A first visit · Eight highlights
Ancient sculpture and Renaissance painting offer very different ways to explore the Vatican Museums. This selection brings together eight works already covered by Waguide. Seven have stops in our current route; Raphael’s Transfiguration is an additional choice in the Pinacoteca. Use the short descriptions to decide where you would like to spend more time.
Make it your visit
If you want a focused starting selection, choose Laocoön and His Sons, the School of Athens and the two Michelangelo frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. Add Apollo while visiting the Octagonal Court. Include the Pinacoteca if Raphael’s Transfiguration is a priority for you.
Look closer
Pio Clementino Museum · Cabinet of Apoxyomenos
This athlete is cleaning himself after exercise, scraping oil and sand from his skin with a strigil. Follow the extended arms and notice how the pose reaches into the space around the statue.
Pio Clementino Museum · Octagonal Court
Apollo is shown just after releasing an arrow. Follow the turn of his head and the reach of his arm, then compare this poised figure with the struggle in the nearby Laocoön group.
Pio Clementino Museum · Octagonal Court
Laocoön and his sons struggle against sea serpents in a scene of physical tension. Follow the coils between the three figures and look at how their bodies twist in different directions.
Pio Clementino Museum · Hall of the Muses
Even without its head and limbs, this seated figure conveys a powerful sense of movement. Follow the turn of the torso and the modelling of the muscles; the figure’s identity remains debated.
Raphael Rooms · Room of the Segnatura
Raphael brings ancient philosophers together beneath grand arches. Begin with Plato and Aristotle at the centre, then follow the smaller groups as they discuss, write and study around them.
Sistine Chapel · Ceiling
Look up for the small gap between the hands of Adam and God. Michelangelo makes this almost-touching gesture the focus of a scene that contrasts Adam’s resting body with the movement of the approaching Creator.
Sistine Chapel · Altar wall
Turn from the ceiling to Michelangelo’s vast painting on the altar wall. Start with Christ near the centre, then follow the surrounding figures to see how gestures and movement connect the composition.
An additional gallery
Include this gallery if Raphael’s Transfiguration is on your list. Plan its place in your visit using the museum’s current map.
Pinacoteca · Room VIII
Raphael’s final painting brings two episodes together: Christ appears above, while a crowd gathers around a boy below. Compare the light and movement in the two halves of the picture.
Additional gallery visit · The Pinacoteca is not included in our current route.
Your next step
The first seven cards follow the order of their stops in Waguide’s route: the Pio Clementino Museum, Raphael Rooms and Sistine Chapel. The Transfiguration appears separately because our current route does not include the Pinacoteca. Plan that gallery visit using the museum’s current map and signs; the card order does not mean it must come after the Sistine Chapel.
Check the museum’s visitor informationThere are no contact forms on the Waguide website. The main website uses Google Analytics for visitor statistics. Tiqets processes bookings and payments and may process connection data and cookies. The hosting provider may process technical connection data.
Museum images are provided by the Waguide project. Photo of the Louvre: Diego Lopez Sebastian (Dieglop), CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo of Winged Victory of Samothrace: Mbzt, Wikimedia Commons. Reproductions of the paintings are in the public domain. Images may be cropped for display purposes.
The Louvre — Diego Lopez Sebastian · Winged Victory of Samothrace — Mbzt · CC BY-SA 4.0