Keith Sisson sends pictures from trip to Rome

Keith Sisson, a doctoral candidate at The University of Memphis, is researching a dissertation entitled "Giles of Rome's Doctrine of Papal Supremacy," in which Pope Boniface VIII is a central figure. In connection with that research he was in Rome from 30 December 2005 until 15 Janury 2006. Below is his report from that trip. He has posted these photographs and others in a photo gallery on Yahoo: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kdsisson212/my_photos.

I was awarded a University Foundation Endowment Grant for Dissertation Research. I conducted my research at the Vatican Library and Archives (among other archives) and the Vatican Treasury Museum. At the Treasury Museum, I was able to view the papal bull, i.e., the original document dated 22 February 1300, in which Boniface VIII proclaimed the year 1300 as the Holy Year of Jubilee. My wife Lisa was able to travel with me to Rome on 30 December, but she had to return to Atlanta on 5 January to tend to our seven-month-old daughter! Indeed, the trip proved to be most beneficial to my overall research experience, and an integral part of my dissertation research efforts.

St. Peter's Basilica at night

St. Peter's Basilica

Interior of St. Peter's Basilica

La Pieta, by Michelangelo, sculpture located just inside St. Peter's


Papal Apartments, St. Peter's Square

Marble tablet in Vatican Treasury Museum,
List of all the Popes buried in St. Peter's


Sarcophagus of Pope Boniface VIII
(A central figure in my dissertation; Benedict Gaetani was Pope from 1294 to 1303)


The Last Judgment, by Michelangelo
Altar wall of the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo's Dome

The Colosseum, picture taken from the Via dei Fori Imperalii

Interior of the Colosseum, area beneath the surface floor which housed the gladiators and animals prior to the day's game

The Arch of Constantine, picture taken from the Via San Gregorio

Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, Piazza Venezia

The Pantheon

The Arch of Titus, picture taken from the Via Sacra

Lisa and Keith at the Trevi Fountain