Raphael rooms

The Raphael Rooms, also known as the Vatican Rooms, are four rooms that are part of the Vatican Museums in Rome. They take their name from the great painter from Urbino who painted them with his pupils.

It was Pope Julius II who commissioned the works of the four rooms to Raphael at the beginning of the 16th century after being disappointed by the works of several other artists such as Perugino.

Raphael began the work in 1508 and continued until his death in 1520. The work was completed in 1524 by his pupils and by Giulio Romano, a great collaborator of Raphael.

The four rooms are: Room of the Signatura, Room of Heliodorus, The Room of the Fire in the Borgo, Hall of Constantine.

Room of the Signatura

The most important court of the Holy See met in this room, Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae, from which the room took its name.

In this room where Julius II lived you can admire the most famous frescoes by Raphael.

In the vault of the Stanza della Segnatura the four branches of knowledge are depicted: Theology, Philosophy, Justice and Poetry. The three main categories of the human spirit are represented on the walls: the True, the Good and the Beautiful.

Room of Heliodorus

The room of Heliodorus was used by Julius II for private audiences.

The frescoes in this room represent the difficult moment of the period in which the papal army had just lost Bologna to the French and was threatened by foreign powers.

Raphael painted four biblical episodes on the walls: The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the temple, the Mass of Bolsena, the Liberation of St. Peter and the meeting of Leo the Great with Attila.

The Room of the Fire in the Borgo

This room owes its name to the fire that broke out in the year 847 in the neighborhood in front of St. Peter's Basilica and was the papal dining room.

When Raphael had to fresco it, Julius II died and the new Pope Leo X decided to have him paint scenes related to the various popes who had had the same name: Leo III and Leo IV.

Much of the frescoes in this room were developed by Raphael's students because the Master was engaged by other Papal commissions such as the Sistine tapestries.

Hall of Constantine

The Constantine room was frescoed by Raphael's pupils who, before his death, only succeeded in drawing the cards.

The frescoes are dedicated to the life of Constantine and symbolically represent the victory of the Church over paganism.

Constantine was the first Roman emperor to officially recognize the Christian religion by granting freedom of worship. On the walls of the room 4 episodes from the life of Constantine are told.