When taking people to the Vatican Museums I often take a right after the entrance escalator and, before joining the throngs heading towards the Sistine Chapel (surfing the gaps between tour groups is my superpower), pop into the Museo Gregoriano Profano. The Vatican Museums are, after all, alarmingly plural and—to paraphrase the erudite and entertaining Philippe Daverio—one should no more attempt to visit every area in one go than one should expect to read all the books in a library. But a glimpse into the 1960s Brutalist wing which is home to the collection of pre-Christian pieces first brought to the museums in the nineteenth century by Gregory XVI is rewarded with one of the great treasures of the inexhaustible and wildly eclectic Vatican collections.
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