The Stanza della Segnatura (Raphael Rooms) ★★★

The School of Athens (1508–11) in the Stanza della Segnatura of the Raphael Rooms in the Vatican Museum, Rome
The School of Athens (1508–11) in the Stanza della Segnatura of the Raphael Rooms in the Vatican Museum.

The Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican's Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms) is a papal apartment frescoed by Raphael with the School of Athens and other masterpieces

The original cartoon for Raphael's School of Athens—note the lack of Heraclitus/Michelangelo in the middle
The original cartoon for Raphael's School of Athens—note the lack of Heraclitus/Michelangelo in the center.

The second Raphael Room is perhaps the highlight, the Stanza della Segnatura (1508–11), containing Raphael's famous School of Athens (pictured above).

This mythical gathering of the philosophers from across the ages is also a catalog of the Renaissance, with many philosophers actually bearing portraits of Raphael's greatest fellow artists.

These include his mentor the architect Bramante (on the right as balding Euclid, bent over as he draws on a chalkboard), Leonardo da Vinci (as Plato, the bearded patriarch in the center pointing heavenward), and Raphael himself (looking out at us from the lower right corner next to his white-robed buddy Il Sodoma).

Raphael's Parnassus in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican, Rome
Raphael's Parnassus in the Stanza della Segnatura.

In the midst of painting this masterpiece, Raphael took a sneak peek at what his heretofore rival Michelangelo was busy painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel down the hall.

He was so impressed that he returned to the School of Athens and added in a sulking portrait of Michelangelo (as Heraclitus) sitting on the steps in his stonecutter's boots. (We know he added it because his original cartoon, or full-scale preparatory drawing, survived.)

Raphael's The Disputation of the Sacrament in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican, Rome
Raphael's Disputation of the Sacrament in the Stanza della Segnatura.

It was a true moment of growth for the cocky young master, who realized even he could learn from the genius of another. In fact, he soon adapted his style and color palate, reflecting Michelangelo's influence.

Another important fresco here is the Disputation of the Sacrament, with three more portraits. Toward the middle of the right side, half-hidden behind a golden-robed church dignitary, stands a dour-looking man in red with a laurel-leaf crown—the Tuscan poet Dante, whose Inferno revolutionized Italian literature by using the Tuscan vernacular rather than Latin, and became the basis for the Italian language.

The ceiling in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican, Rome
The ceiling in the Stanza della Segnatura.

Look also on the far left for a pious-looking man in black with just a wisp of white hair remaining—it's a portrait of the monastic painter Fra' Angelico, whose great work in Rome lies just after these rooms. Bramante (again) bends over the railing in front and thumps a book (probably arguing some finer point of architecture).

The other Raphael Rooms

Tips & links

Details
ADDRESS

Viale Vaticano (on the north side of the Vatican City walls, between where Via Santamaura and the Via Tunisi staircase hit Viale Vaticano; about a 5–10 minute walk around the walls from St. Peter's).
tel. +39-06-6988-4676 or +39-06-6988-3145
www.museivaticani.va or www.vatican.va

OPEN

Mon–Sat 9am–6pm (last entry: 4pm)
* May 2–July 25 and Sept 5–Oct 31 also open Fridays 7–11pm with advance booking (» more)
* Open the last Sun of each month 9:30am–2pm—and it's free!... and terribly crowded
* For other closed dates, see "tips" below

ADMISSION

€16
Roma Pass: No
Tickets: Select Italy or Viator

TRANSPORT

Bus: 49; 490, 492, 496; 23, 32, 81,Tram 19, 271, 492, 590, 982, 990
Metro: Cipro-Musei Vaticani (A)
See "Tips" for more info

TOURS
How long does the Raphael Rooms' Stanza della Segnatura take?

Planning your day: The Raphael Rooms take about 20–40 minutes to stroll through, but expect to spend all day at the Vatican. Two days if you can swing it. Even on a tight schedule, expect to pretty much spend one full day seeing the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's together. They're worth it.

Warning: The ticket office closes 2 hours before the museum, with the last entry at 4pm.

» Rome itineraries

Book ahead

You can book Vatican entry tickets ahead of time to help avoid the lines, which can last for up to an hour or so in the summer. However, this adds a €4 fee to the already steep admission of €16 at www.vatican.va. Or you can do it online via one of our partners:

Reserve a Vatican tour

Vatican tours: There are two-hour tours of the museums and Sistine Chapel available (in English usually four time a day) for €32 per person. Three-hour tours that also include St. Peter's cost €37. Note, though, that those prices include the €16 admisison ticket and €4 booking fee, so the tour portion actually only costs an extra €12–€15. For more info: tel. +39-06-6988-3145 or www.vatican.va.

If you prefer a private guided tour of the Vatican and its museums, book one via our partner sites Viator.com or Context Travel:

Admission quirks: When the Vatican is free, closed, crowded, open late, etc.

Vatican Museum free days

The Vatican Museums are free on the last Sunday of each month, when they stay open until 2pm (last entry: 12:30pm). This, however, is no secret, so they are also intensely crowded.

On any other Sunday, however, the Vatican Museum are closed—and if that final Sunday of the month happens falls on a church holiday (see below), they also remain closed.

The Vatican is also free on Sept. 27 (World Tourism Day)..

Vatican most crowded on Sun and Wed

The Vatican Museums are most crowded on Sundays (because they're free) and many Wednesdays (because in the morning St. Peter's itself is often closed for the papal audience in the piazza, so everyone who doesn't have tickets walks around the walls to kill time inside the museums, and by afternoon all the audience-goers join them).

Open late on summer Fridays

The Vatican has been experimenting with reopening the museums on Friday evenings in spring and early summer then again in fall allowing a limited number of visitors—upon advance booking only—to wander the mooonlit galleries without the crowds.

More info: www.vatican.va.

To book: Viator.com

Vatican closed on church holidays

The Vatican Museums are closed on all church holidays: Jan. 1, Jan. 6, Feb. 11, Mar. 19, Easter Sunday and Monday, May 1, June 29 (Feast of St. Peter and Paul—major Roman holiday), Aug. 14–15 (everything is closed in Rome on Aug. 15; head to Santa Maria Maggiore for mass with a "snowfall" of rose petals), Nov. 1, Dec. 25 (Merry Christmas!), and Dec. 26 (Santo Stefano—huge in Italy).

Last entry: 4pm

Note that the Vatican Museums close surprisingly early (last entry at 4pm, doors close 6pm).

So see the Museums first, then walk around the walls to visit St. Peter's.

Dress code?

Recently, the Vatican (or at least some guards) seems to have decided that you must dress "appropriately" to visit any part of Vatican City—including the museums—and not just St. Peter's, where a dress code has long applied.

Err on the side of caution and make sure you arrive with no bare shoulders, knees or midriffs.

That means: no shorts, no miniskirts, no sleeveless shirts or blouses, no tank-tops. Also, no hats.

(If it's hot and you want to wear a tank top around town that day, just bring a light shawl to cover your shoulders while inside; » more on packing the right items for an Italy trip.)

Also, you cannot bring into the museum any bag or backpack larger than 40cm x 35cm x 15cm (roughly 16" x 14" x 6")—there is a cloackroom where you can leave it.

The various Vatican Museums
How to get to the Vatican Museums

Cipro-Musei Vaticani is the closest Metro stop (on the A line, about 5 blocks northwest of the entrance; just follow the crowds).

Otherwise, bus 49 stops right in front of the museum entrance (you can catch it from Piazza Cavour, or anywhere along Via Cescenzio, which starts at the northwestern tip of the piazza, near Castel Sant'Angelo).

You can also take bus 490, 492, 496, N1 to Via Candia (two blocks north of the entrance), or one of many bus lines to Piazza del Risorgimento, tucked into a inside corner of the Vatican walls a short walk east of the musuems entrance: 23, 32, 81,Tram 19, 271, 492, 590, 982, 990, N11.

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Raphael Rooms' Stanza della Segnatura
★★★
ADDRESS

Viale Vaticano (on the north side of the Vatican City walls, between where Via Santamaura and the Via Tunisi staircase hit Viale Vaticano; about a 5–10 minute walk around the walls from St. Peter's).
tel. +39-06-6988-4676 or +39-06-6988-3145
www.museivaticani.va or www.vatican.va

OPEN

Mon–Sat 9am–6pm (last entry: 4pm)
* May 2–July 25 and Sept 5–Oct 31 also open Fridays 7–11pm with advance booking (» more)
* Open the last Sun of each month 9:30am–2pm—and it's free!... and terribly crowded
* For other closed dates, see "tips" below

ADMISSION

€16
Roma Pass: No
Tickets: Select Italy or Viator

TRANSPORT

Bus: 49; 490, 492, 496; 23, 32, 81,Tram 19, 271, 492, 590, 982, 990
Metro: Cipro-Musei Vaticani (A)
See "Tips" for more info

TOURS


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