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Pinacoteca Vaticana

Pinacoteca Vaticana: Our most recommended tours and activities

Skip the line Vatican Museum Sistine & St.Peter Private Tour

1. Skip the line Vatican Museum Sistine & St.Peter Private Tour

Enjoy the best of the Vatican collections on a guided tour that is tailored to meet your special needs. With your expert licensed tour guide have the best experience, visiting the masterpieces of the renaissance art as well as the modern art. Explore the highlights of the Vatican museums. Head to the Pinacoteca gallery with paintings and tapestries dating back from the 11th-19th century. Marvel at ancient statues like the colossal “Laocoon”in the Pio-Clementine museum.  Follow your guide to the 'Julius II' rooms where important political decisions were made. Discover frescoes by Raphael and his pupils. Stroll through the Carriage Museum which contains the pope's saddles, carriages, automobiles and sedan chairs. Be lead through the Borgia’s apartments decorated by Bernardo di Betto called “il Pinturicchio” and his assistants which now house part of the Vatican Museums’ Collection of Modern Religious Art inaugurated by Paul VI (1973).  Gaze up at the masterpiece of the Sistine chapel. The last stop is Saint Peter's Basilica. View Michelangelo's “Pietà” which he created at 25. Be enlightened with the history of the largest catholic church in the world.

Rome: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's VIP Tour

2. Rome: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's VIP Tour

Explore the wonders of the Vatican Museums on an exclusive, personalized small group tour. Waste no time in the ticket lines with fast-track access tickets, and spend 3 hours with a qualified guide who can adapt the tour to suit your interests. Discover an extraordinary collection of statues in the Chiaramonti and the Pio-Clementino Museums. Observe the peculiar “stone zoo” in the Hall of Animals, the moving statue of Laocoön, and the greatest collection of Roman portrait busts. Then, admire the beauty of the lavish Borgia Apartment, 4 suites frescoed by the inimitable artist. Hear the stories of works by Da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Giotto from your guide in the Pinacoteca Gallery, tailored to your preferences by your guide. Find works by Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh in the Collection of Modern Religious Art. To end your tour, enter the unparalleled Sistine Chapel, where you can marvel at Michelangelo’s stunning frescoes, and then St Peter’s Basilica, where your guide will fascinate you with the history of this gorgeous church, said to be the burial site of St. Peter the Apostle in the Catholic tradition. The tour lasts for 3 hours. Choose to take your tour in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian.

Rome: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Priority Guided Tour

3. Rome: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel Priority Guided Tour

Experience an unforgettable guided tour of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Explore the galleries and discover masterpieces painted by some of the greatest artists ever. After meeting your guide, enjoy priority access to the Pinacoteca, the Villa Belvedere, the Gallery of Maps, and the Sistine Chapel to admire Michelangelo’s most famous artworks like The Last Judgement and The Creation of Adam. Art lovers will enjoy this exhilarating and unforgettable journey with a guide who will give you and the group top-notch information about the museums and the exhibited artworks in your preferred language.

Vatican Museums: Reserved Access Entry Ticket & Audio Guide

4. Vatican Museums: Reserved Access Entry Ticket & Audio Guide

Rome has so much to offer: the amazing Piazzas, the stunning fountains, the churches, and the archaeological areas. With such a vast amount of interesting things to do and places to see, saving time is crucial. To see the Vatican Museums without waiting in line for hours, choose this Preferred Entrance Ticket: available time slots in the morning or in the afternoon, to satisfy both the early birds and the nightlife lovers and allow you to skip the queue. You will get in through exclusive reserved access and, once inside, you will have plenty of time to explore any of the 54 galleries, also thanks to the audioguide included. Make sure not to miss the incredible audio-guided tour included with this option, to take advantage of a unique and independent experience! The ancient art offer is huge: Roman and Greek statues, a vast Etruscan collection, lots of artifacts from Ancient Egypt, and an incredible picture gallery: the Pinacoteca Vaticana includes works by art geniuses like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, and Giotto. If contemporary and modern art is your thing, head to the Modern Religious Art collection, housing paintings and sculptures from Carlo Carrà, Giorgio de Chirico, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Salvador Dalí, or Pablo Picasso. And swing by the Raphael Rooms and by the Sistine Chapel, two of the most popular attractions inside the Museums.

Vatican: Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums Small Group Tour

5. Vatican: Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums Small Group Tour

Skip the lines and visit the Vatican Museums on a small group tour with an expert guide. Learn in-depth knowledge about the Sistine Chapel and see it for yourself without the crowds. Visit the the Pinecone Courtyard, the Hall of the Maps, the Gallery of Tapestries, the Pinacoteca, the Round Room, Belvedere Courtyard, Room of the Muses and Candelabra Gallery. Your guide will provide information about the Sistine Chapel before entering, as it is forbidden to talk once inside. Marvel at the beauty of Michelangelo's most important masterwork without the crowds, as you’ll be visiting at the end of the day. Enjoy this full experience in intimate groups of 10 people tops led by a five star guide.

Vatican: Michelangelo v Raphael in the Vatican City

6. Vatican: Michelangelo v Raphael in the Vatican City

On this theme tour of the Vatican, your guide will regale you with stories of the rivalry between Michelangelo and Raphael.  Your tour will begin with skip the line entrance to the Vatican Museums. This theme tour will focus on the artworks of Michelangelo and Raphael, but will also refer to some of the attractions along the way to help you to gain an understanding and appreciation of the period to which they belonged. The Raphael Rooms were once the papal apartments of Pope Julius II, who liked to stoke the rivalry of the geniuses under his patronage, to get the most out of them! While he had Michelangelo decorating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he had his greatest rival decorating the walls of the grand rooms of his apartments! Your guide will explain the commission Raphael was given when painting these walls, and the messages and themes he was asked to portray through his art, for the benefit of ambassadors and visiting dignatories to the Holy See. Your guide will also point out Raphael's portraits of some of his famous contemporaries in his frescoes here, including the Pope, Michelangelo and himself! The Sistine Chapel was built by the uncle of Julius II, when he was Pope Sixtus IV. It was therefore very dear to his heart, so he hired the greatest artist of the day to take on the almost impossible task of painting the entire ceiling. Michelangelo displayed an obsession bordering on madness to complete this great undertaking, taking 4 years to complete the work, and today you can still gaze upward in awe at his greatest masterpiece. Your guide will explain to you the challenges he faced, his encounters and arguments with the Pope, the theme and purpose of the scenes he painted, as well as his own unique portaits and messages, hidden cheekily in small details that would have been very difficult for viewers to see from the ground! St Peter's Basilica contains mosaic copies of some of Raphael's great paintings, the originals of which you will see in the Pinacoteca, and also Michelangelo's famous and very moving statue of Mary with the body of Jesus on her lap - the Pietà. There are also wonderful stories of the time both artists spent in the Basilica - both served time as the maestro, or chief architect, during the course of the 120-year project to complete the rebuilding of the ancient structure. You will stand beneath the dome which stands over the altar of St. Peter, while your guide explains how Michelangelo solved the problem of how to cover the vast transept with a dome that would not collapse on itself - a problem his predecessors were unable to solve, leading to a period of 18 years in which the Basilica was in use but could not keep the rain out!  With treasures in the Pinacoteca, Raphael Rooms, Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica, by two of the most naturally gifted - yet very different characters - artists of their own, or any, generation, you will never be bored on this fascinating study of art and history in the Vatican!

Other Sightseeing Options in Pinacoteca Vaticana

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What people are saying about Pinacoteca Vaticana

Overall rating

4.6 / 5

based on 43 reviews

Rudy was an outstanding tour guide. The private tour was well worth it. Not only did we skip the lines but we learnt so much about the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s. Rudy was so knowledgeable and he kept our 8 year old daughter entertained throughout the tour.

We had an excellent tour! Our guide, Daniella, was personable, knowledgable and VERY funny!! We enjoyed her storytelling and humor very much. The tour was timed perfectly and she provided so much information that we weren't left with any questions to ask.

Claudia was perfect as a guide and historian also added many wonderful anecdote’s that were pertinent to each individual room & Fresco . She had our interest the entire time. Highly recommend… Thomas

Fabulous tour with a true historian and ultimate insider. Thanks so much Rudy!

Antonio was an outstanding guide. Very knowledgeable!!