Leggenda -- simplified -- PIANTA MUSEI VATICANI

Speranza

To reach  the "CORTILE DELLE CORAZZE" (A), the courtyard of the cuirasses, you follow a covered passageway.

At the centre, the CORTILE DELLE CORAZZE is adorned by the base of the column honouring Antonino Pio (161).The "CORTILE delle Corazze" joins the "Atrio dei Quattro Cancelli", atrium of the four gates.

The "CORTILE DELLA PIGNA" (8), courtyard of the pine cone, has the bronze pine cone set on a landing of the double stairway in front of the niche of Bramante.

 

THE "MUSEO GREGORIANO EGIZIO" (9-14) was founded by Gregorio XVI.

THE "MUSEO CHIARAMONTI" (15-17) was ordered by Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti (Pio VII).

The Museo Chiaramonti (15)   proper contains Roman artifacts, based on Greek originals, and original works. Note in section XIX, the bust of a Roman Man, which dates from the second half of the 1st c. B.C.

The "Galleria Lapidaria" (17), the Lapidarian Gallery, occupies the rest of the gallery.

 

In the "Braccio Nuovo" (16), the new wing, note the statues set in niches.

 

 

 

Of special note are:

 

14 -----
statue of
Augusto
di Prima Porta
-----found in 1863 in the Villa "ad Gallinas Albas".

 

23 ----
the so-called statue of Modesty, a Roman sculpture of the 2nd c..

At the far end of the gallery, note the bust of Pio VII by Antonio Canova

---- 67, Wounded Amazon.

--- 106,
NILO,  a 1st-c. Roman sculpture

--- 111,
the Athena Giustiniani.

 

--- 117 ---- 
a satyr at rest (SATIRO IN RIPOSO)

 

--- 123. Doriforo, 
 

The "MUSEO PIO-CLEMENTINO" (18-28) is named for two popes.

 

From the square vestibule (18) which you enter by a stairway at the beginning of the "Museo Chiaramonti", conserves the decorations by Daniele da Volterra as well as the sarcophagus of Lucio Cornelio Scipione Barbato you pass, through the round vestibule (19) (note, from the balcony, the "Fontana della Galera"), into the cabinet (20) named after the renowned ATLETA.

 

From the round vestibule, you emerge, on the left, into the "Cortile Ottagono" (21).
 

21. (a) In the 1st cabinet of the Cortile Ottagono, on the left, is the "Apollo del Belvedere", found near the church of S. Pietro in Vincoli.
 

21 (b) In the second cabinet is the Laocoonte, discovered in the Domus Aurea in 1506.

 

21 (c) In the third cabinet is The Antino del Belvedere, or Hermes.

 

21 (d) In the fourth cabinet is the Perseo by Antonio Canova.

The next hall is the "Sala degli Animali" (25)  extensively restored by Francesco Antonio Franzoni
 

Note in the left wing, the Meleagro, and in the right wing, two small mosaics from the Villa Adriana.

The "Galleria delle Statue" (24), the gallery of statues, is decorated with frescoes from the school of Pinturicchio and embellished by:

 

-- 85
Eros di Centocelle (Genio del Vaticano) discovered in 1770

 

-- 80
Bust of a triton, 2nd c. B.C.;

 

-- 62,
Apollo Sauroctono, a Roman replica of a bronze by Praxiteles.

Between the two splendid Candelabri Barberini (10 and 13)

-- 11, Sleeping Ariadne.

Adjoining the gallery are the "Sala del Busti", (22)  with busts of Roman emperors and deities.

Then, there's the "Gabinetto delle Maschere" (23) with, at the centre, 37, the Venus of Cnido, 

 

The following hall, the "Sala delle Muse"(26) contains numerous Roman copies of portraits of philosophers and poets, and the "Torso del Belvedere".

 

At the "SALA ROTONDA" (27), the round hall, you find

 

-- 3, the Jove of Otricoli.

 

-- 8,
ERCOLE in gilt bronze.

You then  reach the  "Sala a Croce Greca" (28), the Greek cross hall, dominated by two large 4th-c. sarcophagi, in red porphyry.

On the right is the sarcophagus of Constantina (from the Mausoleo di S. Costanza).

On the left is the sarcophagus of Elena.

    

Founded in 1837 by Gregorio XVI, the MUSEO GREGORIANO ETRUSCO (29-39) includes Etruscan artifacts.

After the first hall, which is devoted to the early Etruscan-Latial Iron Age you enter the second hall, which contains the material found in the Tomba Regolini-Galassi (ca. 650 B.C.), discovered intact at Cerveteri in 1836.

Also worthy of note is the "Urna Calabresi".

 

 

The "Sala del Bronzi", or hall of bronzes, the third hall, contains the famed "Marte di Todi", a bronze statue of Mars from the end of the 5th c. B.C..

The fourth hall is devoted to stone monuments, the 9th hall to the collection of Benedetto Guglielmi, who donated to Pope Pio XI in 1937 his collection of materials from the necropolis of Vulci.

A renovation should result in the unification of the Guglielmi collection, which is now in part in the Appartamento di S. Pio V.

 

In the "Hall of Jewels", the tenth hall, note the collection of goldsmithery.

In the succeeding, eleventh to twenty-second halls is a series of Roman antiquities, the Falcioni collection (Etruscan and Roman objects from the area around Viterbo) and the collection of ceramics   donated by Mario Astarita to Pope Paolo VI in 1967, with interesting specimens of Greek ceramic production.

The "SALA DELLA BIGA" (40), the hall of the chariot, has a circular plan, in Carrara marble (Giuseppe Camporese), and takes its name from the chariot, in the centre, reassembled by Francesco Antonio Franzoni in 1788.

About 80 m. long, the  GALLERIA DEI CANDELABRI (41) is named after the pairs of marble candelabra.
 

 

The "GALLERIA DEGLI ARAZZI" (42), gallery of the tapestries by Pieter van Aelst.

The tapestries replaced those by Raphael, now in the picture gallery.   

 

 

The "GALLERIA DELLE CARTE GEOGRAFICHE" (43) is adorned by maps.

The "APPARTAMENTO DI S. PIO V" (44) comprises the "Galleria di S. Pio V", two small halls, and the "Cappella di S. Pio V", this suite of rooms temporarily houses the Giacinto Guglielmi Collection, of Etruscan and Attic art.

The "STANZE DI RAFAELLO" are part of the Appartamento di Niccolo V.

These rooms feature the splendid decorative arrays commissioned by GIULIANO DELLA ROVERE (pope Julius II) from the young Raphael.

The "Sala di Costantino" (47), the hall of Constantine,was completed in 1525 in accordance with drawings and instructions left by the late Raphael.

 

Continuing clockwise amidst figures of pontiffs enthroned and virtues, note the Baptism of Constantine and Donation of Constantine by Penni, arid Apparition of the Cross to Constantine by Giulio Romano.

From the Sala di Costantino, you pass into the "Sala del Palafrenieri", also known as the "Sala del Chiaroscuri" (49) a vast room with apostles and saints, by Federico and Taddeo Zuccari.

The "Cappella di Niccolo V" (50)  which features frescoes of the stories of the martyrs Stephen and Lawrence executed by Fra Angelico between 1448 and 1450, marks the beginning of one of the oldest areas in the papal palace.

A short passageway leads to the "Stanza di Eliodoro", (51)  which was frescoed by Raphael, between 1512 and 1514, in accordance with an iconographic program designed to glorify the church, and probably developed by Pope Julius II.

 On the wall dividing this room from the Stanza della Segnatura, note the Meeting of St. Leo the Great and Attila.

If you continue counterclockwise, you can see the Mass of Bolsena, dramatic and powerful, the Expulsion of Heliodorus, executed with the collaboration of Giulio Romano and Giovanni da Udine, and the Liberation of St. Peter, with innovative light effects.

Next is the "Stanza della Segnatura" (52).


With the exception of a number of decorations in the vault, by Sodoma and Bramantino - was entirely painted by Raphael.

 

 

Proceeding to the left, from the wall closest to the "Stanza dell'Incendio di Borgo", you will find the famous Disputation of the Sacrament*; on either side of the window, Gregory IX Approves the Decrees* and Justinian Consigns the Pandects to Tribonianus (in the lunette around the window, Strength, Prudence, and Temperance).

On the wall facing the Disputation, note the renowned "School of Athens" (a number of the figures bear the features of famous men of the time: the figure with the compass bears a resemblance to Bramante, while the seated figure with its head on its arm has the features of Michelangelo).

On the wall with the window overlooking the Cortile del Belvedere, note Mt. Parnassus, completed in 1511.

The chiaroscuro paintings on the socle that runs around the walls were executed to replace the wooden facing, by Perin del Vaga; the depictions of the Sciences and the Arts in the vault, on the other hand, were done by Raphael.

 

 

 

In the "Stanza dell'Incendio", (53)  completed during the papacy of Leo X, the frescoes on the walls were for the most part done by pupils, to cartoons and drawings by Raphael, in accordance with a program based on episodes concerning other popes named Leo: on the facing wall, the Fire in Borgo* which was put out by Leo IV making the sign of the cross; on the right wall, the Coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III; on the left wall, the Victory, of Leo IV over the Saracens; on the wall with the window, note the Oath of Leo III.  The paintings in the vault are by Perugino.

You can enter the Loggia di Raffaello (48), begun by Bramante and completed by Raphael (1512-18) who entrusted its direction to his pupils, including Giovanni da Udine, Giulio Romano, Polidoro da Caravaggio, and Perin del Vaga. Of the 13 bays, 12 are decorated with episodes from the Old Testament, the last one with scenes from the New Testament; set upon pilaster strips and pillars, on the other hand, is a minute decoration made up of grotesques, interweaving fantastic, naturalistic, and architectural motifs, as well as small mythological figures and festoons.

    

The appartamento Borgia (55-60) is set beyond the Cappella di Urbano VIII, which features frescoes by Pietro da Cortona and rough models by Antonio Canova, this apartment was splendidly frescoed by Pinturicchio and assistants, commissioned by Alexander VI Borgia, between 1492 and 1495 (note the remarkable wealth of decoration in hall V, known as the Sala dei Santi, which may be the artist's greatest work).

T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

his apartment contains part of the vast Collezione d'Arte Religiosa Moderna (61),    a collection of modern religious art, inaugurated by Pope Paul VI in 1973, and comprising a vast array of sculptures, paintings, and drawings (ca. 800), by Giacomo Manzu, Auguste Rodin, Henry Matisse, Felice Casorati, Giorgio Morandi, Emilio Greco, Carlo Carra, Marino Marini, Georges Rouault, Vasily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Umberto Boccioni, Giorgio De Chirico, Oskar Kokoschka, Ottone Rosai, Paul Klee, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Giuseppe Capogrossi, and Renato Guttuso, among others.

The Cappella Sistina (63),or Sistine Chapel was built at the behest of Sixtus IV between 1475 and 1481.

It is a rectangular room lit by six large windows on each long side, and covered by a depressed barrel-vault; the 15th-c. floor is made of polychrome marble; an elegant marble screen, by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno, and Giovanni Dalmata (they also designed and executed the balustrade of the choir chancel) divides the room into two parts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Between 1481 and 1483 Sixtus IV commissioned several of the best-known artists of the time — including Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli, Piero di Cosimo, Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Pinturicchio — to do the frescoes on the side walls and the walls facing the altar.

In 1506 Pope Julius II continued the project of decorating the chapel, assigning the task to Michelangelo who, between 1508 and 1512, frescoed the vault and, under the papacy of Paul III, the far wall.

Frescoes on the side walls and the walls facing the altar. In the lower area, there are fake draperies, upon which were applied the tapestries by Raphael, now in the picture gallery. In the central area, on the right, note the episodes of the life of Moses; in particular, note the second panel which depicts The Burning Bush, Moses Killing the Egyptian and Chases the Madyanites from the Fountain, The Daughters of Jethro, and a fifth panel, with The Punishment of Kore, Dathan, and Abiron, both by Sandro Botticelli; on the left, episodes from the life of Christ, and among them in particular note the second (Purification of the Leper and Temptation of Christ) by Domenico Ghirlandaio, and the fifth (Handing Over the Keys), one of Perugino's greatest masterpieces. In the upper area on the side facing the altar, between the windows, note 24 portraits of popes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frescoes of the vault. This enormous pictorial series, restored between 1981 and 1990, occupies the entire surface, in a remarkable fusion of architectural elements and plastic depictions, underscored by brilliant colors.  The immense composition is organized into three stacked registers: in the central area are nine stories from Genesis*, illustrating, from the panel of the altar: the separation of light from darkness, the creation of the stars, the separation of the waters, the magnificent Creation of Adam*, the creation of Eve, the original sin, the sacrifice of Noah, the universal deluge, and the drunk-enness of Noah; between the panels, in a marble structure, are depicted pairs of "ignudi", or nudes, bearing large medallions. The register below that contains the powerful figures of sibyls and prophets, enthroned. In the triangular gores at the corners of the vault in the lower register, other Bible stories are portrayed, while in the webs and the lunettes above the windows, note the ancestors of Christ.

Frescoes on the far wall (restored in 1993). Between 1536 and 1541, transcending the iconographic ideals and the perspectival relationships of Renaissance art, Michelangelo portrayed the magnificent and appalling Last Judgment*  as a vast scene in movement in a limitless space. Dominating it all is the majestic and implacable figure of Christ the Supreme Judge*, with, seated next to him, the Virgin Mary, and, all around them, saints, patriarchs, and martyrs crowding into Paradise; on the right the blessed souls ascend to heaven, and on the left damned souls are hurled down into Hell, where they are welcomed by Charon and Minos. At the bottom is depicted: on the left, the Resurrection of the Dead, at the center, the angels sounding the Last Trump, and, on high, in the spaces of the lunettes, angels with the symbols of the Passion (the figures, originally nude, were covered with bits of cloth in 1564 by Daniele da Volterra because Pope Pius IV judged them to be scandalous).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special permission is required in order to tour the Cappella Paolina (64),  by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger; this chapel contains the last frescoes painted by Michelangelo (Conversion of St. Paul  and Crucifixion of St. Peter). 

Sala delle Nozze Aldobrandine (67)  

Beyond the Sala degli Indirizzi di Pio IX, which contains religious artistic objects in ivory and metal, and a collection of Roman glass, this room takes its name from a splendid fresco*, probably dating from the reign of Augustus, and depicting the preparations for the wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxana, discovered in 1605 near the arch of Gallienus. The frescoes on the ceiling are by Guido Reni.

A single room, set directly after the Sala del Papiri, constitutes the Museo Sacro (65-67),    founded by Benedict XIV to contain precious Christian antiquities (note the Byzantine mosaic with St Theodore, dating from the mid-14th c.).

The Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (65-74)  was stablished by Sixtus IV in 1475 (already, however, Pope Nicholas V had selected the site, on the ground floor of his own palazzo), this library has accumulated manuscripts and printed texts over time.

It now possesses 75,000 manuscript volumes and 70,000 archive volumes, more than 100,000 separate hand-written texts, and about 800,000 printed volumes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rooms that make up the long gallery are: the Galleria di Urbano VIII (the planispheres date from 1529); the Sale Sistine; the Biblioteca di Sisto V (small gallery), in which the largest and the smallest codex from the library are on display; periodically materials of the institution are put on exhibition; the splendid Salone Sistino* (70),  by Domenico Fontana in 1587-89, lavishly decorated under the supervision of Giovanni Guerra and Cesare Nebbia.

From the Albani and Carpegna collections, and, in part, from excavations done between 1809 and 1815, come the materials from Etruscan. Roman, and medieval times found in the Museo Profano (74). 

  

This remarkable collection of paintings   that is the PINACOTECA VATICANA (5) was inaugurated by Pius VI in 1816, after Antonio Canova had recovered 77 works of art that had been given to France with the treaty of Tolentino.

 

It was later expanded with specimens of various origin.

 

 

Beyond the vestibule and hall I (Sala del Primitivi; note the St. Francis of Assisi  signed by Margaritone d'Arezzo), hall II features work by Giotto and his followers: at the center, note the Stefaneschi polyptych,  painted in Rome by Giotto and his assistants, and intended for the Basilica di S. Pietro; on the walls, note works by Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini, Gentile da Fabriano,  and Sassetta. 

In hall III, you can admire works by Filippo Lippi,  Benozzo Gozzoli  and Fra Angelico,  in hall IV, note two masterpieces by Melozzo da Forli:  the fragments of the fresco depicting the Ascension* and a large fresco of Sixtus IV Appointing the Prefect of the Biblioteca Vaticana* (1477).  Next come: hall V, with the Miracles of St. Vincent Ferrer by Ercole de Roberti,   and the Pieta by Lucas Cranach the Elder Vecchio;  hall VI, dedicated to polyptychs (note the Pieta'  by Carlo Crivelli); and hall VII, devoted to the 15th-c. Umbrian school.

Hall VIII is one of the most sumptuous and interesting in the picture gallery;  in it, aside from the 10 tapestries commissioned from Raphael by Pope Leo X for the Cappella Sistina, or Sistine Chapel (1515-16), are: the Transfiguration,   assigned to Raphael in 1517 but completed by Giulio Romano and Giovanni Francesco Penni, the splendid Madonna di Foligno,  painted by Raphael between 1512 and 1513, and the Coronation of the Virgin Mary,  the first large composition by Raphael (1503).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After you Cross hall IX, note the St. Jerome by Leonardo da Vinci (ca. 1480),   you enter halls X and XI, which contain artworks from the 16th c.: note the magnificent Madonna dei Frari (1528)  and the portrait of the doge Nicolo Marcello by Titian, the Sacrifice of Isaac, attributed to Ludovico Carracci,  and the Annunciation, signed by the Cavalier d'Arpino (1606). Of special interest, in the hall XII, is the Deposition* by Caravaggio (1602-1604),  the Communion of St. Jerome by Domenichino  (signature; 1614) and the Crucifixion of St. Peter by Guido Reni. 

The 17th and 18th c. are represented in halls XIII (note the St Francis Saverio by Antonie Van Dyck and the David and Goliath by Pietro da Cortona),  XIV, and XV, which feature works by Carlo Maratta  and Sebastiano Conca,  as well as portraits.

Halls XVI, XVII, and XVIII conserved models by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and specimens of Byzantine, Greek, and Russian religious art.      

The "MUSEO GREGORIANO PROFANO (4) was established by Gregory XVI in 1844 in the Palazzo Lateranense, while the transfer to the current site dates from 1970.

 

The rich series of pagan epigraphs became part of the collection at the end of the 19th c., while the Greek and Roman artifacts come from excavations done in the papal state.

Of the four sections into which the museum is split up, the first is dedicated to Greek originals, represented here by the Stele del Palestrita*,  an Attic relief dating from the middle of the 5th c. B.C., by fragments of sculptures from the Parthenon and by a head of Athena*, in the style of Magna Graecia (mid-5th c. B.C.).

The second section concentrates on Roman copies and variations on Greek originals: one important example is the Niobide Chiaramonti,  probably derived from a group done by Skopas or Praxiteles.

The Tomb of Vicovaro dates back to about A.D. 30/40.

A relief with personifications of the Etruscan cities of Tarquinia, Vulci, and Vetulonia documents, in the third section, Roman sculpture of the 1st and 2nd c., which has two other noteworthy instances in the relief of the altar, or Ara dei Vicomagistri*  (ca. A.D. 30-40) and in the 39 fragments* of the tomb of the Haterii. 

The fourth section is devoted to sarcophagi; and the fifth is dedicated to Roman sculpture of the 2nd and 3rd c.; note in particular the torso of a loricate statue, possibly of Trajan or Hadrian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "MUSEO PIO CRISTIANO" (4) was founded by Pope Pius IX in the Palazzo Lateranense to contain the material found in catacombs and in the earliest churches of Rome.

 

It was transferred to its present location in 1963, and it preserves architectural and sculptural elements (note the fragment of the inscription of the Cippus of Abercio dating from the reign of Marcus Aurelius) as well as mosaics; the adjoining section of inscriptions can be toured by requesting permission in the head museum office (Direzione).

   

The MUSEO MISSIONARIO ETNOLOGICO (4) has Objects of the applied arts and documents concerning non-European civilizations come in part from the Missionary Exhibition assembled in the Jubilee Year of 1925 (the institution was founded in 1926 in the Palazzo Lateranense), to which the donations of congregations and private individuals have been added over the years.

 

The MUSEO STORICO VATICANO  is a detached section located in the Palazzo Lateranense;  it comprises a collection of the various means of transport used by the popes over the centuries.