Vatican Museums Collections

Explore the diverse collections of the Vatican Museums, from ancient sculptures to Renaissance masterpieces. Each collection represents a unique chapter in art history and human creativity.

Apostolic Palace

1 Artwork 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

The papal residence and historic heart of the Vatican Museums route, uniting chapels, state rooms, and galleries.

Borgia Apartment

6 Artworks 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

A suite of six rooms in the Apostolic Palace decorated (1492–1494) for Pope Alexander VI by Pinturicchio and his workshop.

Carriage Pavilion

2 Artworks 2 Artists 1 Art Type 1 Period

Showcase of papal transport, from gilded state coaches and sedan chairs to 20th-century automobiles.

Chiaramonti Museum

11 Artworks 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

A long, light-filled gallery founded by Pius VII and arranged with Antonio Canova: rows of Roman portrait busts, deities, reliefs, and inscriptions set in rhythmic bays.

Christian Museum

4 Artworks 3 Artists 4 Art Types 2 Periods

Core gallery for early Christian Rome (3rd–6th c.), bringing together sarcophagi, inscriptions, and rare gold-glass medallions.

Ethnological Museum

12 Artworks 2 Artists 8 Art Types 5 Periods

A global survey of sacred and everyday art from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania—much of it presented as gifts to the popes.

Gallery of Tapestries

6 Artworks 2 Artists 1 Art Type 2 Periods

A vaulted corridor lined with monumental Flemish weavings after Raphael’s cartoons and later Baroque sets.

General/Courtyards

18 Artworks 14 Artists 7 Art Types 5 Periods

Open-air courtyards that link the museum route—most notably the Cortile della Pigna and the Pinacoteca Courtyard—used for sculpture displays, rest points, and sweeping views toward the Belvedere.

Gregorian Egyptian Museum

14 Artworks 3 Artists 7 Art Types 4 Periods

Pharaonic and Late Antique Egypt in nine rooms: granite gods, royal statues, sarcophagi and mummies, reliefs and stelae, and daily-life objects.

Gregorian Etruscan Museum

14 Artworks 6 Artists 5 Art Types 1 Period

Founded by Gregory XVI in 1837, this museum traces Etruscan art from Villanovan urns to Hellenistic bronzes.

Gregoriano Profano Museum

7 Artworks 3 Artists 3 Art Types 1 Period

The Vatican’s branch for classical ‘profane’ antiquities, reorganized in 1970 from the Lateran collections.

Lapidary Gallery

2 Artworks 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

A long corridor of Roman and Greek inscriptions—epitaphs, milestones, decrees—mounted like a stone archive.

Modern Art Collection

20 Artworks 20 Artists 7 Art Types 1 Period

The Vatican’s 20th-century and contemporary holdings, gathered chiefly since the 1970s, place modern masters—Matisse, Chagall, Dalí, Bacon, Rodin—in dialogue with faith.

New Wing (Braccio Nuovo)

5 Artworks 2 Artists 2 Art Types 2 Periods

A 19th-century gallery (1817–22) created to display ancient Roman masterpieces.

Niccoline Chapel

3 Artworks 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

An intimate papal chapel frescoed by Fra Angelico (c.1448–50), celebrating Saints Stephen and Lawrence.

Pinacoteca Vaticana

30 Artworks 21 Artists 3 Art Types 4 Periods

The Vatican’s painting gallery, arranged chronologically from medieval panels to the 20th century.

Pio-Clementino Museum

21 Artworks 8 Artists 5 Art Types 3 Periods

The 18th-century heart of the sculpture collections, staged in grand neoclassical halls.

Pius-Christian Museum

10 Artworks 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

Dedicated to Early Christian art from Rome’s catacombs and basilicas.

Raphael's Rooms

10 Artworks 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

Papal apartments painted by Raphael and his workshop for Julius II and Leo X.

Room of the Aldobrandini Wedding

2 Artworks 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

An intimate gallery for ancient Roman wall painting, centered on the renowned ‘Aldobrandini Wedding’ fresco and related fragments.

Sistine Chapel

15 Artworks 2 Artists 1 Art Type 1 Period

Michelangelo’s ceiling cycles—from the Creation of Adam to the Prophets and Sibyls—and his thunderous Last Judgment make this the Vatican’s most storied space.

Vatican Historical Museum

1 Artwork 1 Artist 1 Art Type 1 Period

Housed in the Lateran Apostolic Palace, this museum traces the Papacy’s political and ceremonial life—from portraits and regalia to uniforms and state gifts.

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