The Pio-Clementino Museum


Despite its small size, the Vatican City has many amazing cultural and historical values. Of course, they are all kept in museums. One of the brightest and most attractive attractions was the Pio-Clementino Museum. The large spectacular halls of the museum are now replenished with priceless sculptures of various sizes. The Pio-Clementino Museum in the Vatican contains not only the great history of the pontiffs, but also masterpieces of art that have been created for more than one millennium.

History of the museum

The wonderful museum of Pio-Clementino in the Vatican was founded by the popes Clement XIV and Pius VI. Actually, that's why the museum has such a name. The purpose of the popes was to create a place in which to store the famous Greek and Roman masterpieces of art. But at that time they did not think that their collection would be so large, therefore, for placing the statues was chosen a small orange courtyard of the Belvedere Palace , which is part of the Vatican palaces . Soon the collection of masterpieces of art began to replenish with priceless exhibits, so Pope Clement Fourteenth thought about building for them several more rooms on the territory of the palace. After consulting with the architects Simonetti and Campozero, he decided to make several thematic halls, as well as niches with the most "precious" sculptures.

Exposition and exhibits

When you get to the magnificent courtyard of the Pio-Clementino museum, you will immediately see marvelous niches with great sculptures of Roman creators:

  1. Niche Laocoon. It is the site of the great marble restoration of Michelangelo's "Laocoon and Sons." This masterpiece was found in Rome on the territory of the Golden House of Nero in 1506.
  2. Niche Canova. There was a place for himself Perseus. The marble statue is not original, since it was destroyed as early as Napoleon's time. Pope Pius VI decided that this famous character should be restored and entrusted the creation of a masterpiece to the sculptor Antonio Canova.
  3. Niche of Apollo. The legendary and great Apollo must undoubtedly be immortalized. It was his sculpture that settled on this niche. The Roman copy of the sculptor Leohar appeared in the museum in 1509.
  4. Niche of Hermes. Here is a copy of Hermes, who used to stand in the sacred Olympia. Found her archaeologists in 1543 near the castle of St. Adrian.

The halls of the Pio-Clementino Museum are filled with amazing sculptures, masks, artifacts of different times. They all carry in themselves a piece of the history of the Roman rulers and undoubtedly deserve your attention. Let's take a closer look at the halls of the museum:

  1. Hall of animals. Here is one of the world's richest collections of animal sculptures. More than 150 marble copies of Greek animals, the Meleager statue with a dog, the Minotaur torso and other artifacts will amaze you.
  2. Gallery of statues. The most beautiful copies of the sculptures of ancient antiquity are found here: "Sleeping Ariadne", "Dormant Venus", "Eros from Centocelle", "Neptune", "Early Amazon" and many others. Decorate the walls of the hall with the most extraordinary frescoes by Andrea Mantegna and Pinturicchio.
  3. Rotund Hall. Perhaps, this is the most interesting and delightful hall of the museum Pio-Clementino. It is built in the ideal style of classicism by Michelangelo Simonetti. From the Golden House of Nero, a huge monolithic bowl was brought here, which stands right in the center of the hall. Around the amazing vessel are 18 statues: Antinous, Hercules, Jupiter, etc. The floor of this room is laid out with a beautiful Roman mosaic, which depicts the battles of the Greeks.
  4. Hall of the Greek cross. It is completely executed in the Egyptian style, wonderful frescoes simply can not fail to impress the visitors. Excellent mosaics, delightful statues of the third century, sarcophagi and relief with cupid - all this conceals a wonderful hall. The most noteworthy landmark here is the sculpture of the young Emperor Octavian Augustus. Also of great value was the portrait - the sculpture of Julius Caesar.

The Pio-Clementino Museum has four more delightful halls with masterpieces and valuable relics. They will tell you a lot about the history of Rome and Ancient Greece, so be sure to visit the other halls of the museum.

The mode of work and the way to the museum

The Pio-Clementino Museum in the Vatican is open six days a week (Sunday is a day off). He accepts visitors from 9.00 to 16.00. For a ticket to the museum you will pay 16 euros, and this is much cheaper than in other museums of the Vatican (the museum of Ciaramonti , the Lucifer museum , the Egyptian museum , etc.). In addition, you can use the guide - 5 euros.

The local buses №49 and №23 will help you to reach the museum. The nearest bus stop is called Musei Vaticani.