Let's Discover the Fantastic Raphael's Rooms

LET’S DISCOVER THE FANTASTIC RAPHAEL’S ROOMS INFOPOINT:

Meeting point: Vatican museums Transport: walking tour Tour duration: 1 hour and half Times: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Days available: every day of the week Included: ticket Not included: earphones Admission fee: 15€ for person Raphael’s Rooms

Raphael’s Rooms, also known as the Vatican Rooms, are four rooms that are part of the Vatican Museums in Rome. They are named after the great painter from Urbino who painted them with his students. It was Pope Julius II who commissioned the work of the four rooms at the beginning of the 16th century to Raphael after being disappointed by the work of several other artists such as Perugino. Raphael began working in 1508 and continued until his death in 1520. The work was completed in 1524 by his students and Giulio Romano, a great artist, one of collaborators of Raphael. The four rooms are: Stanza della Segnatura, Stanza di Eliodoro, Stanza dell'Incendio di Borgo, Sala di Costantino. Room of Segnatura

The most important tribunal of the Holy See, Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae, from which the hall took its name, met in this room. In this room, where Julius II lived, you can admire the most famous frescoes by Raphael. The vault of the Room of the Signatura depicts the four branches of knowledge: Theology, Philosophy, Justice and Poetry. In the walls are represented the three highest categories of the human spirit: the True, the Good and the Beautiful. Room of Eliodoro

The Room of Heliodorus was used by Julius II for private audiences. The frescoes in this room reflect the moment of difficulty of the period when the papal army had just lost Bologna to the French and felt threatened by the foreign powers. Raphael painted four biblical episodes in the walls: Expulsion of Heliodorus from the temple, the Mass of Bolsena, the Liberation of Saint Peter and the Meeting of Leo the Great with Attila. Room of the Borgo fire

This room owes its name to the fire that flared up in the year 847 in the district in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. It was the papal dining room. When Raphael arrived to fresco, Julius II had already died and the new Pope Leo X decided to have him paint scenes related to the various popes who had the same name: Leo III and Leo IV. Many of the frescoes in this room were developed by Raphael’s pupils because the Master was engaged by other papal commissions such as the tapestries of the Sistine Chapel. For further information and bookings, please contact us at [email protected]

Giorgia Ranati Domiziana Chronowski Asia Valeri