Exclusive: Visit the Official Vatican Mosaic Studio

The Vatican Museums house the most famous and most visited art collection on Earth. Curated over centuries by the papacy, the Vatican’s attractions include the world’s most beautiful paintings, sculptures, frescoes and archaeological treasures. The collection began with Pope Julius II in the early 1500s and has expanded over the centuries to encapsulate more of human history, from antiquity to the modern day.

The Vatican Mosaic Studio is a lesser-known jewel in Vatican City. This workshop is where brilliant artists work to preserve and restore the mosaics inside Saint Peter’s Basilica, and that has been the purpose of the studio since 1727. They also create their own original artworks with the incredible techniques developed in that very workshop. The mosaic work of these master craftsmen is so fine that their pieces can be easily mistaken for paintings. Visitors are also able to commission and buy these masterpieces for a truly luxurious souvenir.

After your experience in the Mosaic Studio, your guide will expertly lead you through the enormous galleries, including the Pio Clementino Museum, the Tapestry and Geographic Maps Galleries, the Candelabra and Raphael’s Rooms. You will see all the best of the artworks and artifacts, from sculptures to the exquisite frescoes on the walls. The grandest of these are to be found in the Sistine Chapel. Its ceiling is lavished in frescoes by Michelangelo and is one of the most famous artworks in human history.