Vatican Museums

The Vatican Pinacoteca (“Art Gallery”) was founded by Pope Pius VI in 1797 and has been housed in its present space (commissioned by Pope Pius XI) since 1932. With 460 paintings distributed throughout the gallery’s eighteen rooms, the Vatican Pinacoteca has one of the most extensive art collections in Rome. Art works run from the so-called Primitive Era (12th-13th centuries) to the 19th century and include masterpieces from Caravaggio, Crespi, Giotto, da Vinci, Raphael, Tiziano and Veronese.

Founded in the 18th century by Pope Clement XIV and later enlarged by Pope Pius VI, the Pio-Clementino Museum was originally built to house Roman antiquities. Notable works include the Apollo Belvedere, Laocoon, and the Belvedere Torso, all of which influenced Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel.