Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
This time I will make a guided tour of the Vatican Museums, one of the largest collection of art in the world, since it exposes the enormous collection of masterpieces accumulated over the centuries by the Popes.
Some numbers to get an idea of what to expect... Each year the Vatican Museums are visited by almost 4 million and a half visitors. It is estimated that the total lenght of the Vatican Museums is 7 km: it is therefore virtually impossible to see everything in one visit.
Our journey then is a selection that will lead us to admire some of the most famous masterpieces housed at the Museum, plus some lesser known but surprising works of art.
We start from the courtyard of the Pigna, then we visit the Cabinet of Apoxyomenos and the Octagonal Courtyard, with the first historic nucleus of the Museum, made by Pope Julius II and ideal birthplace of the Renaissance. This courtyard contains famous sculptures such as the Apollo and Hermes of Belvedere, the Venus Felix, the Laocoon.
Then the Hall of the Muses, where we can admire the magnificent Belvedere Torso and a beautiful bust of Pericles.
A quick look at the Hall of Animals, dwelling in particular on a beautiful sculpture of Mithra killing the primeval bull.
Then we enter the room Octagonal, made in imitation of the rotunda of the Pantheon and containing, among others, a very rare bronze sculpture of Hercules, which once decorated the theater of Pompey, Julius Caesar's rival.
We will enter the room to the Greek Cross, with the two magnificent porphyry sarcophagi of S. Helen and Constance, respectively the mother and the daughter of Constantine.
A quick glance at the Gallery of the Candelabra, with interesting sculptures dating back to the Hellenistic period, then we definitely change genres and periods, first in the Gallery of the Tapestries and then in the Gallery of Maps.
The Sobieski Room and the Room of the Immaculate Inception tell us that we are about to enter a place that holds masterpieces: the Raphael Rooms.
At the end of this tour, we will enter the Sistine Chapel, where we will remain breathless in admiration, upturned nose and watching the ceiling and the Last Judgement by Michelangelo, as well as other works by the fifteenth century.
If we still have residual strenght, finally, we take a quick look inside St. Peter's Basilica to admire other masterpieces.
Some numbers to get an idea of what to expect... Each year the Vatican Museums are visited by almost 4 million and a half visitors. It is estimated that the total lenght of the Vatican Museums is 7 km: it is therefore virtually impossible to see everything in one visit.
Our journey then is a selection that will lead us to admire some of the most famous masterpieces housed at the Museum, plus some lesser known but surprising works of art.
We start from the courtyard of the Pigna, then we visit the Cabinet of Apoxyomenos and the Octagonal Courtyard, with the first historic nucleus of the Museum, made by Pope Julius II and ideal birthplace of the Renaissance. This courtyard contains famous sculptures such as the Apollo and Hermes of Belvedere, the Venus Felix, the Laocoon.
Then the Hall of the Muses, where we can admire the magnificent Belvedere Torso and a beautiful bust of Pericles.
A quick look at the Hall of Animals, dwelling in particular on a beautiful sculpture of Mithra killing the primeval bull.
Then we enter the room Octagonal, made in imitation of the rotunda of the Pantheon and containing, among others, a very rare bronze sculpture of Hercules, which once decorated the theater of Pompey, Julius Caesar's rival.
We will enter the room to the Greek Cross, with the two magnificent porphyry sarcophagi of S. Helen and Constance, respectively the mother and the daughter of Constantine.
A quick glance at the Gallery of the Candelabra, with interesting sculptures dating back to the Hellenistic period, then we definitely change genres and periods, first in the Gallery of the Tapestries and then in the Gallery of Maps.
The Sobieski Room and the Room of the Immaculate Inception tell us that we are about to enter a place that holds masterpieces: the Raphael Rooms.
At the end of this tour, we will enter the Sistine Chapel, where we will remain breathless in admiration, upturned nose and watching the ceiling and the Last Judgement by Michelangelo, as well as other works by the fifteenth century.
If we still have residual strenght, finally, we take a quick look inside St. Peter's Basilica to admire other masterpieces.
Details
3 hours
museum
entrance ticket not included
reservation is absolutely recommended in order to skip the line
