Pinacoteca Art Gallery

On the 27th October 1932, the new Pinacoteca (Art Gallery) in the Vatican was opened to the public; the building was built by the architect Luca Beltrami for Pope Pius XI.  It was built on the side of an 18th Century square garden, isolated and thoroughly surrounded by avenues, in a place considered suitable to ensure the best lighting conditions and preservation of the artifacts and their aesthetic values.  The old dispute was finally resolved regarding the display of the paintings, due to the fact that they were constantly shifted around the Apostolic Palaces, because of inadequate space, which was wrong for such an important collection.

The first collection of only 118 valuable paintings was created by Pope Pius VI around 1790, but it was of short duration as a result of the Treaty of Tolentino (1797) and some of the greatest masterpieces were transferred to Paris.  The idea of an art gallery of modern concept as an exhibition open to the public, was only born in 1817, after the fall of Napoleon, followed by the restitution of the works of art belonging to the Church State, according to the directive of the Congress of Vienna.  The collection has continued to increase over the years through donations and acquisitions to reach the current core of about 460 paintings, in chronological order, placed in 18 rooms, so-called Primitives (12th-13th Century).  The collection includes several masterpieces of the greatest Italian artists such as; Giotto, Beato Angelico, Melozzo da Forlì, Perugino, Raffaello, Leonardo, Tiziano, Veronese, Caravaggio and Crespi.

- Room I - Hosts a collection by painters of the 12th, 13th and 14th Centuries, known as ‘Primitives’, because they preceded Giotto.  The paintings on a wooden table are distinguished by a golden background colour; figures with clear outline and uniform colours and without perspective in the details of the design.  Often the main figure is represented in the middle of the painting, while scenes of his life are on the sides.

- Room II - Is dedicated to the 14th Century painters from Siena and Giotto (1267-1337), the greatest Italian artist of the middle Ages.  Note ‘Christ in front of Pilate’ by Pietro Lorenzetti (1280/1285-1348), an extremely refined and elegant painting, these are the characteristics of the painters of this city with style, form and warm colours; the ‘Redeemer Conferring a Blessing’ by Simone Martini (1284-1344).  In the centre there is the ‘Trittico’ by Giotto, known as ‘Stefaneschi’ named after the buyer.
It is painted on both sides, the central panel represents St. Peter enthroned with the Angels and offerings on the right hand side, Christ enthroned with Angels and offerings (Cardinal Stefaneschi) on the left hand side. Note the refined mosaic style decorations on the throne.

- Room III - Displays paintings by artists from the beginning of the 14th Century, a period when there was a change to a new style of painting in the city of Florence: the golden background, which tends to disappear, the figures become increasingly solid, the prospect has a single central point of escape, in which the lines converge indicating the depth.
The small tempera painting of ‘Madonna and Child, St. Dominic and St. Catherine’ is of great beauty, painted by a Dominican monk Beato Angelico.  Here the new painting theories match perfectly, with a love of miniatures, typical of the middle ages.

- Room IV – In this room you can find the paintings of the artist Melozzo from Forlì (1438-1494).  The ‘Musician Angels’ are fragments of a large fresco that covered the dome of the church of the Holy Apostles at Piazza Venezia and also represented ‘Christ in glory between the Angels and the Apostles’; the figures with daring perspective, peaceful faces and beautiful hair styles are often mentioned in music history books.

Another fresco by Melozzo is ‘Sisto IV and the Platina’ (1477), which represents the appointment of Platina to Senior Master of the Apostolic Library and Giuliano Della Rovere, future Pope Julius II, who is portrayed in a cardinal suit.  All the characters are strictly set in perspective architecture, with classic ornamental ceilings, golden ornate roses and oak mouldings (also Sisto IV belonged to the Delle Rovere family).

 - Room V - This room is again dedicated to the paintings of the 14th Century.  In the painting ‘Miracles of San Vincenzo Ferrer’ by Ercole De’ Roberti (1450-1496), we find a theme, typical of the Italian paintings of this Century; the taste for ancient ruins and the architecture of the past.  

- Room VI - Hosts polyptychs style paintings of Italian artists of the 15th Century, often still associated with 13th Century styles (golden background with attention to details).

- Room VII - Holds a collection of paintings from an Umbrian school, including the ‘Virgin Mary with the child and the four Saints’, Perugino (1446-1524), completed it in 1495, in which the artist framed the figures in a calm and peaceful scenery.  The artist had already painted in the Sistine Chapel ‘Handing the Keys’ (1461).  Note: St. Gerolamo is enthroned by Giovanni Santi (1494?), father of the great Raffaello.  

- Room VIII - Shows a tapestry of the Last Supper from Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting (1452-1519) and Flemish tapestries made of the 16th Century, using Raffaello’s cartoons (1483-1520): the latter were first placed inside the Sistine Chapel at the bottom of the walls.  In the middle of the room are exhibited paintings by Raffaello: on the right is the ‘Crowning of the Virgin Mary’ (1502-1503), a work of his younger days; on the left the ‘Madonna of Foligno’ (1511-1512) and at the same time, the works of the apartment of Julius II, known as the ‘Stanze’.  In the centre is the ‘Transfiguration’ (1518-1520), a masterpiece painted in oil on wood, in which the artist shows influence of Michelangelo, in tragedy of the figures represented.

- Room IX - Hosts an incomplete work by Leonardo: the famous ‘St. Jerome’ (1482).  Note: on the top left, the landscape typical of Leonardo’s paintings, with glaciers and remote mountains, the skinny figure of the Saint who abandoned all his lands, embraces the ascetic life.  In the room is also placed the ‘Compianto sul Cristo Morto’ (Mourning over the dead body of Christ) by the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516).

- Room X - Hosts works by some of the greatest Venetian painters of the 15th Century; the ‘Madonna of St. Niccolo’ Dei Frari’ with the beautiful veiled woman on the right, while a painting representing ‘St. Helen’, a rich woman wearing a wide silky and glittering dress, by Paolo Caliari, nicknamed the ‘Veronese’, painted in his own style.

- Room XI - Has works of painters of the second half of 15th Century, including the ‘Lapidation of St. Stephen’ by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), the
 ‘Sacrifice of Isaac’ by Ludovico Carracci, the ‘Annunciation’ by Cavalier d’Arpino dated 1606, and the ‘Rest during the Escape to Egypt’ by Barocci (1528-1612).

- Room XII - Is dedicated to the painters of the early 16th Century, who inherited a taste for realism and daring perspective from Caravaggio.  Of significant interest is the ‘Communion of St. Jerome’ painted by Domenichino in the 1616, the ‘Crucifixion of St. Peter’ and ‘St. Matthew and the Angel’ by Guido Reni (1575-1642), ‘San Peter denies Christ’ by the Caravaggio school, the ‘Removal of Christ from the Cross’ by Caravaggio dated 1604 and the ‘Martyrdom of St. Herasmus’ by the French painter Nicolas Poussin

- Room XIII, XIV and XV - In the first room there are the paintings by the Flemish Van Dyck, the Italian Pietro da Cortona and the French artist Nicolas Poussin, while in the rooms XIV and XV are a variety of paintings of the 16th and 17th Centuries.

- Room XVI - In this room displays paintings of the Bohemian painter Peter Wenzel (1745-1829).  He was born near Prague; just to mention the superb ‘Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden’ with an exceptional variety of flowers and animals.

- In the two adjacent rooms, on display, are clay models of the statues of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, made for the St. Peter's Basilica (room XVII) and Greek icons from the 15th to the 19th Century (room XVIII).