Pietà Michelangelo: Where the Vatican Pietà Is and How to See It

Michelangelo’s Pietà is in St Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican: it is in the first chapel on the right as you enter. He carved it in Carrara marble between 1498 and 1499, at age 24, and it is the only work he ever signed. It shows the Virgin Mary with the dead Christ on her lap. Since a hammer attack in 1972 it has been protected behind bulletproof glass. You need no ticket to see the Vatican Pietà: the basilica charges no admission and is open every day from 7:00 to 19:00 until 28 March 2027.

Where is Michelangelo’s Pietà?

In the first chapel of the right aisle of St Peter’s Basilica. It is the first great work you come across after entering, before you reach the baldachin and the dome. Wikipedia describes it as the best-known work of art of all those the basilica holds.

It was not always there. Its first home was the tomb of the cardinal who commissioned it, in the Chapel of St Petronilla, in the Vatican. It was moved to its current spot between 1749 and 1750.

Fact	The Vatican Pietà
Artist	Michelangelo, aged 24
Date	1498–1499
Material	Carrara marble
Dimensions	1.74 × 1.95 m
Commissioned by	Cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas
Agreed price	450 gold ducats
Location	First chapel on the right, St Peter’s Basilica

What makes the Vatican Pietà unique?

The subject, the Virgin holding Christ’s body after the crucifixion, was not new. What was new was how Michelangelo handled it, and its history has details all its own. Four stand out:

• The young, serene Virgin. Mary appears younger than her son, without gestures of extreme grief. It is the Renaissance ideal of beauty: a mother who is forever young. The pain shows in silence, not in a cry.
• The triangular composition. The figures form a calm triangle, and the sculpture plays with contrasts: Christ’s body, with broken lines and smooth skin, against the deep, curving folds of the Virgin’s mantle; Christ’s right arm, hanging lifeless, against Mary’s left, full of life.
• It is Michelangelo’s only signed work. When he delivered it, some doubted that so young an artist could be its author. So he carved his name on the sash across the Virgin’s chest: “MICHAEL A[N]GELUS BONAROTUS FLORENT[INUS] FACIEBA[T]”, that is, “Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Florentine, was making this”.
• The commission delivered on time. The contract, signed on 26 August 1498, allowed one year. Michelangelo finished two days before the deadline, although the cardinal had died a few days earlier.

Michelangelo chose the marble block himself in the quarries of the Apuan Alps, in Tuscany. The work is carved in the round, meaning it can be seen from every side, although it is meant to be viewed from the front. Giorgio Vasari wrote of it that no artist could add anything to it in design or grace.

It was the first time Michelangelo sculpted this subject. He came back to it several times; the last, the Rondanini Pietà, was left unfinished when he fell ill and died.

Why is the Pietà behind glass?

Because of the attack of 21 May 1972. That day, Pentecost Sunday, a Hungarian-born Australian geologist, Laszlo Toth, struck the sculpture several times with a hammer while shouting that he was Jesus Christ. He was overpowered within seconds, but the damage was serious, above all to the Virgin: he knocked off some fifty fragments, broke the left arm and elbow, and almost destroyed the nose and eyelids.

Restoration began almost immediately, after a period of study. It was carried out in laboratories near the Vatican Museums, reusing the original fragments wherever possible along with a paste of glue and marble dust. Thanks to the many existing models, it could be reconstructed faithfully, without arbitrary changes.

Since then, the Pietà has been protected by a wall of special bulletproof glass.

How do you see the Pietà in St Peter’s Basilica?

You need no ticket: the Pietà is in the basilica, which is free. You go through the Italian State Police security check in the right-hand colonnade of St Peter’s Square, enter through the portico and find it on the right, in the first chapel.

What to know before you go:

• Hours: from 26 October 2026 to 28 March 2027, every day from 7:00 to 19:00.
• Wednesdays: operators warn that the basilica closes on Wednesday mornings for the Pope’s general audience. Go in the afternoon.
• Dress code: shoulders covered and pants or skirts below the knee, for everyone. No hats. More in Vatican dress code.
• Bags: the basilica has no cloakroom, so travel light.
• Photos: the basilica asks visitors not to take photos.

If you want the Pietà and the rest of the basilica explained, there are two options we link to. The St Peter’s Basilica tour with the dome and grottoes is a guided tour of 1.5 to 2.5 hours from $33, rated 4.8 out of 5 in 6,363 reviews of this tour on GetYourGuide. And if you are also seeing the Museums, the Vatican Museums and St Peter’s Basilica ticket, from $68, combines the two visits. Partner prices are converted from euros at 1 EUR = 1.115 USD (ECB, 27 Oct 2026). According to their listings, the guided Museums tours that continue to the basilica include the Pietà.

To carry on, a few steps away is Bernini’s baldachin under the dome, and above, the climb up St Peter’s dome, designed by Michelangelo himself. Every visit is in Vatican Museums tickets.