Vatican Museums

Part of a series on the Vatican Museums The New Wing, built by Raffaele Stern. Artists Raphael Michelangelo Architects Donato Bramante Giuseppe Momo Gian Lorenzo Bernini Architecture St. Peter's Basilica Castel Sant'Angelo St. Peter's Baldachin Cortile del Belvedere Paintings School of Athens The Gallery of Maps Sculptures Pietà Sphere Within Sphere Frescoes Sistine Chapel Raphael Rooms Artifacts Sarcophagi of Helena and Constantina Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus Collections Guglielmi Collection

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The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani) of the Vatican City are located within the city's boundaries. They display works from the immense collection built up by the Popes throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display, and currently employ 640 people who work in 40 different administrative, scholarly, and restoration departments.

Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael, are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. In 2013, they were visited by 6 million people, which combined makes it the 6th most visited art museum in the world.

There are 54 galleries, or sale, in total,[citation needed] with the Sistine Chapel, notably, being the very last sala within the Museum. It is one of the largest museums in the...