Pio-Clementino museum, Classical sculpture museum in Vatican City.

The Museo Pio-Clementino occupies the Palazzetto del Belvedere, built in the Renaissance by Donato Bramante and remodelled at the end of the 18th century by Michelangelo Simonetti, Alessandro Dori and Giuseppe Camporese. Its twelve rooms, including the Octagonal Courtyard, hold Greek and Roman sculpture: the Apollo Belvedere, the Laocoön group, the Apoxyomenos and Canova's Perseus. A long gilded barrel-vaulted gallery is lined with veined marble columns and white marble statues on pedestals.

The collection began with Pope Julius II's gathering of artworks in 1503, and was later expanded through excavations across Rome and the Lazio region. These acquisitions during the 18th century transformed the space into one of the largest repositories of classical art.

The Octagonal Court began as a Renaissance orange garden adorned with ancient statues, laid out in the 15th century by Bramante; it is considered the first seed of the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo Simonetti rebuilt it in 1772 with an octagonal portico and the cabinets of Apollo, Laocoön, Hermes and Canova. The Apollo Belvedere and the Laocoön group stand in these cabinets.

The entrance features the Atrium of the Four Gates and the Simonetti Staircase, which connects to other museums within the Vatican. Plan for an extended visit, as the halls contain many works and the route moves through several levels.

The Hall of Animals features marble sculptures of many different creatures, while the Round Hall contains a gilded bronze Hercules statue at its center. These two rooms stand out because they display more than just human figures.