Short answers, pulled from the story.
Pope Julius II founded the Vatican Museums in the early 16th century. The institution traces its origin to the purchase and public display of the Laocoön and His Sons sculpture, which Julius acquired after its discovery on the 14th of January 1506.
The Vatican Museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display at any one time.
In 2024, the Vatican Museums were visited by 6.8 million people. That figure placed them second on the list of most-visited art museums in the world, after the Louvre.
On the 18th of August 2022, two members of the climate activist group Ultima Generazione glued themselves to the marble base of the Laocoön statue. Conservationists confirmed the act caused permanent damage, with restoration costing 3,148 euros. A Vatican court sentenced the three participants to nine-month suspended prison sentences and fines of up to 28,000 euros.
Barbara Jatta has served as Director of the Vatican Museums since the 1st of January 2017. She replaced Antonio Paolucci, who had been director since 2007.
The Gallery of Maps is a series of topographical maps of the whole of Italy, painted on the walls by friar Ignazio Danti of Perugia on commission from Gregory XIII between 1572 and 1585. It remains the world's largest pictorial geographical study.