My little 4.5 mile walk among some of the greatest art in the world

Some needed context:

The Vatican Museums’ collections are now over 70,000 pieces, but less than one-third are on display at any given time.

Many are world heritage pieces from the greatest artists in Western civilization, like Raphael and Titian.

The museums have over 9 miles of viewing corridors, which at one minute per painting – would take 4 years to see them all.

6.8 million people visited the museums last year, which made them the 3rd most visited museum complex in the world.

They contain some of the world’s greatest masterpieces in sculpture, fresco, painting, tapestry, mapping, vases, furniture, bronzes – and even sarcophagi, collected by numerous popes over 6 centuries.

The most popular exhibits are still Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael and his team, which are included with your museum visitor ticket.

It’s a real help buying your €29.70 tickets for the museums online with fast track access if you can. But, admission is still only €21 including ‘skip the line’ if you buy the ticket at their office on the same day.

Gallery of the Statues

It is the foundation of the original museums surrounding the Belvedere Courtyard and houses some of the world’s great works of Greek and Roman sculpture dating back to 200 BC, including the Sleeping Ariadne.

There are 9 museums filled with classical busts and sculptures, plus other pieces like mummies and stone tablets. Some of these pieces inspired Michelangelo.

Historic Full-size Tapestry Gallery

Tapestry was incredibly labor intensive and required expensive materials during earlier centuries. It ranked above painting in the hierarchy of arts of the day and this hall displays famous tapestries that may be considered some of the most ancient in existence.

The ones on the right of the hall were created in Rome in the 17th century for Pope Urban VIII to depict scenes from his life. It’s only good fortune that they survive. Having originally hung in the Sistine Chapel, the tapestries have been stolen twice during attacks on Rome since. Battered but not destroyed, they returned to their new home in 1808 … where they have hung ever since.

But the most valuable and profound pieces are on the left hand side. Leo X commissioned drawings from Raphael in 1515 to serve as patterns for his tapestries, with scenes from the lives of Saints Peter and Paul.

Raphael’s tapestries depict the infant years of Jesus and the events after his crucifixion, and they were created in a Brussels workshop based on those original drawings by Raphael through the 1500s.

Tapestries, by their nature, are not only very expensive, but quite difficult to maintain in good condition. They are very sensitive to dust, light, and insect damage, which is why the Vatican has one of the best tapestry restoration laboratories in the world. They deserve a lot of credit for maintaining these woven historical artifacts.

Hall of Fresco Maps

The Gallery of Maps contains the largest collection of geographical frescoes ever created. These wall-sized maps depict only Italian provinces, and were commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII in 1580 as part of his Papal legacy.

The 40 panel gallery was created against the backdrop of Europe’s Protestant Reformation, a major revolt against the ever-increasing concentration of political and ecclesiastical power in Rome.

Gregory was desperately trying to describe, in cartographic detail, just how the Catholic Church had pulled the whole known world together through spiritual unity, with the Pope at its head. It had a touch of propaganda about it.

Not only do these maps have an insurmountable artistic value, they are also a reminder of the efforts to limit intellectual freedoms that were coming to an end during the 16th century.

Michelangelo’s Last Judgment

The Last Judgment is a large fresco on the sanctuary wall, depicting the Second Coming of Christ (a future return of Jesus to earth) and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity.

Jesus is shown in the center of the painting and is surrounded by prominent saints; while the Resurrection of the Dead and the Descent of the Damned into Hell is shown in the zone below.

Michelangelo painted this enormous fresco over the course of four years between 1536 and 1541. Because he had become much more devout as he’d gotten older, and had a lot of inner conflict about his younger, more pagan days, the painting has a considerably darker feeling about it than the ceiling panels.

And, if you look closely at the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew, just below Jesus and to our right, you can see that is Michelangelo’s face. It was his way of atoning after all the suffering during the Sack of Rome in 1527.

It shows the progress of Michelangelo’s humanism, with much more drama and raw human emotion than many of his previous paintings. And it is certainly one of the most influential fresco works in the history of western art. For my money, this painting is one of the Vatican Museums’ ‘must see exhibits’ – like the rest of the Chapel.

School of Athens by Raphael

Raphael’s use of the Renaissance color palette, and mix of ancient and contemporary Roman architectural elements creates a unity in the painting. Plus, the blending of earthly and godly elements, make this painting into one of the great art masterpieces. But it’s notable also for the detail of each figure.

What Raphael did here added some fun to the serious work:

He put the faces of his heroes in there: Plato, in the center talking to Aristotle, has Leonardo Da Vinci’s face. Another Renaissance master, Donato Bramante, who designed the Belvedere Courtyard and was the first to design the dome for St. Peter’s Basilica, appears on Euclid‘s body as he draws on a chalkboard.

And, while Raphael was painting this extraordinary masterpiece, he popped into the Sistine Chapel and saw what Michelangelo was doing with his own masterpiece – and put Michelangelo down front and center within The School of Athens, as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus in high boots sitting on the marble steps resting his head on his arm.

Raphael himself is also there – in the bottom right corner, looking out at us.

Raphael’s Master Work

The ‘Transfiguration’ relates directly to the stories in the Gospel of Matthew, and depicts the dual human and divine nature of Jesus.

The top half is painted in light colors and shows an illuminated Jesus flanked by the prophets Elijah and Moses. He seems to be the only serene one in the painting, while everyone else is in turmoil.

The bottom half is dark, because it’s an earthly painting with a human, dark scene filled with desperate people. We can even see an emphasized boy who is apparently suffering with epilepsy on the right side of the group with his anguished parents.

The apostles above are shown with a look of wonder on their faces, as they realize that Jesus not only lives on, but that faith can cure the sick boy.

Sistine Chapel

Anyone who has ever seen it thinks the most impressive part of the Sistine Chapel is the Michelangelo frescoes on the ceiling. And they are . .

But noteworthy also are the enormous tapestries that cover the side walls. The effect is overwhelming when you turn the corner into the room.

Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the entire ceiling – a structure that is roughly 132 feet long and 44 wide. Filling an expanse of nearly 6,000 square feet with frescoes would have daunted even the most experienced of painters. But Michelangelo and his studio persisted for 4 full years to complete it.

The most famous painting in this series, perhaps one of the most iconic images in the world, is the Creation of Adam.

The Creation of Adam is viewed as a cornerstone of Renaissance art and it is still the most famous fresco panel on the chapel’s ceiling. The popularity of the painting is second only to the Mona Lisa; and along with The Last Supper by Da Vinci, it is the most replicated religious painting of all time

If you visit the museums on your own, you will not be allowed to take the shortcut after the Sistine Chapel into Saint Peter’s Basilica from here. Instead you just use the main exit from the Chapel that takes you down the very famous Bramante Staircase to the street outside, near the entrance of the museums where you started.

Finally, a cerebral exit

So, after straining your neck in the Sistine Chapel, you will have to refocus on your feet and use the famous double-helix Bramante_Staircase on your way out.

If you plan on visiting the Vatican museums with a tour, you won’t use this exit, but exit after the Sistine Chapel directly into St. Peter’s Basilica.

And bang, you’re outside

Now – share your visit . .

Vatican City has its own postal service and its own stamps. So, use it for cheap. Sending a card to a loved one that’s postmarked from the Vatican is a must since you’re visiting. Their stamps also make a great souvenir to take home for your collector brother-in-law too . .

But, remember:

~You can only post postcards directly from their post offices, or the yellow Vatican post boxes.

~They must also carry a Vatican stamp.

~There are two Post Offices in the Vatican Museums, both located near the entrance.

 So, end your trip in style, send a postcard to put a smile on someone’s face.

OK, maybe yourself too.

Maybe even include that you now have all the inside info from your ultimate visit to the Vatican.

Sources: WikiPedia, stock pictures, my pictures, WikiArt, Vatican Museums,