A few months ago I visited the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Before we were taken to see the Last Judgment by Michelangelo, we were shown various pieces of art and sculptures from the Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Indians -- many different cultures, all amazing pieces of work if I may say so myself. After perusing many rooms and corridors filled with these works, the door was opened to the most amazing paintings I've ever seen in my life. The whole chapel was filled to each corner with art that photographs can't even begin to give justice to. I felt so small and insignificant. We must have spent hours just gawking and observing all the details in these paintings, and even still there was much I probably still missed. Even after two or three visits, it would seem impossible to really observe everything.

After some time, we were led out of the chapel through a staircase, and from there, we were shown even more works of art. Finally, at the very end, they wanted to show us "contemporary art."

I'm not much of an art aficionado, certainly much less then compared to now. However, once reaching this final hall, the energy of the room, the luster, the beauty, seemed to dim quite a bit. Whereas before, all of us (at least 50) would spend countless time gazing at these magnificent paintings, now it seemed as though were simply walking single file through a mess of clutter, looking for the nearest "uscita" lol. It really seemed like my uncles back yard, filled with tractor parts and twisted rods of rusted metal.

Paintings had become a few streaks of paint. Sculptures had become twisted fragments of bottle caps and scraps of safety pins lol. I've thought about this ever since, and it's made me wonder; have I simply not have the capacity to understand these contemporary pieces of "art"? Is art really this subjective to the point where bottle caps can be considered art just as the Last Judgment can? Or is there a decline in art these days?