Art Talk: Vatican Museum

It is December and this is the last in my 2023 series on Museums.

I am ending with the amazing Vatican Museum in Rome, Italy. This museum totally surprised me and I am still thinking about it 4 years later. I wrote a paper for my Art history class on a piece that I saw there. So I will do a highlight of the Vatican Museum and then next year I will start my new theme of Visual Analysis with a piece from the museum.

Thinking about it a little bit more it shouldn't surprise me that this is a great museum. It has hundreds of years of papal and church power to collect the best art in the world.

During college I went on European tour and one of the stops was Rome. Due to timing issues we didn't get to see the Sistine Ceiling. I told myself, that is a good reason to have to go back. I went back 21 years later and I got to see it. Michelangelo is incredible.
As much as I enjoy Michelangelo, there were other things that stood out more in the Vatican Museum and I want to share those with you.

The Gallery of Maps

The Gallery of Maps and all the ceilings that lined the hallways were amazing!

I would definitely say that if you are going to the Vatican Museum to look up!

Raphael's Murals

I was so excited to see the School of Athens by Raphael. The whole room was really quite stunning. The mural I liked best is the Deliverance of Saint Peter. It is truly remarkable that both Raphael and Michelangelo were creating these masterpieces at the same time in such close proximity.

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael)
School of Athens, 1509-1511
Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael)
Deliverance of Saint Peter, 1514
Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy

Statuary

There is so much statuary that a person couldn't take picture of it all.

Laocoon

It was such a cool surprise to walk into the this area of the museum and see this amazing sculpture that I had learned about in college.

Agesander of Rhodes, Athanadoros, Polydoros, Athenodoros of Rhodes, Polydorus of Rhodes
Laocoon, Found in 1506
Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy

Hercules

Another very famous statue is Hercules. Like Laocoon this statue was also made in the Hellenistic era which is 323 BC t 32 BC.

Hercules, Found in 1856
Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy

Modern Art

Another big surprise for me was that there is a great collection of Modern artists!


van Gogh, Pieta, 1889		The Thinker, Rodin, 1880

Salvado Dali


The Trinty, 1960		Untitled, Soft Monster in Angelic Landscape, 1977

Henri Matisse

What a beautiful, simple sketching of the Madonna and Child. This is one of my favorite genres and I loved seeing Matisse's interpretation of Mary and the Christ child.