The term “Pinacoteca” is of Greek origin; “pinaco” is a board, a picture, and “teca” was a storage or receptacle for the ancient Greeks. It was the name given to the left wing of the Athenian Acropolis’ propylaeum where a collection of paintings offered as gifts to the goddess Athena was housed. The ancient Roman nobility used the term to refer to the room in front of the entrance to the Atrium Domus which housed the master’s particularly valuable artistic objects. Beginning in the Humanist period, the name Pinacoteca came to be used to refer to collections of paintings exclusively open to the public. Today, Pinacoteca refers to art galleries.
One of the best-known Pinacoteca at present is the Vatican Pinacoteca (Pinacoteca Vaticana). It is part of the Vatican Museums.
It is a small museum of eight eight halls, which contains a unique collection of works not only of Italian painting, but also Byzantine.
History of the Pinacoteca Vaticana
The first collection of 118 paintings was assembled by Pope Pius VI in 1790.
The idea of the Picture Gallery in the modern sense was not born until 1817, after the fall of Napoleon.
After the works of art taken to Paris from the Vatican and Roman churches under the Treaty of Tolentine (1797) were returned to the Papal State and took their place in the Vatican Pinacotheca. This was facilitated by the decision of the Congress of Vienna and the work of sculptor Antonio Canova, who was appointed Inspector General of Fine Arts in 1814. The collection was initially housed in the Borgia apartments.
Over time, the collection grew through donations and acquisitions to its current size. In 1932, Pius XI decided to build a separate building for the Pinacoteca at the Vatican. This Renaissance structure was created by the architect Luca Beltrami on the site of the Quadratic Gardens. Today there are about 460 paintings, including some masterpieces by some of the greatest artists in the history of Italian art.
The museum itinerary consists of 18 exhibition halls with paintings from the 12th to 19th centuries, grouped by art school and arranged chronologically. Most of them are paintings on religious and theological themes.
To have time to visit the Pinacoteca Vatican better buy tickets 3-4 hours before closing time.
The 12 masterpieces of the Vatican Pinacoteca.
The Last Judgment.
An altarpiece of unusual, round-shaped brushwork by artists of the Roman school of Niccolò and Giovanni. Late 12th century.
Stefaneschi Triptych
This early 14th-century altarpiece by Giotto and his disciples was commissioned by Cardinal James Caetani Stefaneschi for the first basilica of St. Peter’s.
Scenes from the Life of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
Margins of the so-called “Quartesi Altarpiece,” created by Gentile da Fabriano for the family chapel of San Nicolo beyond the Arno in Florence.
Pope Sixtus IV appoints Prefect of the Library of Platina
The fresco that was originally in the Vatican library was executed by Melozzo degli Ambrosi, nicknamed Melozzo da Forli.
The work of the “divine” Raphael
are represented by three paintings: The Altarpiece of Oddi, The Transfiguration, and The Madonna di Foligno and tapestries made after drawings by the artist for the Sistine Chapel commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515.
The Mourning of Christ with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene
One of the most superb paintings by the greatest representative of the Venetian school of painting, Giovanni Bellini.
Saint Jerome
An unfinished painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The only work of Florentine genius in Rome has undergone a lot of peripeteia, entered the Vatican collection in 1856.
Titian
the symbol of Venetian painting is represented by the monumental altarpiece Madonna with Child and Saints, which was painted for the chapel of the Venetian church of St. Nicholas in Piazza Frari.
Vision of Saint Helena.
A very exquisite work from the late period of the artist Veronese reveals the mystical world of the saint’s dream. The artist makes masterful use of color and the technique of light and shade in depicting the vestments of the Saint.
The Entombment or the Descent from the Cross
A painting by Caravaggio, a master of realism, perfectly captures the most dramatic moment of the scene. The altarpiece was painted for the chapel of the Vetricci family in the early 17th century church of Santa Maria in Vallicelli. The painting was taken out during Napoleon’s occupation of Rome.
Crucifixion of St. Peter
An altarpiece whose mosaic copy can be seen in St. Peter’s Cathedral by the artist Guido Reni, a singer of ideal beauty in the early 17th century, is close in style to the nearby work of Caravaggio.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden or “Earthly Paradise”
The work of the Bohemian painter Peter Wenzel, a master in the depiction of animals. 240 species of animals and endless vegetation fill the work of painting, in which the figures of Eve and Adam are lost somewhere.