Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Tickets

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One of the most iconic pieces of imagery within the Vatican Museums is the Bramante spiral staircase. Used to manage visitor flow, the staircase has a double-helix design that allows ascending and descending visitors to walk uninterrupted on two separate sets of stairs. Its luxury balustrade is made of ornate metal. The placement of the stairs is such that all visitors use it to exit.

The new Bramante spiral staircase is a 1932 recreation of the original Bramante Staircase that is located in the Pio-Clementine Museum. Built in 1505 by Donato Bramante, the staircase was built to accommodate Pope Julius II’s carriage as he entered his private residence. At the time, it was open to both humans and pack animals. Unfortunately, the original stairs are not open for public viewing.

Anyone who has visited the Vatican Museums knows that the new Bramante stairs sit perfectly aligned beneath a glass canopy that allows natural light to pour down. While the staircase looks beautiful bathed in light during morning and afternoon visits, it is especially magical when sunbeams pour over it in the hour leading up to sunset.

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Built between 1473 and 1481 under Pope Sixtus IV, the Sistine Chapel is considered the jewel of the Vatican. It is notably the site of the papal conclave responsible for electing each new pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

When Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass at the Sistine Chapel in 1483, its walls were already adorned with commissioned frescos created by Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, and many more Renaissance painters.

However, the most notable masterpieces within the Sistine Chapel are the ceiling paintings that were done by Michelangelo under Pope Julius II during a four-year period lasting from 1508 to 1512. The Last Judgment fresco that covers the full altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was completed between 1534 and 1541.

Michelangelo’s sprawling ceiling fresco is like a love letter between man and God. It traces the creation of humanity through its story of falling from grace and being redeemed. Notable depictions include the creation of heaven and earth, the creation of Adam, and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.

Michelangelo painted the full Sistine Chapel ceiling using a technique called fresco. A popular choice during the Renaissance, fresco involves painting directly over an area of moist plaster. To reach the height of the ceiling, Michelangelo created a complicated series of scaffolds to stand on. However, some people incorrectly state that he painted the works while lying on his back. Making the arduous task of using the fresco process while suspended on scaffolding even more difficult was the fact that Michelangelo was actually painting over an existing fresco of a star-filled sky done by Piermatteo d’Amelia in the late 1480s.

Prepare to have your breath taken away as you stand beneath these massive frescos full of lifelike detailing. While you’ll want to walk around to view the images, the best viewpoint for taking in the full scope and unified composition of the pieces is located toward the back of the chapel.

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Formerly part of the Apostolic Palace, these four rooms form a single suite that houses famous Renaissance frescoes done by Raphael and his students. They are the Room of Constantine, the Room of Heliodorus, the Room of the Segnatura, and the Room of the Fire in the Borgo. The most famous among the frescos here is The School of Athens located in the Room of the Segnatura. Standing at more than 500 centimeters wide by 770 tall, the ambitious work depicts a meeting of ancient philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists that includes Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and Pythagoras. Described as Raphael’s truest masterpiece, School of Athens puts the artist’s incredible ability to create accurate perspective projection on display.

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Situated in the Belvedere Courtyard, Ignazio Danti’s Gallery of Maps features 40 painted topographical maps of Italy that were commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII in the late 1500s. As you survey this 120-meter-long gallery, take time to take in a map-based visualization of the full Italian peninsula in large-scale frescoes. Amazingly, each map offers a depiction of the accompanying region and main city. Modern-day cartographers estimate that Danti’s maps are around 80% accurate.

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Built in 1932 for Pius XI, the Vatican Pinacoteca is considered a more modern addition to the Vatican Museums. Its 18 rooms hold works by Raphael, Caravaggio, and Giotto. Notably, Leonardo da Vinci’s portrayal of St. Jerome in the Wilderness inside the Pinacoteca is the artist’s sole work to be housed in Rome.