Discover The Vatican Museums | History, Highlights & More

Founded in the early 16th century, the Vatican Museums within the Vatican City display works that have been amassed by the Catholic church over the centuries. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display. In 2020, even though the number of visitors dropped by 81 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it still ranked fourth in the list of most-visited art museums in the world.

The Mission of the Vatican Museums

Laocoön and His Sons, the first acquisition of the Vatican Museums, was put on public display one month after its discovery in 1506. Over the next several centuries, as the collection expanded so did the museums; making it one of the most important museums in the world, today.

The driving motto of the Vatican Museums are:

Art is evangelisation

While art is a credible witness to the beauty of creation, to the Church it is, more importantly, a "tool of evangelisation". Art, be it in the form of music, architecture, sculpture, or, painting has been used to demonstrate and deliver the message of Christianity. An example of this is how catechism was conducted through stone sculptures in medieval cathedrals as people did not know how to read. Beauty, according to the Church, represents a way of encountering God.

Museums open to all

With the intention of using art as a vehicle to spread the word of God, the Vatican Museums has been designed to be "a place of beauty and welcome". It is a space that is not only open to new forms of art but also to people from all walks of life.

Restoration & Scientific Services

1. Restoration, Conservation, Research

The Vatican Museums has in place several bodies dedicated to restoring and conserving the various works of art that the Museums house. The Conservator’s Office, for example, develops strategies to lower the risk threshold and improve the quality of the historical-artistic and archaeological property under the care of the Vatican Museums. The Cabinet of Scientific Research applied to Cultural Heritage, on the other hand, carries out diagnostic procedures to determine the processes of deterioration of works and identifies integral materials and production techniques.

There are also laboratories dedicated to the conservation and restoration of all artifacts preserved in the Vatican Museums based on the materials used. This includes the Tapestries and Textiles Restoration Laboratory, Painting and Wood Materials Restoration Laboratory, Ethnological Materials Restoration Laboratory, Stone Materials Restoration Laboratory, Metals and Ceramics Restoration Laboratory, Mosaic Restoration Laboratory, and Paper Restoration Laboratory.

2. Scientific Services

• Superintendence for Architectural Heritage has been entrusted with the responsibility of the conservation of the buildings within the walls of the Vatican since 2008. The office played a significant role in the restoration of the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square, the cloister of St. John Lateran, and the Church of St. Thomas of Villanova at Castel Gandolfo. It is currently involved in the restoration work of the Courtyard of the Pinecone.
• Historical Archive works towards preserving all documentation relating to the collections within the Museums as well as activities of the Institution from the second half of the eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. The Archive is accessible to internal Museum staff and, to external applicants who have been approved by the Directorate.
• Collections Registry and Central Catalogue is a centralized office dedicated to compiling, maintaining, and updating catalog information relating to works within the Vatican Museums. The service of the Collections Registry is not open to the public.
• Instituted in 1938, the Vatican Library contains journals and texts that document the works of the Vatican Museums collections. It is home to around 50,000 titles. The library is reserved for the staff of the Vatican Museums.
• Photo Library works towards the conservation, protection, enhancement, promotion, and study of an important photographic heritage. The collection includes the archives relating to the Museums' collections as well as photographs of historic photographs depicting views, landscapes, the city and landmarks in Rome, as well as other Italian or foreign cities.