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| Gallery of Maps, Vatican Museums |
The Gallery of Tapestries flowed smoothly into the Gallery of Maps. This new room was stunningly bright due to the lacunar ceiling. The ceiling is vaulted and expertly painted; the gilding lit up the whole room. This gallery was lined with maps, mostly of states in Italy, but the ceiling drew the eye upward and away from the maps. I can say the maps were there, but I was so distracted with what was happening above my head, I barely noticed them.
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| Joe took this picture, I have no idea what it is. I just know it scares me. Vatican Museums |
Our next stop on the tour was in the Raphael rooms. These rooms were actually papal apartments for Julius II and then Leo X. Julius II originally commissioned Raphael to paint in one of his rooms, but when the work was complete he was so impressed he asked Raphael to paint in all the rooms. Raphael agreed, though much to his horror, he would be painting over the work of some other masters; his former teachers Perugino and Signorelli. After the death of Pope Julius II, the new Pope, Leo X renewed the commission and Raphael continued painting until his death in 1520. Following his death, Raphael’s students completed the stanza in the rooms.
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| Leonardo da Vinci as Plato On the Left School of Athens, Raphael Vatican Museums |
I had several favorites among the rooms; with so much art before me it was difficult to narrow down my choices. I enjoyed the School of Athens, painted as a demonstration of what people had before religion, and indicating that they are entirely earth bound. This fresco is a foil to the Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament, a fresco of religion illustrating a more divine purpose. In my opinion, the best elements of School of Athens are the people Raphael painted; they are ancient philosophers, but they have faces of his peers. In the foreground, dressed in purple, a man sits distinctly separate from the rest.
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| Raphael, in black School of Athens, Raphael Vatican Museums |
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| Michelangelo as Heraclitus School of Athens, Raphael Vatican Museums |
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| My pasted together image of the School of Athens. It was too big to fit into a single frame so I copied and pasted. In the original, the line down the middle of the left side is not present. School of Athens, Raphael, Vatican Museums |
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| The Liberation of St. Peter, Raphael Vatican Museums |
I also like the Liberation of St. Peter. This fresco was monumental in that is depicted night, candlelight, and the moon. In the image, an angel visits St. Peter while he is imprisoned, and helps him escape by putting the guards to sleep. This fresco was extremely well executed, and the shadows and lights together give the image an ethereal quality.
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| Room of Constantine Vatican Museum |
The Room of Constantine was finished by Raphael’s students after his death, though the subject matter is based on his sketches. This room was glorious, but overwhelming. Every surface was covered with imagery and it was a lot to process, which is why I preferred the other rooms.
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| Fire in the Borgo, Raphael Vatican Museum |
The last room in the Raphael rooms we visited was the Room of the Fire in the Borgo, taking its name from the main fresco in this room. The Fire in the Borgo was painted after Raphael had seen Michelangelo’s ceiling, and the figures in the fresco represent the change. They are more muscular and defined; characteristics of Michelangelo’s subjects. This room was the last we visited before the Sistine Chapel, and I found it to be a nice transition.
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