TURNING THE KEYS TO THE VATICAN

Step beyond the cast iron gates and velvet cordons and enjoy a private VIP viewing of the Vatican Museum’s hidden treasures. Our special reservation guarantees exclusive access to areas that are usually out of bounds to visitors, allowing you to admire some of the Vatican’s chef d’oeuvres in peace and privacy.

The Bramante Staircase, located inside the Museo Pio Clementino, is a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture. Built at the request of Pope Julius II in 1505 and skilfully carved out of stone by architect Donato Bramante, the structure is famous for its innovative design, consisting of two intertwining, spiraling, double-helix-shaped staircases. It used to connect the street level with the papal apartments, ensuring the pontiff could reach his private residence by carriage and the horses and mules laden with goods could move smoothly up and down the staircase without encumbrance.

The Niccoline Chapel is situated in the Tower of Innocent III, in the most ancient area of the Apostolic Palace. It was built over five hundred years ago as Pope Nicholas V’s private place of worship and sumptuously decorated by Tuscan painter and Dominican friar Beato Angelico. The frescoes, glorifying the martyred deacons St. Stephen and St. Lawrence, are considered one of the greatest achievements of early Renaissance genius and skill. Three walls of the chapel are divided into two sections. The lunettes above are decorated with episodes from the life of St. Stephen, deacon of Jerusalem, while the bottom register represents scenes from the life of St. Lawrence, deacon of Rome. The composition and iconography were carefully planned so as to highlight the parallels between the ordinations, ministry and martyrdoms of the two heroic saints and the continuity between the Church of Jerusalem and the Church of Rome. The Four Evangelists, depicted on the vault and representing the foundations of the Christian doctrine, symbolically transmit the truth that lies within their scripts to the eight Doctors of the Church, who appear inside niches on the arches that frame the walls.

Your guide will explain what lies behind these extraordinary paintings, animating your visit with stories and curiosities about the protagonists of the scenes and their celebrated creator. Did you know that on these walls you can spot what is thought to be the only existing self-portrait of Beato Angelico?