Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CONCLAVE
Famous for its Renaissance frescoes, the Sistine Chapel also plays an important religious function as the place
where the papal conclave meets to elect a new pope. Dating to 1274, give or take a few modifications, the rules of
the voting procedure are explicit: between 15 and 20 days after the death of a pope (or retirement as in the case of
Benedict XVI, who resigned in February 2013), the entire College of Cardinals (comprising all cardinals under
the age of 80) is locked in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pontiff. Four secret ballots are held a day until a two-
thirds majority has been secured. News of the election is then communicated by the emission of white smoke
through a specially erected chimney.
The need to protect the frescoes and cool the cardinals during the conclave means that the Sistine Chapel is
one of the few places in the Vatican Museums with air-conditioning.
The next room, the
Sala Rotonda
(Round Room), contains a number of colossal statues,
including the gilded-bronze figure of an odd-looking Ercole (Hercules) and an exquisite
floor mosaic. The enormous basin in the centre of the room was found at Nero's Domus
Aurea and is made out of a single piece of red porphyry stone.
Museo Gregoriano Etrusco
On the upper level of the Belvedere (off the 18th-century Simonetti staircase), the Museo
Gregoriano Etrusco contains artefacts unearthed in the Etruscan tombs of northern Lazio,
and a collection of Greek vases and Roman antiquities. Of particular interest is the Marte
di Todi (Mars of Todi), a full-length bronze statue of a warrior dating from the 4th century
BC, in the
Sala dei Bronzi
.
Galleria dei Candelabri & Galleria degli Arazzi
Originally an open loggia, the Galleria dei Candelabri is packed with classical sculpture
and several elegantly carved marble candelabras that give the gallery its name. The cor-
ridor continues through to the Galleria degli Arazzi (Tapestry Gallery) and its 10 huge
tapestries. The best tapestries, on the left, were woven in Brussels in the 16th century.
Galleria delle Carte Geografiche & Sala Sobieski
One of the unsung heroes of the Vatican Museums, the 120m-long Map Gallery is hung
with 40 huge topographical maps. These were created between 1580 and 1583 for Pope
Gregory XIII based on drafts by Ignazio Danti, a leading cartographer of his day.
