Overview
The museum can be accessed from the left aisle of the basilica next to the main sacristy. The museum houses sacred relics and priceless artefacts, with items that survived plundering by the Saracens in 846, by Charles V's Lansquenets in 1527 and by Napoleon's troops in 1797, and is enhanced by new works. The most noteworthy exhibits include the Holy Column, a Byzantine column on which, according to tradition, Christ is said to have leaned in the Temple of Solomon, but in reality is a work from the 4th century; the gilded metal rooster (9th century), which stood on top of the old St. Peter's Basilica; a splendid historiated dalmatic said to have belonged to Charlemagne, which is actually a Byzantine work from the 11th century; the Crux Vaticana, or "Vatican Cross", given to Rome by the Eastern Emperor Justin II (6th century) and studded with gems. The elaborate monument of Sixtus IV, adorned with the figures of Rhetoric, Grammar, Perspective, Music and Geometry, is a masterpiece by Pollaiolo (1493), while the sarcophagus of Giunio Basso, prefect of Rome in 359, discovered in the late 16th century near the confessional of the basilica, is decorated with scenes from the Old and New Testaments.
