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.

It was 1506 when Pope Julius II started the museum with a humble acquisition of the sculpture of Laocoon and his sons, as they fight off the grips of an aggressive sea serpent. From that simple start, the Vatican Museums now consists of literally dozens of galleries that can boast holdings of outstanding artwork in the thousands.

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 wonderful collection is the Gallery of Tapestries which consists of wall hangings from the fifteenth century forward to the seventeenth century. The first time these weaves were put on display was in 1814 and their artistry is so exquisite that any great museum in the world would welcome them to their collections.

The variety of the Vatican Museums continues at the Gallery of Maps. Painted directly on the gallery walls are 40 panels representing regions of the world in map form. These maps are both very artistic and fascinating as well. It’s interesting to reflect that these kinds of location tools came before GPS and other modern toys we use and they were the only means the explorers that ventured out from Italy found many of the lands of the new 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 doesn’t take much guessing to know what is in the Vatican Picture Gallery. But it is definitely worth a visit to see great art by some of the great masters of history including Van Dyck, Perugino, Poussin and Giotto.

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.

But there is no question that it is that amazing ceiling painting that will be the most memorable part of your visit. The nine panels of the display show many personalities from the Bible including Sibyls, some random male nudes and Noah. But the image that has made this painting internationally known is of Jehovah reaching out to give life to Adam by the touch of his finger. The great philosopher Goethe once wrote about this painting:

“Without having seen the Sistine Chapel, one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.”

Goethe’s words could easily to applied to hundreds of other outstanding art works by hundreds of master artists whose work is on display in the many buildings of the Vatican Museums.

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