish and hopelessness of man who were sent to Hell by God’s final judgement. Both frescos are now the main attraction for the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel is almost always packed throughout the day for that reason. If you really want to enjoy the tranquillity of the chapel and admire the awe-inspiring frescos, join a morning before-hours guided tour, which can take you to the Sistine Chapel before it is opened to the public. Also note that photography is officially not allow inside the Chapel, so please excuse me for the poorly taken photos as I had to sneakily take them with my noisy DSLR.
梵蒂冈博物馆是中世纪时天主教教宗活动和居住的地方。现在变成一个举世闻名的博物馆，是世界上很多有名的文物和艺术品所在。梵蒂冈博物馆的压轴就是西斯廷礼拜堂，米开朗基罗最有名的壁画，创世纪和最终审判的所在地。西斯廷礼拜堂是教宗西斯都四世所建。他雇用了当时已经颇为有名的米开朗基罗去绘画天花板上的穹顶画。有趣的是米开朗基罗认为这是同样出名的画家拉斐尔和建筑家伯拉孟特让他身败名裂的阴谋， 因为他觉得自己是个不合格的画家。米开朗基罗独自一人用了四年时间创造的创世纪，在画中记载了旧约创世纪里的重要故事。多年后，教宗克雷芒七世再次找米开朗基罗去完成祭坛后的壁画。这一次米开朗基罗选择了新约马太福音里的故事，创造出最后审判，生动的描绘了被审判下地狱的人们的恐惧和绝望。现在这两幅画成为梵蒂冈最有名的旅游景点，每天西斯廷礼拜堂都充斥无数游客，想一睹米开朗基罗的真迹。如果不想和这么多人起分享，我建议参加当地旅行社的早团，他们可以把你在博物馆开门前带进出，让你感受西斯廷礼拜堂的宁静与震撼（西斯廷礼拜堂是不让照相的，所以要照相只能偷偷的，所以没有很多好照片，敬请原谅。）
From the backdoor of the Sistine Chapel you can go down the stairs and there is a big door that let you head straight out to St Peters Basilica, by passing all the queues at St Peters Square. Remember this little tip as it would save you a lot of time! St Peters Basilica is the largest church in the world. Every Wednesday, the Pope will be here in person to hold a public service. For those of you who are interested, you need to pre-book tickets online. St Peters Basilica is where the body of Apostle Peter, and is therefore named after him. It had a long history, and had been rebuilt many times. The one that we can see now was designed in parts by Michelangelo. Apart from the large number of statues and famous paintings, St Peter’s Basilica’s 40+ meters ceiling height and the impressive dome frescos gives people a sense of space and grandeur as soon as they step in. The windows to the Basilica were specially positioned to let heavenly sun-ray into the church anytime of the day, emphasising the holiness and sacredness of the place.
就在西斯廷礼拜堂后面的出口出来就是圣彼得大教堂。在这侧门进圣彼得大教堂可是不用排队的，比在大教堂正门进要省时间多了。圣彼得大教堂是全球最大的教堂。每个星期三，教宗会在这里举行礼拜，有兴趣目睹教宗的朋友可以在网上预约门票。圣彼得大教堂为使徒彼得遗体所在，因而以他命名。圣彼得大教堂是个非常古老的大教堂，历史上重建多次，而我们现在看到的就是米开朗基罗参与设计的最后一次重建。除了大量的雕像和名画外，圣彼得大教堂有几个特别的设计让人一踏足就可以感受到他的庄严雄伟。首先是高楼底。四十米高以上的房顶和天花上的壁画给人们一种空间感和雄伟感。其次是特别设计的窗户让从早上到下午都有一束束阳光像圣光一样射进教堂里，给人一种神圣庄严的感觉。
The main Basilica dome was notably designed by Michelangelo. In his design, the four smaller domes of the smaller chapels inside the Basilica line up in the shape of a cross, with the large dome right at the centre of this cross. The dome was designed to surpass the dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral at Florence, which was at the time the biggest dome in the world and is regarded as the symbol of the Renaissance even today. From the Basilica, visitors can travel and climb up to the top of the dome, and take in the view of the whole of Vatican and Rome. The key shape of St Peter’s Square with St Peter’s Basilica at the centre of the bow can be clearing seen from the top of the dome. This was designed to represent Apostle Peter’s Key to Heaven. The actual house that the Pope is living in can also be seen.
大教堂中心的圆顶结构是米开朗基罗的主要设计。设计中，四个小礼拜堂的小圆顶以十字排例围着中心的主礼拜堂的大圆顶，而大圆顶的设计是以超越文艺复兴的标志，佛罗伦斯的百花大教堂的圆顶为目标。游客可以走上圆顶的顶部欣赏梵蒂冈和罗马的风景。在那里可以清楚看见整个圣彼得广场像一把钥匙，而圣彼得大教堂则在钥匙的中心。这是寓意着圣徒彼得的天国钥匙。在圆顶顶上还能看到教宗的住所，还有罗马的全景。
There is one more piece of artwork by Michelangelo that reside at the northern side of the Basilica – the Pietà. The Pietà is a statue of the Virgin Mary holding onto Jesus’ dying body, and it is the work that made Michelangelo famous. Made from a single piece of marble, every little details of Virgin Mary and Jesus, from the sorrow of Virgin Mary seeing his son dying, to the creases in her gown and veins on his hand, is vividly engraved by the Pietà. Clearly, even though he was only at a tender age of 21, Michelangelo was already capable to creating a masterpiece.
在圣彼得大教堂里还有一个值得去看的米开朗基罗的真迹，就是在大教堂北翼的圣母怜子像。这是米开朗基罗的早期作品，以大理石生动的勾勒出圣母玛丽亚对耶稣之死的悲恸和怜悯。这大理石像雕得栩栩如生，就算是圣母的衣裳都雕得像在飘一样。显然当时才二十一岁的米开朗基罗虽然年纪轻轻，但雕刻已经到达大师级的造诣。
Rome was an important part of Michelangelo: where he became famous, where he died. In the next post, I will be taking you to Florence, where Michelangelo was born and where the Medici Family, one of his most important client, resided. There we will continue our journey, in Finding Michelangelo.
罗马是米开朗基罗一生中很重要的部分。这里是他成名之处，也是他结束传奇一生之地。下一站，我们会到米开朗基罗的出生地和他背后的金主美第奇家族的根据地，佛罗伦斯，继续寻找米开朗基罗的足迹。