et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum

Johnboy2978 · Jan 31, 2006

I have been on an MC Escher kick lately, and I was looking through an official site of his work the other day. I came across this:

http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/ital-bmp/LW270.jpg

and I realized that I have almost the same picture that I took when I was in Rome a couple of years ago. This is in the main cupola (dome) in St. Peters. The cupola which is the largest in the world is 42m in diameter with scripture inscribed all around it.

I took only a few pictures inside the dome itself, as there is a large fence around the walkway which is about 7' high. I didn't take many pictures, b/c of the fence and my lens was too large to fit between the holes of the fence. I found it a rather happy coincidence that of the few that I took, I had one that was almost identical to the Escher wood carving.

Thought I'd share this with you.
The latin "et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum" translates to "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven" Mt 16:19

I also took this one:

LaFoto · Feb 1, 2006

Pity about this fence (though I see why they felt they better put it there), but very nice photos, nonetheless.
I've yet to go to Rome in my life...! I'd love to see that with my own eyes one day!
(Where does your knowledge of Latin come from? "Where there is caring and loving, there is God")

Unimaxium · Feb 1, 2006

I like the second one a lot. Too bad about the fence in the first one.

Johnboy2978 · Feb 1, 2006

Thanks for the comments guys. I just thought it was pretty cool that of the 3 or 4 shots I took inside the cupola, one was almost identical to the section Escher chose to do a woodcarving of.

It would've been very cool to do a 360 degree panorama inside there, though the fence limits the view of the camera. I would really like to go back again in the future. So much history there.

LaFoto, I took 3 years of Latin in Highschool, though sadly, I have retained very little. There are a few prayers that we say in Latin from time to time at Mass though.

terri · Feb 1, 2006

The fence is an intrusion in the first frame, but in the second you made it work for you. :thumbup: It works, and adds some drama to the depth of the image. Cool!