Actually, the Vatican Museum is a complex of museums storing the most valuable art collections. For several centuries, beginning from 16 century, Popes amassed pictures of Italian painters, Roman and Greek sculptures, Egyptian art objects and many other things. Apart from these pontifical collections, rooms decorated by great Italian painters of Renaissance are of at least the same interest.
The Sistine Chapel is perhaps the most famous attraction of the Vatican Museum. Since 16 century all papal conclaves had been held in the church. In 16 century the vaults and the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel were decorated by Michelangelo.
The four Raphael Rooms (Stanze di Raffaello) are of at least the same interest. These are the former living rooms of Pope Julius II, which were decorated by Raphael, another great painter. It also will be interesting to have a look at the rooms of Borgia, which were decorated by such painters as Pinturicchio and Perugino (an apprentice of Raphael) in 15 century.
Pictures of Italian painters of 12-19 century are stored at the Vatican Pinacoteca (art gallery). Among them there are many masterpieces of famous painters. For example, a whole room is devoted to the pictures of Leonardo da Vinci. Also, there are a lot of pictures of Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and some other painters.
The Egyptian museum houses a great number of art objects from the Ancient Egypt, such as: basalt and wood sarcophagi, statues of deities and pharaohs, mammies, papyri, sculptures of the Roman period (2-3 centuries A.D.), funerary urns, etc.
You can see many valuable works of ancient Greek and Roman sculptors at the Pio-Clementino Museum. Particularly, you can see there such sculptures as «Apollo of the Belvedere», «Laocoon and His Sons», «Perseus» and «Hermes».
