The Braccio Nuovo is one of the most highly regarded and visited galleries within the Vatican Museums.
The creation of a new section of the museum to house numerous acquisitions of classical sculpture was advocated by Antonio Canova (1757-1822), Inspector General of the Antiquities in the Holy See, following the return of many works of art that had been taken to France under the Treaty of Tolentino (1797). To meet this need, the Braccio Nuovo, a masterpiece of neoclassical architecture, was built by Raffaele Stern (1774-1820) during the Pontificate of Pius VII and opened to the public in 1822.
The 68 metre long gallery contains 28 large niches, each containing a statue, while between each niche are displayed busts which principally portray men and women who were notable public figures in the ancient world.

The walls are decorated with stucco bas-reliefs by Francesco Massimiliano Laboureur (1767-1831), inspired by famous Roman monuments such as Trajan's Column and the Arch of Titus.
Amongst the 150 sculptures on show in the Braccio Nuovo is the famous Augustus of Prima Porta, discovered in 1863 at the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, near Rome. The centrepiece of the Gallery is the Statue of the River Nile surrounded by small putti symbolizing fertility, discovered in the sixteenth century in Rome under the church of "Santa Maria Sopra Minerva".
Most of the works in the gallery were acquired on the antiquities market and came from the collections of the nobility of Papal Rome (for example the Ruspoli collection), though some works had been found during excavations carried out for the Popes.

As the sculptures of the Braccio Nuovo were obtained from excavations and private collections, they have been subject to numerous restorations over the years, often due to their being moved from one place to another. The works often have missing parts reconstructed in marble or plaster and have clear signs of artificial patinas, at times mingled with damaging atmospheric dust. Although some of the individual pieces in the gallery have recently been the object of examination and restoration, the collection as a whole merits further detailed historical research as well as more thorough restoration work and scientific study. The first of these is aimed at gathering data on the history of the objects, from the site where they were excavated to their passage through various collections. The restoration treatment consists in cleaning the works simultaneously with detailed study of their condition, with the assistance of diverse scientific analyses, all aimed at identifying the various previous restorations each piece has been subject to and documenting the original working techniques employed by the artists.

The work, carried out by private conservation companies, is financed by the "Patrons of the Arts" in the Vatican Museums under the direction of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, in co-operation with the Marble Restoration Laboratory and with the Laboratory for Scientific Diagnostics for Conservation and Restoration.

To start with, the sculptures are removed from their niches and transferred to the restoration site set up behind the statue of the Nile. In this area they are studied using ultra violet imaging and scanning with a 3D laser, while further physical-chemical analyses are carried out in the scientific laboratory.
A fundamental phase of the work consists in the graphic and photographic documentation that the restorers carry out before and after their treatment. Particular care is taken in documenting the artistic techniques, the work carried out in ancient or more recent restorations, and also the present condition of the work.