Does anyone know if the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel will be open from April 11 - 13?

I don't think anyone knows the definite dates, but I would say it will be closed because the conclave will be going on then (or at least being prepped for).

Conclave will not stat until 15 days minimum after the Pope's death. You may get lucky but in all likelihood it will be a crapshoop whether the Vatican decides to open these up to the public before conclave. My guess would be no to Sistine, but yes to the Museum

I'm not going now, but I've been curious myself

the vatican website
www.vatican.va

has updated information on the death of the Pope, but I don't see anything on
announcements on visitors' access to the museums

HI--if you contact some of the tour companies in Rome who provide the day tours to the museums, they should know. Also, if you already have a hotel reservation, maybe emailing them with your question will provide some info.

My friend at the Vatican just emailed me this morning and he said that Museums and Scavi will be closed during the Pope's funeral and during Conclave. He said it is currently up in the air as to whether they will be active in the time between the funeral and Conclave - it will most likely be a decision made nearer the date as they will need time to figure out the time needed to prepare the Sistine, security et al. Vatican City will be closed during the time of Conclave. (He intimated that Conclave was rumored to begin the 17th or 18th)

He said there would be daily postings of the closings and happenings in English on this site:
http://www.whatsoninrome.com/strikes.php

Have a tour of the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel) and Gardens scheduled for 29 April. Holding my breath....

Betsy, if they haven't elected a new Pope by then, then the whole world has real problems, especially the Catholic Church. I think if they begin Conclave even as late as the 22nd (which they can do), they should have a Pope by the 29th without any problems. I know it's a tough decision, but there are only so many "real" candidates!

BC

It sounds like we won't know exact closure dates yet. Does anyone have suggestions as to where to see other great works by Michelangelo besides the Sistine Chapel and Pieta in case the Vatican is totally closed?

IMO, Rome isn't as much Michelangelo's city as Florence is.
But, you can see three of his sculptures in the Church of St Peter in Chains (Vincoli): Moses, Leah, Rachel.

Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
There is a sculpture of Christ, not I think anyone's idea of M's best work, but still...

The Piazza Campidoglio (where the Capitoline museum is) is M's design.
In Rome he was as much architect as sculptor. I hope you can see St Peter's Dome (M's design) and Square from at least a distance