Artworks List

Discover the complete collection of artworks at the Vatican Museums. Use our filters to explore by artist, collection, period, or artwork type. From Renaissance masterpieces to ancient sculptures, find the artworks that inspire you.

#1

The Creation of Adam (Sistine Ceiling)

Michelangelo Buonarroti 1508–1512 Fresco Renaissance Sistine Chapel

God and Adam reach across a breath of air; Michelangelo freezes creation the instant before touch—human potential poised to spark on the Sistine ceiling.

Defines Renaissance view of the body and dignity.

#2

Laocoön and His Sons

Agesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus of Rhodes 40–20 BCE Marble statue group Classical Pio-Clementino Museum

A Trojan priest and his two sons writhe as sea serpents strike—ancient marble that turns pain and warning into high drama.

Touchstone of Hellenistic drama and anatomy.

#3

The School of Athens

Raphael 1509–1511 Fresco Renaissance Raphael's Rooms

Raphael gathers the minds of antiquity under one painted roof—Plato and Aristotle stride at center; philosophy becomes a grand stage.

Defines Renaissance humanism in a single image.

#4

The Last Judgment

Michelangelo Buonarroti 1536–1541 Fresco Renaissance Sistine Chapel

A vortex of bodies whirls around a stern Christ; Michelangelo turns the final reckoning into raw anatomy, terror, and hope across the Sistine Chapel's altar wall.

Defines Counter-Reformation scale and power.

#5

Apollo Belvedere

Leochares 120–140 Marble statue Classical Pio-Clementino Museum

A god at ease after the shot—balanced, weightless, and ideal. This Roman marble taught generations what 'classical' beauty meant.

Benchmark of classical male beauty.

#6

The Transfiguration

Raphael 1516–1520 Oil on wood panel Renaissance Pinacoteca Vaticana

Two scenes, one canvas: Christ blazes on the mount while, below, the apostles struggle to heal a boy. Raphael's final masterpiece unites vision and need.

Raphael's last and most complex altarpiece.

#7

St. Jerome in the Wilderness

Leonardo da Vinci 1480–1482 Oil on wood panel (unfinished) Renaissance Pinacoteca Vaticana

A gaunt Jerome kneels among knife-cut rocks, striking his chest with a stone; Leonardo leaves the panel raw, so thought and underdrawing show through.

Rare devotional panel by Leonardo.

#8

The Deposition (Entombment of Christ)

Caravaggio 1603–1604 Oil on canvas Baroque Pinacoteca Vaticana

Caravaggio lowers Christ onto a marble slab that seems to jut into our space. Grief and weight meet harsh light; hands strain, cloth slips, bodies lean. The diagonal unites altar and tomb, turning devotion into drama and bringing the sacred painfully close.

Defines Baroque naturalism and chiaroscuro.

#9

The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament

Raphael 1509–1510 Fresco Renaissance Raphael's Rooms

Heaven and earth gather around the Eucharist. Below, saints and scholars face a radiant monstrance; above, the Trinity crowns a golden arc. Raphael turns theology into a shared vision in light and order.

Cornerstone of Raphael's Segnatura program.

#10

The Libyan Sibyl

Michelangelo Buonarroti 1508–1512 Fresco Renaissance Sistine Chapel

Turning to lift a massive book, the Libyan Sibyl shows Michelangelo's favorite paradox: a female prophet built on a male model, muscles alive under orange and turquoise drapery.

Supreme study of turning anatomy.

#11

The Delphic Sibyl

Michelangelo Buonarroti 1508–1512 Fresco Renaissance Sistine Chapel

A young prophet turns to listen, lips parted as her turban flickers in an invisible breeze. Michelangelo makes attention physical—poise, color, and stone-strong muscle held at the instant before speech.

Exemplar of turning, balanced anatomy.

#12

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (tapestry)

Raphael 1515–1516 Wool and silk tapestry Renaissance Gallery of Tapestries

Christ guides Peter's catch as nets surge with fish. Raphael's design, woven in Brussels, turns wind, water, and faith into shimmering thread for papal display.

Carried Raphael's language across Europe in tapestry.

#13

Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus

Nicolas Poussin 1628–1629 Oil on canvas Baroque Pinacoteca Vaticana

Under calm architecture, horror turns by a wheel: executioners crank a capstan as the saint endures. Poussin's order and reason frame raw suffering.

Anchors Poussin's Roman classicism.

#14

Madonna of Foligno

Raphael 1511–1512 Oil on canvas (transferred from wood) Renaissance Pinacoteca Vaticana

The Virgin and Child hover in cloud while below a kneeling donor gives thanks—a fiery globe strikes a distant town. Raphael turns a private vow into serene public devotion.

High Renaissance model of the sacra conversazione.

#15

The Temptation of Christ

Sandro Botticelli 1481–1482 Fresco Renaissance Sistine Chapel

Three trials in one fresco: the devil tempts Christ in wilderness, on the Temple, and atop a mountain, while below a healed leper offers thanks. Botticelli turns doctrine into clear, graceful theater.

Cornerstone of the pre-Michelangelo Sistine cycle.

#16

Giant Porphyry Basin from Nero's Domus Aurea

Ancient Roman sculptor 60–68 Red porphyry marble basin Classical Pio-Clementino Museum

A single block of imperial porphyry—deep purple with pale crystals—carved into a vast basin. Once a luxury of emperors, it now anchors the Pantheon-like Round Room.

Imperial porphyry as raw power made object.

#17

Statue of Augustus of Prima Porta

Ancient Roman sculptor 20–1 BCE Marble statue Classical New Wing (Braccio Nuovo)

Augustus strides to address his troops; the cuirass proclaims a bloodless victory, while a tiny Cupid on a dolphin nods to Venus and sea power. Politics, lineage, and poise in one image.

Blueprint for Roman imperial portraiture.

#18

Sphere within Sphere (Sfera con Sfera)

Arnaldo Pomodoro 1990 Bronze kinetic sculpture Modern General/Courtyards

A perfect globe splits to reveal a fractured inner world of teeth and gears. Pomodoro's bronze reflects sky and visitors, hinting at systems—cosmic and human—under stress.

Modern landmark bridging antiquity and now.

#19

Resurrection of Christ (Sala Sobieski Tapestry)

Roman weavers (17th century, after Rubens) 1680–1690 Wool and silk tapestry Baroque Gallery of Tapestries

Christ surges from the tomb with a banner as soldiers reel. Rubens's explosive diagonal becomes sheen and texture in silk and wool for papal display.

Baroque energy transformed by tapestry weaving.

#20

Madonna and Child in Glory with Saints

Titian 1520–1530 Oil on canvas Renaissance Pinacoteca Vaticana

The Virgin and Child rise in warm Venetian light while saints gather below. Titian binds heaven and earth with color, glance, and a hush that feels like breath.

Venetian colorito at full maturity.

#21

The Punishment of Korah (Rebellion of Korah)

Sandro Botticelli 1481–1482 Fresco Renaissance Sistine Chapel

Botticelli compresses Numbers 16 into one clear stage: rebels challenge the priesthood; the earth opens to swallow them; incense rises before the sanctuary. Architecture in Roman style underlines a quiet lesson—authority, rightly held, protects the people.

Key panel in the pre-Michelangelo Sistine cycle.

#22

Last Judgement

Nicolaus and Johannes 1400–1410 Tempera on wood panel Renaissance Pinacoteca Vaticana

A gold ground blazes as Christ in a mandorla returns to judge. Angels sound trumpets; Michael weighs souls; the blessed rise while the damned fall. Late medieval clarity meets awe.

Model of late medieval Last Judgement iconography.

#23

Stefaneschi Triptych

Giotto di Bondone 1320–1330 Tempera on wood panel (triptych) Middle Ages Pinacoteca Vaticana

A double-sided altar for Old St Peter's: Saint Peter enthroned receives a kneeling donor; on the reverse, the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul. Giotto turns doctrine into weight, space, and human presence.

Giotto's solidity anchors early Trecento altarpieces.

#24

Angel Playing the Lute

Melozzo da Forlì 1480–1490 Fresco transferred to canvas Renaissance Pinacoteca Vaticana

A foreshortened angel tilts into space, curls catching light as fingers hover over strings. Melozzo's airy perspective makes music visible and weightless.

Early masterclass in upward foreshortening.

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