Palazzo Apostolico

Vatican Museums is full of art and we began with sculpture.

This sculpture of Anubis Egyptian God of the Afterlife is reported to have come from Tivoli, not far from the city of Rome, and thought to date from Second Century.

Sfera con Sfera is found at the center of Pinecone Courtyard.

In this Ancient Sculpture that was excavated in Rome and is currently on display in Vatican Museums, Trojan Priest Laocoon and his sons are attacked by giant snakes sent from the gods because reasons. The point here is the sophistication of Ancient Greek and Roman Sculpture.

Belvedere Torso is all that remains of an ancient statue of Hercules, a hero an Roman and Greek Mythology. Michelangelo, a master of the High Renaissance, a movement which rediscovered the skill, detail, proportionality, realism, and anatomical-correctness of ancient Greece and Rome, drew inspiration from this sculpture in particular.

This basin reflects the abject decadence of Emperor Nero, in that it is made from Imperial Porphyry, an extremely rare material.

Nero was infamous for being particularly ineffective, choosing to spend his time competing in theater, art, and athletics. The Senate retaliated by sentencing him to death, and the Colosseum was built where his palace once stood.