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History of Vatican Museums

The first of the rooms within the Vatican Museums that came to existence was the Niccoline Chapel and the Borgia Apartment. In 1447, Fra Angelico decorated the private chapel of Pope Nicholas V's apartments. Nicholas V's successor, Pope Alexander VI (Borgia) commissioned Bernardino di Betto to decorate Apostolic Palace's most exclusive wing, where he decided to reside.

In 1506, Julius II purchased the statue of 'Lacoon and his sons' from a vineyard owner. He set up a museum in the Cortile delle Statue (today's Octagonal Court) and displayed a collection of ancient sculptures. In 1508, he tasked Michelangelo with decorating the Sistine Chapel, which was inaugurated on 1 November 1512. He commissioned Raffaello to decorate some rooms in a wing that Nicholas V, which has since come to be known as Raphael's Rooms. In 1514, Raphael also took over the work on the Loggia, after Donato Bramante died in 1514. Pope Leo X also tasked Raphael with decorating the Room of the Chiaroscuri.

The Gallery of Maps opened in 1581. In 1631, Pope Urban VIII had a small room renovated for liturgical functions, which came to be known as the Chapel of Urban VIII.

The Pio Clementino Museums came into existence during the second half of the eighteenth century under the pontificates of Clement XIV (Ganganelli) and Pius VI (Braschi). In 1770, the Octagonal Court was created. In 1790, Pius VI created the Vatican Museums’ first collection of paintings. However, in 1797, following the Treaty of Tolentino with Napoleon, the masterpieces insider the Pio Clementino Museum were surrendered.

The Chiaromonti Museum was created in 1806 to house the collections of classical antiquities acquired by Pope Pius VII (1800-1823).

The works seized by Napolean were returned following the Congress of Vienna (1815). In order to reorganize the collection, the New Wing was inaugurated by Pope Pius VII in 1822.

Gregory XVI founded the Gregorian Etruscan Museum in 1837 and the Gregorian Egyptian Museum in 1839.
In 1838 Pope Gregory XVI decided to display paintings of the Roman period in the room called the Sala di Sansone. One of the paintings was the 'Aldobrandine Wedding', which gave the room its name: Room of the Aldobrandini Wedding. He founded the Gregoriano Profano Museum in 1844.

In 1854 Pope Pius IX founded the Pius-Christian Museum. He had Francesco Podesti fresco an entire room in honor of the Madonna. This room, adjacent to Raphael's Rooms, is known as the Room of the Immaculate Conception. In 1910, Saint Pius X had the Jewish Lapidarium placed in the Lateran Palace.

In 1926, Pope Pius XI (Ratti) founded the Missionary-Ethnological Museum. He also had a dedicated room for paintings, the Vatican Pinacoteca, created and it was inaugurated in October 1932. In 1962 Pope John XXIII had a building constructed to house all the collections within the Lateran Museums to the Vatican. In 1970, the Pope made Gregoriano Profano Museum and the Pius-Christian Museum accessible for the public to admire. In 1973 he opened the Ethnological Museum. The same year, he opened the Collection of Modern Religious Art, known today as the Collection of Contemporary Art, and the Historical Museum. Between 1979 to 1994, a restoration of the Sistine Chapel was carried out.

In 1984 UNESCO placed Vatican City and the Vatican Museums on the list of World Heritage Sites.

Under Benedict XVI's papacy, the Vatican Museums carried out a series of major renovations. The Vatican Museums introduced the Carriage Pavilion in 2012.

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