The Art of the Vatican Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The Vatican City is home to many famous artworks located in both the Vatican Museums and the religious buildings of the Vatican. The Vatican Museums are a series of museums containing around 70,000 artworks with about 20,000 on display. The museums contain many ancient sculptures from the Etruscan and Roman periods as well as major artworks from the Renaissance and more modern works. In 2023 the Vatican Museums were the second most visited art museums in the world after the Louvre in Paris.

The Vatican Museums have their beginnings in the purchase by Pope Julius II of the ancient sculpture 'Lacoon and His Sons' which was discovered in a vineyard in Rome in 1506. Following the purchase of the statue, it was put on public display, forming the first piece in the collection of the Vatican Museums.

The Collection of Modern Religious Art, opened in 1973, consists of many religious artworks by late 19th and 20th century artists and includes the 'Pieta' by Vincent van Gogh which was painted in 1889. This museum also houses a room containing Catholic vestments designed by the French artist Henri Matisse.

Along with the Vatican Museums the Vatican City also has major artworks located in its religious buildings, in particular the frescos of the Sistine Chapel. The most famous of these are the Frescoes by Michelangelo with 'The Last Judgement' on the altar wall and a series of paintings on the chapel's ceiling of which 'The Creation of Adam' is one.

Raphael's 'The School of Athens' is also a fresco but this is located in the Apostolic Palace. The painting depicts philosophers, mathematicians and scientists from ancient times and was painted between 1509-1511 after being commissioned by Pope Julius II.

'The Entombment of Christ' by Caravaggio is an altarpiece originally painted for the Chiesa Nuova church in Rome, where a copy is still visible today. The original painting was removed from the church in 1797 and taken to Paris to be displayed at what was then called the Musee Napoleon, which later became the Louvre. In 1816 the painting was returned to Italy and found a new home in the Vatican. Giotto's 'Stefaneschi Triptych' is also an altarpiece and was commissioned for the Old St Peter's Basilica in Rome. The work was painted in around 1320 and is now housed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana gallery.

Also housed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana is Raphael's 'The Transfiguration'. This was Raphael's last painting and was originally commissioned as an altarpiece for Narbonne Cathedral in France. The paining was given to the Vatican as part of the Treaty of Paris following the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.

'St Jerome in the Wilderness' is an unfinished painting by Leonardo da Vinci which is normally displayed in the Vatican Museums but is sometimes lent to other museums for special exhibitions. 'The Crucifixion of St Peter' was painted between 1604-1605 by the Italian, Baroque painter Guido Reni.

As for the incorrect answers in this quiz, these are located as follows: Michelangelo's 'David' is found in Florence in the Galleria dell'Accademia; The 'Mona Lisa' is in the Louvre in Paris; Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night' is in MoMA in New York; 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' is located in the Mauritshuis art museum in the Dutch city of The Hague and finally Picasso's 'Guernica' is in the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.