The Cortile del Belvedere was a major architectural work of the High Renaissance at the Vatican Palace in Rome. Designed by Donato Bramante from 1505 onward, its concept and details reverberated in courtyard design, formalized piazzas and garden plans throughout Western Europe. Conceived as a single enclosed space, the long Belvedere court connected the Vatican Palace with the Villa Belvedere in a series of terraces connected by stairs, and was contained on its sides by narrow wings.
A carousel in the Cortile del Belvedere, 1565: Étienne du Perac has exaggerated the vertical dimensions, but Bramante's sequence of monumental axially-planned stairs is visible.
View of the courtyard at dusk
Giovanni Antonio Dosio's drawing, about Bramante's building
Exedra in the Cortile della Pigna
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the building as the Palace of Sixtus V, in honor of Pope Sixtus V, who built most of the present form of the palace.
A view of the Papal Apartments from Saint Peter's Square
The Portone di Bronzo at the Vatican Apostolic Palace entrance
A model of the palace in the Vatican Museums. The buildings are arranged around a central courtyard.
Under the patronage of Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512.
