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Did you know that one of the most iconic objects in the Vatican Museums, the enormous Bronze Pinecone that gives the Cortile della Pigna (Pinecone Courtyard) its name, has a direct and profound link to the highest level of Italian literature? This majestic bronze sculpture, almost 4 meters tall and likely dating back to the […]
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Ever wondered why our year has exactly 365 days and leap years? It’s all thanks to a scientific revolution that happened right inside the Vatican!Step back in time to the 16th century. The old Julian calendar was out of sync with the solar year, creating a significant error that caused dates like the vernal equinox […]
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Did you know that the famous Pietà by Michelangelo is not the only one you can find in the Vatican State? While the breathtaking original is located in St. Peter’s Basilica, a fascinating, full-scale reproduction holds a unique story within the Vatican Museums. This isn’t just any copy; it’s a “masterpiece of the cast,” created […]
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Ever wondered just how vast the Vatican Museums truly are? We’re talking about an incredible journey through over 2,000 years of history, art, and culture, spread across a staggering 7 kilometers of galleries, chapels, and rooms! That’s right, if you were to walk through every single corridor, you’d be looking at a nearly 8-mile trek. […]
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Imagine entering the Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo transformed it into the masterpiece we know today. Looking up, you wouldn’t have seen the biblical scenes that fascinate us, but a starry sky, a mantle of stars painted by Pier Matteo d’Amelia. A work that has now disappeared, but which played a fundamental role in the history […]
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Imagine climbing a staircase that transports you back in time. The Bramante Staircase at the Vatican Museums is just that: a journey into the Italian Renaissance.Commissioned by Pope Julius II and designed by the genius of Donato Bramante around 1505, this spiral staircase is an engineering masterpiece and a work of art in its own […]
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During the tumultuous years of World War II, the Vatican Museums played an extraordinary role in preserving the Italian cultural heritage. When the threat of the war loomed large over Europe, countless masterpieces were secretly moved to the Vatican and hidden away in secret chambers. A resilient man, called Emilio Lavagnino, started secret negotiations with […]
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The Vatican Observatory, or Specola Vaticana, is a scientific research institute directly dependent on the Holy See. Its origins date back to the end of the 16th century, when in 1578 Pope Gregory XIII established a commission in which a predominant role was played by Fr. Cristoforo Clavio S.J., an astronomer and mathematician Jesuit of […]
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After five years, the curtain is raised on the Apollo Belvedere. The panels of the restoration site were finally removed from the Octagon Courtyard, which, prolonged by the forced pause imposed by the pandemic, obscured the timeless beauty of one of the iconic sculptures of the Vatican Museums.This masterpiece, dating back to the post-Hellenistic period […]
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The Pio Clementino Museum is one of a kind inside the Vatican Museums. It is so special that it needed some extra space to exist. Its purpose is to gather inside a single space all the Ancient Art preserved inside the Museums. In 1771, Pope Clement XIV Ganganelli hired the architect Alessandro Dori to renew […]
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