Vatican Museums
The first cluster of works exhibited in what was going to become the
Vatican Museum, consisted of a collection of statues.
Clement XIV and Pio VI founded the Pio-Clementino Vatican Museum,
containing works on display in buildings open to the public. Pio VII
significantly enlarged the collection by adding the Museo Chiaramonti
and the Braccio Nuovo.
The Museo Etrusco and the Museo Egizio, which are part of the Vatican
Museums, were founded by Gregory XVI, who took care of having Etruscan
pieces and Ancient Egyptian material coming from archaeological
excavations taken to Rome. He then assembled the works and monuments
already on display in other Roman museums. During San Pio X’s
pontificate, the Galleria Lapidaria, including 137 inscriptions of
ancient Roman Jewish graveyards, was added in 1910. The
Galleria degli Arazzi, including tapestries from the 16th and 17th
centuries, the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, the Loggia di
Raffaello, the Chapel by Beato Angelico, painted during Nicholas V’s
pontificate, and the very famous Sistine Chapel, named after its founder
Sixtus IV and painted by Michelangelo, are just some of the masterpieces
boasted by the Vatican Museums. The Pinacoteca Art Gallery now located
near the new Museums entrance and boasting paintings by Pinturicchio,
Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael, as well as many more works
by the most famous artists, is also open to the public. A visit to the
Museum offers the chance to view a vast, beautiful collection
representative of the Italian history and art.
DON’T MISS Raphael’s Rooms: Originally part of the private apartment of
Pope Julius II, who commissioned the work to the famous painter they
were named after. Have a careful look at the School of Athens, a
beautiful fresco where philosophers Aristotle and Plato are depicted
surrounded by scholars. Someone holds that you may also distinguish the
figures of Michelangelo, who is the isolated man in front of the garden,
Leonardo, in the traits of Plato, and a self-portrait of Raphael, the
second figure in the right bottom corner.
Sistine Chapel: Have a close look at the wonderful frescoes by
Michelangelo, among which the most famous are The Creation of Adam and
The Last Judgment.
The Belvedere Torso: (Sala delle Muse) Greek sculpture dating back to
the first century B.C., widely appreciated during Renaissance, and
particularly by Michelangelo, for the accurate and detailed
representation of human anatomy. Laocoon: (Octagonal court) A most
famous sculpted group representing a Trojan priest of Apollo fighting
with his sons against two monstrous sea serpents.
Apollo of the Belvedere: (Octagonal court) A Roman marble copy, dating
back to the second century A.D., of the original Greek bronze of the IV
century B.C., considered one of the masterpieces of classic art.
USEFUL INFORMATION
From Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m – 6 p.m. (last entry 4 p.m.) The last
Sunday of every month free entry 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. (last entry 12.30)
Online booking at
Vatican Museums Ticket Office
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