It was established by Gregory XVI (1831-1846) in 1844 in the Lateran Palace and from there it was transferred to the Vatican in 1970 by the will of John XXIII.
It houses Greek originals, Greek copies from the Roman age and Roman sculptures ranging from the 1st to the 3rd century AD. Famous is the group of Athena and Marsyas from a Greek original by Myron (about 450 BC).
The Gregorian Profane Museum includes materials which, for the most part, come from excavations and finds carried out in the Papal State.
It is divided into five main sections:
- Section I: collects fragments of original Greek sculptures and reliefs from the 5th-4th century BC;
- Section II: collects Roman copies or reworkings of the imperial age (1st-3rd century AD) of Greek originals;
- Section III: exhibits Roman sculptures from the 1st and early 2nd centuries, arranged in chronological order, mainly busts and altars; among them the Ara dei Vicomagistri;
- Section IV: is the gallery of sarcophagi, sorted by themes;
- Section V: exhibits works of Roman sculpture from the II and III centuries.
Among the works on display, of notable interest are the Roman copies of the Athena and Marsyas group of Mirone (about 450 BC) and a portrait of Sophocles, from a Greek original of the 4th century; Furthermore, ample space is dedicated to the Hebrew lapidary department, in which 137 inscriptions in Greek or Latin on sepulchral slabs are collected from the Monteverde catacomb, discovered in 1602 but explored in 1904-1906, whose finds date back to the I-III century A.D.
Gregorian Profane Museum - Vatican Museums
Address: Viale Vaticano, Musei Vaticani, 00120, Stato Vaticano
Phone: 06 69883332
Site:
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/it/collezioni/musei/museo-gregoriano-profano.htmlLocation inserted by
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