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Popes, the Holy See and Vatican City

Papal commissions connect the art here with institutions older than Vatican City State.

Popes, the Holy See and Vatican City

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Several popes appear in the history of a single museum visit. One commissioned a chapel, another bought ancient sculptures, and another built a gallery. Begin with what each person asked artists or builders to make. Their names become easier to follow when attached to a room or an object.

A pope as patron

Sixtus IV gave the Sistine Chapel its name. Julius II bought Laocoön, developed the sculpture collection and commissioned both Raphael's apartment decoration and Michelangelo's ceiling. Centuries later, Pius XI opened the present Pinacoteca building in 1932. Patronage could mean buying an existing object, commissioning a new work or creating a place to display it.

The state and the Holy See

Vatican City State dates to the Lateran Treaty of 11 February 1929, ratified on 7 June. The Holy See is the sovereign institution associated with the Catholic Church. Its history and the papal collections long predate the modern territorial state. A Renaissance painting made for a pope therefore belongs to a much older history than the present state's borders.

Belief and use

The chapel's paintings tell Christian sacred history. The palace rooms combine religious subjects, ancient learning and papal history. You can follow those subjects by recognizing the people, gestures and original purposes of the rooms. Institutions within Vatican City also have their own functions and access, including the Library and St Peter's Basilica.

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