The Vatican - visitor information for the Museo Pio-Clementino

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Museo Pio-Clementino

The earliest museum collection had been assembled in the Belvedere by Popes Julius II, Leo X, Clement VII and Paul III during the fourteenth century but, by the time of Popes Clement XIV and Pius VI, the collection had been dispersed (many items given away as gifts). These two pontiffs tirelessly trawled Rome for antiquities, which were then arranged by Ennio Quirino Visconti. The big new museum constructed for the collection was named for its patrons, and so the Museo Pio-Clementino was born. The museum totals 11 rooms; the Sala a Croce Greca, Sala della Biga, Galleria dei Candelabri, the Sala Rotonda, the Sala delle Muse, the Sala degli Animali, Galleria delle Statue, Sala dei Busti, Gabinetto delle Maschere, Cortile del Belvedere and the Gabinetti del Belvedere. Room by room we look at a selection of the most important pieces here but remember, as ever, that there is much more besides.

Important pieces in the Museo Pio-Clementino (Sale a Croce Greca) include the massive sarcophagi of Saints Helena and Constania (mother and daugher of Constantine the Great), and the mosaic of the Cnidian Venus. The Sala della Biga contains sculptor Franzoni's remarkable restoration of a Classical two-wheeled racing chariot, pulled by two horses, and which gives its name to the beautiful circular room. The Galleria dei Candelabri is decorated with massive candelabra of white marble, liberated from imperial Roman villas. The Sala Rotonda was built by Simonetti (and based on the Parthenon) and contains the bust of Zeus of Otricoli.

The Sala delle Muse was created by Simonetti to house the sculptures of the nine Muses, led by Apollo. The Sala degli Animali is a superb collection of some 150 representations of animals from Classical antiquity. The Galleria delle Statue has frescoes by Mantegna and Pinturicchio, a Sleeping Ariadne and the Barberini Candelabra. The Sala dei Busti has more than 100 busts of gods, goddesses and Roman citizens. The Gabinetto delle Maschere has a marvellous mosaic floor, transferred from the Villa Hadriana at Tivoli in 1780. The Cortile del Belvedere is a courtyard (once part of the old Belvedere) and has the Belvedere Apollo. And the Gabinetti del Belvedere has a fine statue of Meleager and the Torso of Belvedere.

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