The Vatican Museums comprise a number of collections built up by various Popes over the centuries. They include classical sculpture, Egyptian antiquities, Christian relics and modern religious art. The special interest for gold is in the Etruscan collection put together by Pope Gregory XVI in 1837. Excavations in Etruria, modern Tuscany, where a sophisticated civilisation flourished from 700 to 300 BC, were turning up wonderful pottery, bronze and gold ornaments in the early 19th century. Pope Gregory preserved some of the finest gold objects in the Vatican Museum, including a delicate gold pin decorated with five lions surrounded by a border of intertwined flowers. The surface of the pin is covered with thousands of tiny gold granules - a classic example of the Etruscans' skill at granulation 2,500 years ago.

Monumention, Musei e Gallerie Pontifice
00120 Vatican City
Rome
Italy

Tel.     +39 06 69883333
Fax     +39 06 69885061
           
Open

Daily 8.45 am to 1.45 pm
April to mid-June, September & October: Monday to Friday 8.45 to 4 pm
Closed 1 January, Easter Monday, 1 May, 25 December and all religious holidays