Apparently the Romans stole this from the Egyptians. Perhaps we should take it back when we go to Egypt. I'm sure Freud would have some comment about a phallic symbol in an area famous for its desexuality...but then the Pope might punch him (ponders whether they are having his argument on another plane).

The triumph of Christianity over Paganism

This is the central ceiling panel in a room where the Pope used to greet visitors, around the walls are images from the life of Constantine (he was the first Roman emporer to stop killing (and stop others killing) Christians).
It might not be very clear but there is a broken Greco-Roman statue on the floor while a crucifix is triumphant above it. (Lovely perspective in the room isn't there? - the floor and the walls)

The walls of Rome

This is the wall of Rome built by the emperor Aurelius to protect from the Barbarians. Below is the peoples entrance. Pretty awesome photos considering they were taken from the window of a moving bus, they do however look much grander in reality.

Diana

This is a representation of my favourite Greco-Roman Goddess Diana or Artemis. Across the room from her is an older version of her as a fertility Goddess - notice her capacity for breast feeding...those aren't water balloons.

For the nerds...

Perhaps the photo isn't very clear but there is a familiar apple on the blue canopy(s).

Crazy faces

Here are a collection of crazy faces from the Vatican museums
The first two are, I'm pretty sure, representations of actors masks. This guy however just looks pissed off, though if I had to carry a big bowl I probably would be too, he might be some sort of satyr but I'm going purely on the beard.
In case you hadn't figured it out we visited the Vatican today. We firstly went through a gallery with a whole bunch of statues, then there was one with a whole bunch of tapestry's, then frescoes, then we looked at Raphael's frescoes, then the Sistine chapel. I'm very glad we went on a tour or we would have waited forever to get in. The chick who took us around learnt English in NZ. There were little earpieces so we could wander and still hear what she was talking about, there was also a flag, which was more of an emaciated scarf, on the end of an aerial pole so we wouldn't get lost.
This guy looks kind of Asian, well, at least to me.Not technically a crazy face but rather a depiction of Janus (yes, the same name as the café down from Brenda and Bill’s house) of which there were many and varied. These were interspersed with herms in a gallery with frescos of maps (several of them upside down).

You're not supposed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel

Which is why this image is so blurry.... and has Gareth's head in it. At the bottom of the picture you can see the temptation in the garden, the other pictures are the life of Noah - this is the exit end of the chapel.

It was beautiful of course though not as impressive as I would have thought and actually a bit cartoony. The prophets looked like they could jump from the ceiling, the other images looked far too small in comparison, you could see Michelangelo's sculptural roots. The chapel was actually quite ugly, not helped by the crowd of people with a man in uniform at the front shushing people periodically (you’re not supposed to talk in there at all). What I was impressed with were the fake tapestry's on the walls, they actually looked like someone had tacked up fabric.
I remember this picture from one of my Art History text books, I just loved the way they did perspective, you can just see the lines on the ground wider at the front and narrowing at the back.
And before you think we're bad people - other people were taking photos too...admittedly I'm not sure if that makes us any less bad.