Rome: Vatican Museum (Raphael Rooms, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square)

The Vatican Museums are public museums that display about 20,000 of 70K works collected by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries. The museums were founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century. Only the Louvre in France receives more annual visitors than the Vatican Museums. The museums consist of 24 galleries. Many visits conclude with tours of St. Peter’s Basilica. Photos in this collection include images of several paintings in three of the Raphael rooms (Room of Heliodorus, Room of the Signature, Room of the Fire in the Borgo), photos of St. Peter’s Basilica, and St. Peter’s Square. Images were taken in May of 2017 by Dr. Beth Sheppard and cataloged by Ms. Shelley Rogers. Noah Dietsch, intern, assisted with collection processing.