Raphael Vatican Frescoes (c1513). The four Raphael Rooms form a suite of reception rooms, now part of the Vatican Museums in Vatican City. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop. Together with Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes, they are the grand fresco sequences that mark the High Renaissance in Rome. The Stanze, as they are commonly called, were originally intended as a suite of apartments for Pope Julius II. He commissioned Raphael, then a relatively young artist from Urbino, and his studio in 1508 or 1509 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely. It was possibly Julius' intent to outshine the apartments of his predecessor Pope Alexander VI, as the Stanze are directly above Alexander's Borgia Apartment. They are on the third floor, overlooking the south side of the Belvedere Courtyard. Running from east to west, as a visitor would have entered the apartment, but not following the sequence in which the Stanze were frescoed, the rooms are the Sala di Costantino, the Stanza di Eliodoro, the Stanza della Segnatura, and the Stanza dell'Incendio del Borgo. After the death of Julius in 1513, with two rooms frescoed, Pope Leo X continued the program. Following Raphael's death in 1520, his assistants Gianfrancesco Penni, Giulio Romano and Raffaellino del Colle finished the project with the frescoes in the Sala di Costantino. The scheme of the works is as follows: General view General view East wall South wall West wall North wall Ceiling Room of the Segnatura The School of Athens Cardinal and Theological Virtues Disputation of the Holy Sacrament The Parnassus Room of Heliodorus The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple The Mass at Bolsena The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila Deliverance of Saint Peter Room of the Fire in the Borgo Battle of Ostia The Fire in the Borgo The Coronation of Charlemagne The Oath of Leo III Hall of Constantine The Vision of the Cross The Battle of the Milvian Bridge The Baptism of Constantine The Donation of Constantine The largest of the twelve rooms is the Sala di Costantino. Its paintings were not begun until Pope Julius and, indeed Raphael himself, had died. The room is dedicated to the victory of Christianity over paganism. Its frescoes represent this struggle from the life of the Roman Emperor Constantine, and are the work of Giulio Romano, Gianfrancesco Penni and Raffaellino del Colle. Because they are not by the master himself, the frescos are less famous than works in the neighboring rooms. Continuing a long tradition of flattery, Raphael's assistants gave the features of the current pontiff, Clement VII, to Pope Sylvester in the paintings. Main article: The Vision of the Cross The fresco of The Vision of the Cross depicts the legendary story of a great cross appearing to Constantine as he marched to confront his rival Maxentius. The vision in the sky is painted with the words in Greek written next to it. Main article: The Battle of the Milvian Bridge The Battle of Milvian Bridge shows the battle that took place on October 28, 312, following Constantine's vision. Main article: The Baptism of Constantine The third painting in the sequence, The Baptism of Constantine, was most likely painted by Gianfrancesco Penni, and shows the emperor being baptised by Pope Sylvester I in the Lateran Baptistery at Rome, following the account of Constantine's baptism given in the Acts of Sylvester and the Liber Pontificalis. Main article: The Donation of Constantine The final painting in the sequence, The Donation of Constantine, records an event that supposedly took place shortly after Constantine's baptism, and was inspired by the famous forged documents, incorporated into Gratian's Decretum, granting the Papacy sovereignty over Rome's territorial dominions. The next room, going from East to West, is the Stanza di Eliodoro. Painted between 1511 and 1514, it takes its name from one of the paintings. The theme of this private chamber-probably an audience room-was the heavenly protection granted by Christ to the Church.
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