The Vatican palaces and St. Peter's Basilica were a true "factory" of Renaissance art: here worked the two most notable artists of the period, Raphael and Michelangelo. In adjoining rooms, sweet natured Raphael and his many assistants frescoed the private apartments of Pope Julius II from 1508 to 1520, while the gloomy and laconic Michelangelo labored almost alone on the Sistine Chapel ceiling from 1508-1512 (he returned in 1536 to paint the monumental "Last Judgment" on the chapel's altar wall).

These treasures and much more will be revealed by your expert private guide in this half-day tour of the Vatican Museums, the most extensive collection of art in the entire world. Corners of the Vatican such as the Pio-Clementino courtyard with the famous antique marble statues of the "Laocoon" and "Apollo Belvedere," as well as the galleries of the Candelabra, Tapestries, and Maps will be passed through en route to the Sistine Chapel.

The tour concludes in St. Peter's Basilica with its imposing dome and the sculpted marble masterpiece of the "Pieta'," both designed by Michelangelo. Gian Lorenzo Bernini"s impressive Baroque baldachino above the high altar, where only the Pope is allowed to say Mass, is lavishly covered in gold and bronze. You will also see the most recent papal tomb inside the Basilica where the Blessed Pope John Paul II was laid to rest in 2011.