The Vatican Museums:
The Pinacoteca

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The Pinacoteca

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The Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery) was inaugurated on October 27th 1932 in the building especially constructed by the architect Luca Beltrami for Pius XI (r. 1922-39).

The paintings are arranged in chronological order. 

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Highlights of the Picture Gallery

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The Last Judgement by 'Nicolaus' & 'Johannes'

The Last Judgement

​Two Benedictine nuns commissioned the large panel (288 x 243 cm) of The Last Judgement from the painters 'Nicolaus' and Johannes' for the Roman church of San Gregorio Nazianzeno. It was probably painted in the second half of the 12th century. 

The panel is divided into five bands. At the top we see Christ between cherubs and angels and below Christ before an altar between two angels and the twelve Apostles. In the third band there are three scenes: on the left St Paul who guides the Elect, in the centre the Virgin and St Stephen who intercede for the Holy Innocents, and on the right three Works of Mercy (Dress the naked, Visit the imprisoned, Give the thirsty drink). The fourth band illustrates the Resurrection of the Dead (on the left fish and ferocious animals spit out the limbs of the devoured bodies, while on the right two angels wake the dead in the tombs to the sound of the apocalyptic trumpets). Finally, at the base of the panel we find Hell and the Heavenly Jerusalem, with the Virgin praying among the Elect. Before its walls are portrayed the donors (identified by a text): the abbess Costanza and the nun Benedetta.

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The Stefaneschi Triptych by Giotto

The Stefaneschi Triptych by Giotto,

​The Stefaneschi Triptych takes its name from Cardinal Jacopo Caetani degli Stefaneschi, who had it painted for the old St Peter's basilica. It was painted by Giotto and his assistants between 1315 and 1320. The triptych is painted on both sides, as it was to be seen both by the priest and by the congregation.

The central panel of the front depicts Christ Enthroned with Angels. A kneeling and bare-headed Cardinal Stefaneschi makes an appearance just below Christ's right foot. The left panel depicts the Crucifixion of St Peter and the Martyrdom of St Paul. There is an interesting detail in the background of the martyrdom. Two angels are returning the piece of cloth St Plautilla is said to have given St Paul to cover his eyes. 

The central predella panel depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned between two angels and two apostles. The remaining apostles appear on the other two panels.  

The Stefaneschi Triptych (Back)

​The central panel of the back depicts St Peter enthroned, Cardinal Stefaneschi, holding in his hands the model of the triptych, and Pope Celestine I. The side panels depict St James and St Paul (left) and St John the Evangelist and St Andrew (right). 

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Pope Sixtus IV Appoints Bartolomeo Platina Prefect of the Vatican Library
​by Melozzo da Forli

Pope Sixtus IV Appoints Bartolomeo Platina Prefect of the Vatican Library by Melozzo da Forli

The fresco Pope Sixtus IV Appoints Bartolomeo Platina Prefect of the Vatican Library by Melozzo da Forlì (1438-94) comes from one of the rooms of the old Vatican Library, which was founded in 1475 by Sixtus IV (r. 1471 to 1484). The artist  depicts the appointment of the humanist Bartolomeo Sacchi, also known as il Platina, as the first Prefect of the Library.

Platina, kneeling in the centre, points down to an inscription he has composed that exalts the enterprises of Sixtus IV in the city of Rome. Sixtus IV is seated on his throne on the right, among his cardinal nephews and lay nephews. The apostolic pronotary Raffaele Riario is on his right, the future pope Julius II (r. 1503 to 1513) standing before him, and Girolamo Riario and Giovanni della Rovere stand behind Platina.

The decoration of the oak leaves is a reference to the pope's family name Rovere, which means oak in Italian. 

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The Transfiguration by Raphael

The Transfiguration by Raphael

Tthe magnificent painting of The Transfiguration, was the last work of Raphael, one of the giants of the Renaissance, who died on April 6th 1520, at the age of only thirty-seven.  

The large painting (410 x 280 cm) was commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the future Pope Clement VII (r. 1523-34), for the cathedral of Narbonne in France. However, the painting never left Rome. The cardinal donated it to the church of San Pietro in Montorio, where it adorned the high altar until 1797.  

The artist and art historian Giorgio Vasari (1511-74) described Raphael's painting as: 'la più celebrata, la più bella e la più divina' ('the most celebrated, the most beautiful and the most divine'). 

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The Entombment by Caravaggio

The Entombment by Caravaggio

The Entombment (c. 1600) by the painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) was commissioned by Girolamo Vittrice for his family chapel in the Roman church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, better known as the Chiesa Nuova. 

In 1797, the painting was included in the group of works transferred to Paris as part of the Treaty of Tolentino. After its return, in 1817, it became part of the Pinacoteca.

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