The Vatican Museums grew from a papal collection of classical sculpture into an extensive complex of galleries and historic rooms. Their route connects art gathered over centuries with the spaces in which popes lived, prayed, and presented cultural authority.
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The Vatican Museums did not begin as a single building planned to hold everything you see today. Their first nucleus dates to 1506, when Pope Julius II placed recently rediscovered classical sculptures in the Belvedere courtyard.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The Vatican Museums trace their first collection nucleus to 1506.
- Pope Julius II displayed ancient sculptures in the Belvedere courtyard.
- The museums’ collections include art, archaeology, and ethnology from different periods.
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