While
many people know of the Vatican (also
known as Vatican City), and they know
that it contains enough art to be a museum,
they usually don’t know of the Musei
Vaticani… the Vatican Museums. Featuring
one of the world’s largest collections
of priceless artefacts, the Vatican Museums
display works from the extensive collection
of the Roman Catholic Church. The 1500s
saw the birth of one of the world’s
great cultural depositories, and it is
not a place to be missed if visiting Rome.
Starting out their life as a collection
of sculptures collected by Pope Julius
II, the collection grew and grew until
(like the Musei Capitolini) they needed
a home all to themselves. Popes that followed
Pope Julius II opened the art collections
of their palaces to the public, thus promoting
knowledge of art, history, and culture.
These include Pope Clement XIV, Pope Pius
VI, and Pope Gregory XVI.
As
the building grew and grew it became a
multiplicity of buildings, and contained
a lot more than sculptures. Inside there
are things like paintings, classical antiques,
tapestries, frescos, and a complex Epigraphic
Collection. By the 1800s the building
began to include works from other countries,
including France and Egypt. There are
also 137 inscriptions from ancient Hebrew
cemeteries.
As the 20th century began the works continued
to accumulate, including the Collection
of Modern and Contemporary Religious Art,
which was added and inaugurated by Pope
Paul VI in 1973. To this very day works
continue to be accumulated and preserved
by this organization, which has begun
to but a modern face on an ancient institution.
One can only guess how long this will
continue, but it is easy to imagine that
the growth of such a magnificent cultural
edifice is anything but permanent.
Vatican
Museum Travel Links |
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