This volume is a collection of new essays by art historians from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States dedicated to shedding new light on the complex historical interrelationship between functions and decorations within architectural settings. It concentrates on the historical context of works of art, that is their ritual embedding in liturgy, ceremony and habit. The authors thereby focus on a particularly rewarding object, namely the Vatican Palace as it appeared between the 13th and the 16th century. The contributions consider various aspects: the Vatican's medieval textile decorations, the impact of ceremonial concerns on architectural form, the relationship between music and ceremony, Pinturicchio's and Raphael's wall paintings in the papal apartments, the decorations of the Cappella Paolina and the Sala Regia, the history of the Vatican Library, and also methodological questions concerning the history of functions of art.