Five Renaissance Masterpieces Hidden in the Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums, renowned for Michelangelo's ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, house many overlooked Renaissance masterpieces. The Borgia Apartments, adorned with frescoes by Pinturicchio between 1492 and 1494 for Pope Alexander VI, served to bolster his family's heritage. The Sala dei Santi showcases Egyptian deities, tied to a fabricated ancestry by Annio da Viterbo. Cardinal Joseph Fesch reassembled Leonardo da Vinci's incomplete Saint Jerome (1480-82), which now resides in the Pinacoteca. Raphael's tapestries (1515), illustrating Saints Peter and Paul, suffered damage during the 1527 Sack of Rome and are now displayed in the Gallery of Tapestries. Melozzo da Forlì's Ascension fresco (circa 1480) is divided between the Vatican Pinacoteca and Quirinal Palace, while a celestial globe from 1567 is attributed to Giovanni Antonio Vanosino.
Key facts
- The Borgia Apartments were decorated by Pinturicchio between 1492 and 1494 for Pope Alexander VI.
- The Sala dei Santi ceiling includes Egyptian gods Isis, Osiris, and the bull Apis, reflecting a fabricated Borgia lineage.
- Leonardo da Vinci's unfinished Saint Jerome was cut into pieces and later reassembled by Cardinal Joseph Fesch.
- Raphael designed tapestries for the Sistine Chapel around 1515; they were woven in Brussels and damaged in the 1527 Sack of Rome.
- Melozzo da Forlì's Ascension fresco was cut into fragments after the church of Santi Apostoli was rebuilt in 1711.
- A celestial globe from 1567, long attributed to Giulio Romano, is now credited to Giovanni Antonio Vanosino.
- The Vatican Museums house these works in the Pinacoteca and other galleries.
- The tapestries' cartoons are at the V&A in London.
Entities
Artists
- Michelangelo
- Pinturicchio
- Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia)
- Annio da Viterbo
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Cardinal Joseph Fesch
- Napoleon
- Raphael
- Melozzo da Forlì
- Giulio Romano
- Giovanni Antonio Vanosino
- Giorgio Vasari
- Lucrezia Borgia
- Cardinal Bessarion
- Julius II
Institutions
- Vatican Museums
- Pinacoteca
- Borgia Apartments
- Sistine Chapel
- Gallery of Tapestries
- V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum)
- Quirinal Palace
- Church of Santi Apostoli
Locations
- Vatican City
- Rome
- Italy
- Brussels
- Belgium
- London
- United Kingdom