Raphael's Rooms

When Raphael began the frescoes for the School of Athens, Michelangelo had just erected the scaffolding for the Sistine Chapel. The promoter of these two highly ambitious projects was Pope Julius II.

Julius II was elected in 1503 and immediately took over the political reins of the Papal States, personally placing himself at the head of the army, reconquering cities such as Bologna that had rebelled during the previous pontificate and reasserting his authority everywhere. Within this political programme, art also found its specific place as a propaganda tool to spread the image of a strong, rich and powerful Church.

The great artistic undertakings began in 1505 with the demolition of the ancient Constantinian basilica of St Peter's, in place of which the architect Bramante was commissioned to design a modern building, a symbol of the triumphant Church and a worthy site for the funerary monument that the Pope had entrusted to Michelangelo the same year. Determined not to live in the apartment of the previous pope, the detested Alexander VI Borgia, Julius II chose a new series of rooms for himself and, in 1507, commissioned a prestigious team of artists to decorate what would become known as the Vatican Rooms.

On his arrival in Rome at the Pope's invitation in 1508, Raphael initially joined the group already at work but, thanks to Julius II's admiration for him, he soon supplanted his colleagues. Although he had no experience of painting 'buon fresco' on large surfaces, he remained solely responsible for the entire project, to which he devoted himself until his death.

There are four rooms in the Vatican frescoed by Raphael and his workshop assistants. In chronological order, they are the Room of the Segnatura, which contains the magnificent School of Athens, the Room of Heliodorus, the Room of the Fire in the Borgo and the Hall of Constantine.