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Home > Italy Travel Guide > Rome Travel Guide > Vatican Museums(Musei Vaticani)

Vatican Museums

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Introduction

The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City, which display works from the extensive collection of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Julius II founded the museums in the 16th century. The Sistine Chapel and the Stanze della Segnatura decorated by Raphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums.

History

The Vatican Museums trace their origin to one marble sculpture, purchased 500 years ago. The sculpture of Laocoon, the priest who, according to Greek mythology, tried to convince the people of ancient Troy not to accept the Greeks' “gift” of a hollow horse, was discovered 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, to check out the discovery. On their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture of Laocoon and his sons in the grips of a sea serpent on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery. The Museums celebrated their 500th anniversary in October 2006 by permanently opening the excavations of a Vatican Hill necropolis to the public.

Location

Address: Viale Vaticano, Vatican City
Transit:Metro: Ottaviano (line A); Bus: 23, 32, 49, 51, 64, 81, 492, 907, 990, 991, 994; shuttle service from Piazza San Pietro (south side); Tram: 19, 30.

Museo Gregoriano Egipcio

The Egyptian Museum in the Cortile della Pigna, re-founded by Pope Gregory XVI (the first collection having been assembled by Pius VIII), contains a small but valuable collection of Egyptian art from the third millennium to the sixth century B.C., including basalt and wooden sarcophagi, heads of gods and pharaohs, mummified heads, stelae, statues of gods and animals, and papyri.

Pinacoteca Vaticana

The collection was first housed in the Borgia Apartments, until Pope Pius XI ordered construction of a proper building. The designer was Luca Beltrami. The museum has works of art of painters including Michelangelo, Raphael and Fra Angelico.

Museo Gregoriano Etrusco

Founded by Pope Gregory XIII in 1836, this museum has eight galleries and houses important Etruscan pieces, coming from archaeological excavations. The pieces include: vases, sarcophagus, bronzes and the Guglielmi Collection.

Museo Chiaramonti

This museum is named after Pope Pius VII Chiaramonti, who founded it in the early 1800s. The museum consists of a large arched gallery in which sides are exhibited several statues, sarcophaguses and friezes. The New Gallery, built by Raphael Stern, houses important statues like The Prima Porta Augustus and The River Nile. Galeria Lapidaria is another part of Chiaramonti museum, with more than 3,000 stone tablets and inscriptions, which is the world's greatest collection of its kind. However, it is opened only by special permission, usually for reasons of study.

Museo Pio Cristino

The Museo Pio Cristino, founded by Pope Pius IX in 1854, contains material which until 1963 was housed in the Lateran Palace. There are two sections, one devoted to architecture, sculpture and mosaics, the other to inscriptions.

Museo Pio Clementino

The Vatican Museums have the largest collection of ancient sculpture in the world, mainly found in Rome and the surrounding areas. The collection was arranged on a systematic basis by Popes Clement XIV (1769-74) and Pius VI (1775-99). Among outstanding items are the following: Sala a Croce Greca: the porphyry sarcophagi of Constantia (Constantine's daughter) and St Helen (his mother), richly decorated with figures and symbols.
The galleries are:
The Sala in Crux Griega:which houses the sarcophagus of Constance and Saint Helen, daughter and mother of Constantine the Great.
The Sala Rotonda: holding several ancient mosaics and statues.
The Gallery of the Statues: Houses, as says its name, important statues like Ariadne sleeping and Meandrus. It also houses the Barberini Candelabrums.
The Bust Gallery: Several busts are displayed.
The Mask Gallery: The name comes from the mosaic in the floor of the gallery, found in Villa Adriana, which represents several masks.
Along the walls, several famous statues are shown like the Three Graces.
The Muses Gallery: Houses the group statues of Apollo and the nine muses. Statues from important Greek sculptors are exhibited.
The Animal Gallery: So named because of the several statues of animals that it houses.

Works in the Vatican museums

Several paintings by Caravaggio including the majestic Entombment (1602 - 1603)
Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Saint Jerome;
Works by painters Fra Angelico, Giotto, Raphael, Nicolas Poussin and Titian;
The red marble papal throne, formerly in the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano;
Roman sculpture, tombstones, and inscriptions, including the epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus;
The massive collection of works by the master Raphael including the masterpiece The School of Athens;
Sistine Chapel Guide
The Gallery of Maps: topographical maps of the whole of Italy, painted on the walls by friar Ignazio Danti of Perugia, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII (1572?1585). This gallery is situated at the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard. It is 120 m long. It took Ignazio Danti three years (1580?1583) to complete the 40 panels. The decorations on the vaulted ceiling is the work of a group of Mannerist artists (such as Cesare Nebbia and Girolamo Muziano).

Useful information

Visitors should be correctly attired (i.e. bare shoulders covered; shorts are not permitted).
March 1 to November 07: Open Monday to Friday 8:45 - 15:20 November 08 to February 28: Open Monday to Friday 8:45 - 12:20 Always closed on:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Epiphany (3 Kings' Day ) - Christian (January 6)
Easter - Christian
Easter Monday - Christian
May Day / Labor Day (May 1)
Ascension Thursday - Christian
Assumption Day - Christian (August 15)
All Saints' Day - Christian (November 1)
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8)
Christmas - Christian (December 25)
15th of Shaaban - 12th Iman's Birthday - Muslim

Links

Vatican Museums official website

Infomation

Unofficial website

Infomation

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