Vatican Museums

Gregory XIII (Boncompagni), a hardened and cultured counter-reform pope, commissioned the great mathematician and cosmographer Ignazio Danti – along with a team of painters led by Girolamo Muziano – to complete a truly grandiose project: documenting Italy’s geography with 40 large-scale maps covering the walls of an entire room near the Sistine Chapel.

The Gallery of Maps was opened in 1581. It is a monumental lesson in mapmaking and a marvellous example of the harmony of scientific accuracy with artistic expression. The hall is one hundred and twenty metres long and six metres wide, and its frescoed maps represent the regions of Italy, its major islands (Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica) and the minor ones (Tremiti, Elba, Malta and Corfu). Here, the Pope could "take a walking tour of Italy without leaving the Palace" (Antonio Pinelli, La Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, 1994).

The inscription that serves as the dedication for the work, "Regio totius urbis nobilissima" unequivocally reveals Gregory XIII's vision of Italy: the most noble country in the world. The term "nobilissima" is meant to convey History, Memory, Culture, Variety, Art and Beauty.

The Gallery of Maps was restored during the reign of Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644), who also designated a small room for liturgical functions, in the Borgia Tower adjoining Raphael's Rooms. In 1631, this newly renovated, ornate room with its lunette vault ceiling and gold-leafed plasterwork became the Pope's private chapel, and is known as the Chapel of Urban VIII.

Another major renovation of the gallery’s painted surfaces was begun in September 2012, under the direction of Professor Antonio Paolucci, and will be completed in 2016.