Cortile della Pigna
Vatican City
Rome Italy
2016

One of the first parts of the Vatican Museums that are seen when the visit begins is the Pinecone Courtyard. It is a large open space of 300 square meters adjacent to the corridors and halls of the museum.

Visiting the long courtyard you can admire various works of art both ancient and modern.

Why is it called Pigna Courtyard?

Its name is due to the huge bronze cone in the courtyard. The work, four meters high and two and a half wide, dates back to the second century and has a meaning of immortality and rebirth.


The Fontana della Pigna or simply Pigna ([ˈpiɲɲa], "pinecone") is a former Roman fountain which now decorates a vast niche in the wall of the Vatican facing the Cortile della Pigna, located in Vatican City, in Rome, Italy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontana_della_Pigna

Composed of a large bronze pine cone almost four meters high which once spouted water from the top, the Pigna originally stood near the Pantheon next to the Temple of Isis. It was moved to the courtyard of the Old St. Peter's Basilica during the Middle Ages and then moved again, in 1608, to its present location.


The Pinecone Courtyard, or the Cortile della Pigna, was the center of the museums when Raphael lived there. During Raphael’s time, around 15th or 16th century, many artists lodged with the Pope as long as they were patronized by the Pope. At this time, the courtyard itself was part of the Papal Palace, which Pope Nicolas II started construction in 1277. Following Nicolas II’s reign, subsequent Popes continued to add to what is now the Vatican Museums from their own personal funds. They were able to do this because the majority of them were nobles. These Popes hired artists and made excavations in Rome to find more Classical artifacts.

When Raphael and Michelangelo were working for the Pope, the Cortile della Pigna was filled with statues from excavations and commissions. Among them was the gigantic Face of Augustus statue (photo left), which is the head piece of a giant statue. The statue itself was of Caesar Augustus, who was the successor of Julius Caesar. Why is this giant head of Caesar Augustus being displayed in the Vatican Museum today? Because under Augustus, the Roman Empire had their Pax Augustus, or Golden Era. This was the era in which the first Christmas happened and Christianity spread. This Pax Augustus allowed people to think about the afterlife. It also meant that it was safe to travel throughout the Empire, which effectively brought about the spread of Christianity.

Stepping back and looking at the Pinecone Courtyard, one may wonder, “Why is it called the Pinecone Courtyard?” This courtyard is named for the large pinecone statue at one end of the yard (photo right). This statue was once a fountain, so all the “petals” or “scales” have holes for water. This pinecone is important because the cone itself, as well as the peacocks that adorn it, are symbols of eternal life. The lions at the base of the structure are Egyptian. They are the remnants of the first Egyptian museum in the world, which was owned by the Pope. The Papal collection was downsized when Napoleon sacked Rome.


https://boardingpasstraveler.com/2013/03/03/the-vatican-the-pope-peacocks-and-a-pinecone/

One thing that piqued my curiosity is the bronze pinecone and peacock statues in a courtyard at the Vatican Museum. What are these whimsical statues doing in one of the holiest of places in the world?

The statues are located in what is known as the Belvedere Courtyard, which was designed by Donato Bramante beginning in 1506 for Pope Julius II to connect the Vatican Palace with the Sistine Chapel. Originally the courtyard had three levels linked by stairways and flanked by galleries that were slightly angled towards the Sistine Chapel, so that from the papal apartments the courtyard looked even bigger than it actually was. Would you expect anything less from the Vatican?

Over the years, the courtyard became sort of a papal menagerie, a prime example being Pope Leo X who paraded his pet elephant Hanno around the courtyard for all to see. Bramante died in 1514 before the completion of the courtyard, which architect Pirro Ligorio finished in 1565, adding the niche at the north end with a half-dome top modeled after the Pantheon. This so-called Cortille della Pigna, or Court of the Pinecone, is home to the infamous 13-foot-tall bronze pinecone statue, which coincidentally was originally part of a Roman fountain near the Pantheon. The statue was moved to the courtyard of the old St. Peter’s Basilica in the Middle Ages and then again in 1608 to where it stands today. The bronze peacocks that flank the pinecone are replicas of statues that decorated the 2nd century tomb of Emperor Hadrian. The originals can be seen in the Braccio Nuovo Gallery inside the Vatican Museum.

Without giving you a Dan Brown-style lesson in symbolism, both pinecones and peacocks have had significant meanings throughout history. For example, the peacock has been a symbol for things like immortality, royalty, pride, renewal and the all-seeing eye of the church. There have also been references to peacocks as guardians of the Gates of Paradise.

Similarly, pinecones have been associated with spiritual enlightenment, resembling the brain’s pineal gland (also known as the “third eye”), as well as eternal life since pinecones are bore from evergreen trees. The pinecone has also been mentioned in connection to the Tree of Life.

So at end of the day, the Vatican’s pinecone and peacock statues demonstrate one of my favorite things about traveling – that things aren’t always what they seem, but rather there are layers of history everywhere we turn.