We could use all of the time we have to discuss the Vatican Museums just listing the vast number of galleries and museums that make up this big collection of art showcases. And if we tried to list the number of artists and great works of art you can find in the Vatican Museums, it would fill a book! In fact, there are such books in the Vatican library that catalog every work this important collection owns and when and where they are on display.
The vast Vatican Museums grew from one purchase of a sculpture of Laocoon and his sons as they did battle with a sea serpent, brought by Pope Julius II in 1506. From that simple purchase the Vatican Museums has swelled to dozens of galleries and literally thousands of artworks available for your viewing.
One of the many Museums in the Vatican community of art is the Etruscan Museum that was established in 1837. Despite the older date to us, this collection is one of the youngest in the Vatican family and holds many ancient works that were excavated in southern Etruria and surrounding vicinities and brought to Rome to be on display. The artwork of Etruria resembles the ancient mosaics and historic sarcophagi of Egypt that were collected at the height of the Roman Empire.
Another fascinating collection is the Gallery of Tapestries which - as the title implies - is a museum devoted entirely to woven wall hangings from the 15th through 17th centuries. These richly colored tapestries were first shown in 1814 and they are such great works of art that they would be sought after by any major museum or collector in the world.
Just as unique in the family of art collections in the Vatican Museums is the Gallery of Maps which earned that name for the works painted directly on the walls of the building. There you can find 40 diverse panels that depict different regions of the planet and which all go together to make a complete map of the world for its time period. Before navigators had access to GPS devices or satellite technology, these kinds of maps were life or death to an explorer finding his way and the Church depended on them to guide the explorers that were sent out to discover the world.
There is no doubt that the Raphael Rooms stand out as an outstanding part of the Vatican Museums collection. The rooms are arranged into four separate enclosures that are connected and each of which displays the wide diversity of works by Raphael. It is interesting that the rooms are not named for Raphael's art work but for the efforts Raphael contributed to decorate the rooms themselves when the rooms were built between 1447 and 1455.
It is easy to know what is inside the Vatican Picture Gallery part of the collection. But it is worth your time to stop by this simply named collection to see classic art by such masters as Poussin, Giotto, Van Dyck and Perugino.
You might blush for no reason if you want to visit the Gregorian Museum of Profane Art. But in context, "profane" means that the artwork you will find here is of a secular (or non-sacred) nature. This gallery is quite new to the Vatican Museums, having opened in 1970 to display Roman art work from the Imperial and Republican eras, including statues and sarcophagi to name just a few of the things you will find in this gallery.
The Carriage Pavilion is another gallery that is aptly named. This is another part of the Vatican Museums that was opened recently, in 1973, and it is available to the public under the Square Garden. The items you will see here are mostly the carriages that Popes have used for transportation over the centuries. However there are other items related to the theme including harnesses and horse care supplies, pictures of Popes in transport, documentation and other items of this nature.
But there is no question that the crowning moment of any visit to the Vatican Museums will be the time you spend in the world renowned Sistine Chapel, to take in the huge masterpiece that Michelangelo painted on the Chapel ceiling. As you gaze up you will know this is a moment you will remember for life. But don't miss out on Michelangelo's Last Judgment, which he came back and added to the chapel 20 years later.
That famous ceiling painting will fascinate you as it has thousands before. The nine panels of the painting show various biblical characters including various nude men, Sibyls and Noah himself. But it is that depiction of Jehovah reaching out to give life to man with a touch of his finger to Adam's that is the best known image of this masterpiece. The famous author Goethe said of the Sistine Chapel artwork:
"Without having seen the Sistine Chapel, one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving."
That poetic sentiment is a good way of summarizing the amazing art work that you will find in every building when you take the time to explore the Vatican Museums.
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