Più Grottesche Del Vaticano

My last post about the Vatican grotesques did not include all my discoveries, so here are a few more I felt like sharing.

Brain is dried and shriveled as an old date, so I've no power left for proper words today. But perhaps these images speak for themselves. So many colours.  (Click to enlarge.)

 

The Vatican gardens...

*You can only tour with an official guide, so there's no funny business in the holy shrubbery.

I love the idea of acolytes carefully trimming around this portrait to keep the ivy away.

The Fontana Della Peschiera is a definite highlight, built during the reign of Pope Pius IV (Giovanni Angelo Medici), somewhere between 1560 and1565.

Also, there was a turtle.

And another. Two turtles.

Eccellente.

I didn't get many close-ups of the mosaic, thanks to the relentless pace set by our tour guide, but here is a nice one I found online:

[Via]

From the presence of tiny baby turtles in the design, I'm guessing they've inhabited that pond for many generations now.

*******

NB: Late last month a very interesting and talented person passed away. Hasan Niyazi was a big fan of Renaissance art and his blog Three Pipe Problem is excellent. We weren't close friends, but we bonded over our mutual interests in video games and digital art.

If you haven't checked out his site, I highly recommend that you do. I'm sad he's gone, and you will be too after reading some of his work. RIP.