Raphael’s Rooms

The four rooms known as the Stanze of Raphael formed part of the apartment situated on the second floor of the Pontifical Palace that was chosen by Julius II della Rovere (pontiff from 1503 to 1513) as his own residence and used also by his successors. The pictorial decoration was executed by Raphael and his school between 1508 and 1524.

Room of the Segnatura [1508-1511]

The Room of the Segnatura contains Raphael’s most famous frescoes. Besides being the first work executed by the great artist in the Vatican they mark the beginning of the high Renaissance. The room takes its name from the highest court of the Holy See, the “Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae”, which was presided over by the pontiff and used to meet in this room around the middle of the 16th century. Originally the room was used by Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513) as a library and private office. The iconographic programme of the frescoes, which were painted between 1508 and 1511, is related to this function. It was certainly established by a theologian and meant to represent the three greatest categories of the human spirit: Truth, Good and Beauty. Supernatural Truth is illustrated in the Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament (theology), while rational Truth is illustrated in the School of Athens (philosophy). Good is expressed in the Cardinal and Theological Virtues and the Law. Beauty is represented in the Parnassus with Apollo and the Muses. The frescoes of the ceiling are connected with the scenes below them. The allegorical figures of Theology, Philosophy, Justice and Poetry allude in fact to the faculties of the spirit painted on the corresponding walls. Under Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521) the room was used as a small study and music room, in which the pontiff also kept his collection of musical instruments. The original furnishings of the time of Julius II were removed and replaced with a new wooden wainscot, the work of Fra Giovanni da Verona. The wood covered all the walls with the exception of that of the Parnassus, where, for reasons of space, the same decoration, still visible today, was painted in fresco. The wooden wainscot was probably destroyed following the Sack of Rome in 1527 and in its place, during the pontificate of Paul III (pontiff from 1534 to 1549) a wainscot in chiaroscuro was painted by Perin del Vaga.

Disputation over the Most Holy Sacrament
On the wall opposite the School of Athens, corresponding to Theology, is the fresco of the so-called Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament, the title of which should more rightly be that of the Triumph of Religion. At the sides of the Most Holy Trinity (with God the Father, Christ between the Virgin and St John the Baptist, and the Holy Spirit in the centre) is the Triumphant Church, with patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament alternated with apostles and martyrs, seated in a hemicycle on the clouds. The personages are (from left to right for the viewer). St Peter, Adam, St John the Evangelist, David, St Laurence, Judas Maccabees, St Stephen, Moses, St James the elder, Abraham, St Paul. On the ground, at the sides of the altar on which the Most Holy Sacrament dominates, is the Militant Church. On the marble thrones closest to the altar sit four Fathers of the Latin Church: St Gregory the Great (a portrait of Julius II), St Jerome, St Ambrose and St Augustine. Some other figures have the physiognomy of historical personages. We recognize the portrait of Sixtus IV (Julius II’s uncle) in the pontiff furthest to the right, of Dante Alighieri behind him and of Fra Angelico in the monk on the extreme left.

School of Athens
The most famous philosophers of ancient times move within an imposing Renaissance architecture which is inspired by Bramante’s project for the renewal of the early Christian basilica of St Peter. Some of these are easily recognizable. In the centre Plato points upwards with a finger and holds his book Timeus in his hand, flanked by Aristotle with Ethics; Pythagoras is shown in the foreground intent on explaining the diatesseron. Diogenes is lying on the stairs with a dish, while the pessimist philosopher, Heracleitus, a portrait of Michelangelo, is leaning against a block of marble, writing on a sheet of paper. Michelangelo was in those years executing the paintings in the nearby Sistine Chapel. On the right we see Euclid, who is teaching geometry to his pupils, Zoroaster holding the heavenly sphere and Ptolemy holding the earthly sphere. The personage on the extreme right with the black beret is a self-portrait of Raphael.

Cardinal and Theological Virtues and the Law
On the wall opposite the Parnassus, corresponding to Justice, is an illustration of the Cardinal Virtues (Fortitude, Prudence and Temperance) and the Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope and Charity) in the lunette above, and below, at the sides of the window, the Delivery of the Pandects to the Emperor Justinian (on the left) and the Delivery of the Decretals to Pope Gregory IX. The pontiff is a portrait of the Pope who had commissioned the work, Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513), while the cardinals beside him are Giovanni de’ Medici and Alessandro Farnese, the future Popes Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521) and Paul III (pontiff from 1534 to 1549). The painting of the Delivery of the Pandects to the Emperor Justinian is by Lorenzo Lotto.

Parnassus
Beneath Poetry, Mount Parnassus is represented: the god Apollo, seated at the centre, plays the lyre surrounded by the nine Muses, protectresses of the arts, and by ancient and modern poets, among whom Homer (blind), Virgil and Dante are easily recognisable behind him, as well as the poetess Sapphos seated at the bottom left, with her name written on the scroll she holds in her left hand.

Ceiling
The ceiling is divided into four sections dedicated to each of the faculties of the spirit, represented with female allegories: Philosophy, Theology, Poetry and Justice. The same concepts are revisited and explored further in the great compositions on the surrounding walls. Philosophy corresponds to perhaps the most famous work by Raphael, the School of Athens, Theology to Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, Poetry to the Parnassus and Justice to the Cardinal and Theological Virtues and the Law.

Room of Heliodorus [1511-1514]

This room was originally used for the private audiences of the Pope and was decorated by Raphael immediately after the Segnatura. The room’s programme is political and aims at documenting, in different historical moments from the Old Testament to medieval history, the miraculous protection bestowed by God on the Church. Faith had been threatened (Mass of Bolsena), in the person of its pontiff (Liberation of St Peter), in its site (Encounter of Leo the Great with Attila) and in its patrimony (Expulsion of Heliodorus from the temple). These were also chosen to express the political programme of Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513), aimed at freeing Italy, at the time occupied by the French, to restore the temporal power under threat to the papacy. The four episodes of the Old Testament on the ceiling are the work of Raphael, while in the grotesques and in the arches there are still some parts that can be attributed to Luca Signorelli, Bramantino, Lorenzo Lotto and Cesare da Sesto. They date to the first decoration commissioned by Julius II at the beginning of his pontificate, that was interrupted and then replaced by the present one due to the pontiff’s great admiration for the first frescoes of Raphael in the adjoining room of the Segnatura.

Mass of Bolsena
The Mass of Bolsena depicts an episode that took place in 1263 in Bolsena, near Orvieto. During the Mass celebrated by a Bohemian priest, at the moment of consecration the blood of Christ trickled from the host, staining the corporal and thus dismissing the doubts of the celebrant on transubstantiation (that is to say the changing of the substance of the bread and wine into that of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist). The miracle led to the establishment of the feast of Corpus Christ and the construction of the cathedral of Orvieto, to which the corporal was transferred. Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513), witnesses the miracle kneeling to the right of the altar, with cardinals Leonardo Grosso della Rovere and Raffaello Riario, Tommaso Riario and Agostino Spinola, his relatives and the chair bearers of the group.

Liberation of St Peter
The Liberation of St Peter shows the prince of the apostles and first Pope, miraculously saved from prison by an angel while the guards lie sleeping (Acts of the Apostles 12: 5-12). The scene is a reference to Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513), who before being elected Pope was the titular cardinal of St Peter in Chains. In the celebration of light Raphael confronts the divine light of the angel with that of the dawn, of the moon, of the torches and of their reflections on the armour, and even of the natural light that enters from the window below, creating the most extraordinary effects.

Encounter of Leo the Great with Attila
The encounter between Leo the Great and Attila is the last fresco painted in this room. It was completed after the death of Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513), during the pontificate of his successor Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521). In fact the latter appears twice in the same scene, portrayed in the guise of Pope Leo the Great and as cardinal. According to legend, the miraculous apparition of Saints Peter and Paul armed with swords during the meeting between Pope Leo the Great and Attila (452 A.D.) caused the king of the Huns to desist from invading Italy and marching on Rome. Raphael situates the scene at the gates of Rome, identified by the Colosseum, by an aqueduct, an obelisk and other buildings, even if in fact the historical event took place in the north of Italy, near Mantua.

Expulsion of Heliodorus from the temple
The Expulsion of Heliodorus, from whom the room takes its name, illustrates the biblical episode (2 Maccabees, 3: 21-28) of Heliodorus, sent by the king of Syria Seleucus, to take over the treasure preserved in the temple of Jerusalem. At the request of the high priest Onias, God sends a horseman assisted by two youths who beatt and banish Heliodorus. The commissioning pontiff has himself shown as witnessing the scene (in the foreground on the left) seated in the gestatorial chair, carried on the shoulders of the chair bearers. Of these, that on the left is a portrait of Marcantonio Raimondi, engraver and friend of Raphael, who is himself portrayed in the other figure to the right.

Ceiling
In the grotesques and in the arches there are still some parts that can be attributed to Luca Signorelli, Bramantino, Lorenzo Lotto and Cesare da Sesto. They date to the first decoration commissioned by Julius II at the beginning of his pontificate, that was interrupted and then replaced by the present one due to the pontiff’s great admiration for the first frescoes of Raphael in the adjoining Room of the Segnatura. Raphael replaced the grotesques in the centre of the ceiling with four episodes of the Old Testament: Noah leaving the ark (Genesis 8: 15-20), The sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22: 1-14), Moses before the burning bush (Exodus 3: 1-12), and Jacob’s dream (Genesis 28: 10-22).

Room of the Fire in the Borgo [1514-1517]

The room was used in the time of Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513) for the meetings of the highest court of the Holy See: the Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae, presided over by the Pope. The paintings on the ceiling, by Pietro Vannucci, called the Perugino, commissioned by the Pope in 1508, are related to this function. At the time of Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to1521) the room was used as a dining room and the task of frescoing the walls was assigned to Raphael who entrusted a large part of the work to his school. The work was completed between 1514 and 1517. The frescoes illustrate the political aspirations of Leo X through stories taken from the lives (narrated in the Liber Pontificalis) of two previous Popes with the same name: Leo III (Crowning of Charlemagne and Justification of Leo III) and Leo IV (Fire in the Borgo and the Battle of Ostia). In all the episodes the Pope is a portrait of the reigning pontiff Leo X. Six seated figures of emperors and sovereigns who are protectors of the church are shown in the monochromes below the paintings.

Crowning of Charlemagne
The crowning of Charlemagne, which took place in St Peter’s on Christmas night in the year 800, forms the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire. It is quite likely that the fresco refers to the concordat drawn up between the Holy See and the kingdom of France in 1515, since Leo III (pontiff from 795 to 816) is in fact a portrait of Leo X and Charlemagne that of Francis I.

Justification of Leo III
The Oath of Leo III illustrates an episode that took place the day before the crowning of Charlemagne, when the Pope responded to the calumnies of the nephews of his predecessor Hadrian I by reaffirming the principle that the vicar of Christ is responsible to God alone for his actions.

Fire in the Borgo
According to the Liber Pontificalis the Fire in the Borgo, which gives its name to the room, broke out in the year 847 in the neighbourhood in front of St Peter’s basilica. Conferring his solemn blessing from the Loggia of the Blessings, Leo IV (pontiff from 847 to 855) miraculously extinguished the fire, thus saving the church and the people.

Battle of Ostia
The Battle of Ostia, which in 849 saw the troops of Leo IV (pontiff from 847 to 855) opposed to the hordes of the Saracens, celebrates the miraculous victory of the papal armies and also refers to the crusade against the infidels encouraged by Pope Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521).

Ceiling
In 1508 Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513) commissioned Pietro Vannucci, called the Perugino, to paint the ceiling. Its iconographic plan refers to the function that the room had at the time of Julius II when it hosted the meetings of the highest court of the Holy See, the Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae, which was presided over by the pontiff. In fact Perugino depicted in the four medallions the Most Holy Trinity, the Creator enthroned among angels and cherubs, Christ as Sol Iustitiae and Christ tempted by the devil, and Christ between Mercy and Justice.

Room of Constantine [1517-1524]

The room, that was designed to be used for receptions and official ceremonies, was decorated by the school of Raphael on the basis of drawings by the artist, who died prematurely before completion of the work (1520). It takes its name from Constantine (306-337 A.D.), the first Christian emperor to officially recognize the Christian faith, granting freedom of worship. On the walls are painted four episodes of his life which testify to the defeat of paganism and the triumph of the Christian religion: the Vision of the Cross, the Battle of Constantine against Maxentius, the Baptism of Constantine and the Donation of Rome. The decoration of the room is completed by figures of great Popes flanked by allegorical figures of Virtue. The original wooden roof which Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521) had built was replaced under Gregory XIII (pontiff from 1572 to 1585) by the modern ceiling, the decoration of which was entrusted by order of the Pope to Tommaso Laureti who portrayed the Triumph of the Christian religion in the central panel. The work was completed at the end of 1585 under Pope Sixtus V (pontiff from 1585 to 1590).

Vision of the Cross
The Vision of the Cross describes the premonition that the emperor Constantine had before the battle against Maxentius. According to this premonition, he would have been victorious if he had substituted the imperial eagles on the soldiers’ standards with the cross, thus officially recognizing the Christian religion. The view of Rome (on the right in the background) with the reconstruction of its ancient monuments is worth noting.

Battle of Constantine against Maxentius
The Battle of the Pons Milvius (312 A.D.) placed Constantine against his rival, marking the defeat of Maxentius (shown as he is about to drown in the river Tiber) and the victory of Christianity over the pagan world. The scene is set with topographical precision north of Rome with Monte Mario (on the left) where we can recognize Villa Madama, built in just those years by Raphael for the Pope. The initial project for this panel, as for the Vision of the Cross, must certainly have been by Raphael, but its execution is by his pupil Giulio Romano.

Baptism of Constantine
In the Baptism of Constantine the emperor kneels to receive the sacrament from Pope Sylvester inside the Baptistery of the Lateran. The pontiff has the traits of Clement VII (pontiff from 1523 to 1534), during whose pontificate work on the room was resumed, after its interruption during the brief interval of Hadrian VI (pontiff from 1521 to 1523), and the last two stories were painted. The fresco is attributed to Giovan Francesco Penni.

Donation of Rome
The emperor Constantine kneels before Pope Sylvester in the act of offering him the city of Rome, symbolized by the golden statue. The foundation of the state of the church and justification for the temporal power of the Popes was based on this episode (subsequently proved to be legendary). Sylvester has the traits of Clement VII (pontiff from 1523 to 1534) and the episode documents the interior, later destroyed, of the old early Christian basilica of St Peter’s.

Triumph of Christian religion
The wooden ceiling that Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521) had built was replaced in the time of Gregory XIII with a ceiling that was decorated with frescoes. The task was entrusted to the Sicilian painter Tommaso Laureti who began the work in 1582, completing it in 1585 under Pope Sixtus V (pontiff from 1585 to 1590). In the corners of the ceiling the undertakings of Gregory XIII are depicted while in the frieze above the four episodes of the life of Constantine, we see the heraldic elements of Sixtus V. In the central panel Laureti illustrated the Triumph of Christian religion that refers to the destruction of the pagan idols and their replacement with the image of Christ, ordered by Constantine throughout the empire. Around the central panel the artist painted eight regions of Italy, two in each of the four pendentives, and three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa.