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They
represent the greatest
collection of antiques in
the world. You can admire
works of extraordinary
artistic interest through 7
kilometres. To reach their
new entrance, inaugurated by
the Pope the 7th of February
2000, starting from "Piazza
S. Pietro" you can go to
"Piazza Risorgimento"
through the right arcade,
then you can pass through
"via Leone IV" and "viale
Vaticano". This new entrance
consists of a great
helicoidal ramp,165 metres
high, recalling the Louvre's
pyramid, and has the aim of
forming one-way only to
avoid slowings and queues.
The Vatican Museums are
expanding on four levels and
on an area of 10.000 square
metres. The first works,
which are kept here, date
back to the Renaissance;
since then on, Popes
continued and completed to
gather and to select the
greatest treasures of art.
They are divided in several
sections. You can start from
the Egyptian museum, which
occupies ten rooms, then you
can see the Chiaramonti
museum, where about one
thousand Greek and Roman
sculptures are shwed.In the
lapidary gallery there are
thousands of inscriptions
which make in the richest
one in the world. In the Pio
Clementino museum, besides
numerous Roman sculptures,
which are copies of famous
Greek original ones, like
the Laocoonte, you can
admire the bronze "Amazzone
ferita" and some works by A.
Canova, like the "Perseo".
The Etruscan museum keeps
objects coming from Etruria
excavations and private
donations in addition to
Roman works and a collection
of Greek vases. Among the
most remarkable pieces there
are those coming from the
famous Cerveteri tomb. The
Raffaello's rooms are a
fixed stop in the Vatican
Museums: they are so called
because keep frescoes by the
famous artist. In the room
of the Segnatura, which was
the Giulio II's study, you
can find the "Disputa del
SS. Sacramento", the "Scuola
di Atene" and the "Parnaso".
In the Constantine's room
there are some frescoes by
Master's pupils. Going on,
you can see the Raffaello's
loggia decorated with scenes
of the Old and New
Testament; it was begun by
Bramante and completed by
Raffaello. A little bit
further, there are
Chiaroscuri's room, the
ceiling of which is
decorated with Raffaello's
designs, the Nicolina Chapel
with frescoes by Beato
Angelico and the Borgia's
flat decorated nearly in
full by Pinturicchio's
frescoes. The collection of
modern religious art
occupies 55 rooms and
consists of about 800
paintings and religious
sculptures. The Sistina
Chapel, recently restored,
was completed in 1480. You
can admire, on its left
side, scenes of Mosè's life,
and, on its right side,
scenes of Christ's life. Its
vault was decorated by
Michelangelo who painted
also the famous "Giudizio
Universale" on the main
wall.
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