The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023 101 Shortly thereafter, Fr. Metzler said, “ Ecco ” (We’re here), took a step stool, went to the highest shelf, and brought down a binder. As he opened this particular binder, Fr. Metzler asked me to stand at his side. As he turned the pages, I noticed the documents were made of vellum, not paper, and were encased in a transparent plastic cover for protection. He then took out one page, handed it to me, and asked if I knew what I was holding. The writing on the document was in legible, understandable Italian, and the quantity and description of the number of items indicated it was a bill. That was even more certain because at the right side of the document were the letters “FL.” Florins were the unit of monetary exchange in the Papal States during the Renaissance. I responded that it was a bill, to which the prefect quickly retorted, “But whose?” I turned the page over, and about halfway down were the very large letters “MB.” “Buonarotti,” I said. Fr. Metzler nodded. What I was holding in my hand was the original bill that Michelangelo Buon- arotti had sent to the Vatican to pay for the material he would use to paint the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. Several weeks later, I would be able to see firsthand what that bill’s contents had achieved when I stood on the scaffolding of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel during its final stages of restoration. Looking back, my years in being posted to six different embassies were unforgettable—not only because I was able to visit the Vatican’s Secret Archives or touch the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but also because it allowed me to meet men like George Kennan, an icon in the Foreign Service, perhaps a reflection for another time. The words of the legendary baseball player, Lou Gehrig, come to mind: “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” he said. To that I would simply respond, “So do I.” n A stretch of hallway in the Vatican Secret Archives circa 2012. Inset: Atop the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, one gets a bird’s-eye view of the Vatican City in Rome. ABACAPRESS/ALAMY DILIFF/WIKIMEDIA