The Raphael Rooms

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They are referred to as the four rooms of Raffaello; they are located in the Palazzo Pontificio (Papal Palace) on the second floor, chosen by Pope Julius II Della Rovere (from 1503 to 1513) as his own residence and also used by his successors. The work was carried out by Raffaello and his young apprentice in 1508 and 1524.

The first room is called ‘The Room of Constantine’ from the name of the Emperor Constantine who recognized Catholicism as the official religion of the Roman State.  The room was intended for important reception events, which was painted by Raffaello’s apprentices, due to the premature death of the great artist from Urbino, with four episodes of life of the Emperor; The Battle of ‘Constantine against Massenzio’, the ‘Baptism of Constantine', the 'Donation of Rome’ and the ‘Vision of the Cross’.  In this last work it symbolizes that the Emperor had a premonition in his dream of victory against Massenzio, where he had replaced the emblems of the soldiers, which were imperial eagles, with the symbol of the cross.

The second room known as the ‘Room of Eliodoro’ was intended for private hearings of the Pope; the reason of these pictorial sequences here represented, is to document the protection that God conceded to the Catholic Church from ancient times to middle Ages.

With the ‘Mass of Bolsena’, Raffaello evokes the miracle that happened in 1263 D.C., where the celebration of ‘Corpus Domini’ originated; in fact the host wept blood during the ritual of the consecration, which was celebrated by a priest of Bohemian origin.  Also painted is the ‘Liberation of San Pietro’, which represents the Saint, saved from jail by an Angel.  The ‘Meeting of Leone Magno with Attila’, characterized by the apparition of the Saints Peter and Paul, armed with swords and the expulsion of Eliodoro from the temple.  This shows the biblical event of Eliodoro, who was sent by the King of Syria Seleuco, to take possession of the treasure hidden in the temple of Jerusalem and he was expelled by two guards sent by God.

The third room, the ‘Room of the Mark’ takes its name from the highest court of the Holy Palace and it hosts the first and most famous fresco painted by Raffaello in the Vatican’s apartments.   The artist represents the three major categories of the human spirit, that is; true, good and beauty.

The supernatural is represented in the ‘Dispute of the Holy Sacrament’.  On the sides of the St. Trinity there is the triumphant Church with St. Peter, Adam, St. John the Evangelist, David, St. Lorenzo, St. Stephen, Moses, St. James Maggiore, Abram and St. Paul, who are seated on the clouds in a semicircle.  In the lower part of the frescoes, on the side of the altar, where the SS. Sacrament is isolated, it shows the personification of the militant Church, and on the marble thrones, St. Gregory the Great, St. Girolamo, St. Abrogio and St. Augustine.

The rational theme of the ‘School of Athens’, is where Raffaello represents the ancient philosophers; in the centre Platone, who is pointing at the sky with his hand and Aristotle answers him pointing to the earth.  Pitagora on the left is giving lessons and Diogene is reading on the stairs; finally, at the bottom, Eraclito is in the act of writing on a piece of paper leaning on a marble block, in which many recognize are the traits of Michelangelo, who in those days were intent to work in the Sistine Chapel.


The category of good is represented in the fresco ‘Cardinal Virtues, Theology and the Law’.  In the arch at the top there is the personification of the Cardinal Virtues; Strength, Prudence and Temperance and the Theological Virtues; Faith, Hope and Charity.  On the sides of the window is represented the ‘Delivery of the Pandette to the Emperor Justinian’ by Lorenzo Lotto and the ‘Delivering of the Decree to Pope Gregory IX’, in the figure, who probably wanted to portray the principal of that time, Pope Julius II.

In the ‘Parnaso’ the artist represents the category of beauty, by portraying Apollo while he is playing the arm-lyre surrounded by the nine muses, they were  protectors of the arts and poets; Omero, Virgil, Dante and Saffo.

The last room, the ‘Room of the Fire of Borgo’, was used by Pope Julius II for meetings of the tribunal the ‘Segnature Gratiae et Iustitiae’. At the time of Leone X, this room was then used as a dining room and initially the task to paint the walls was given to Raffaello, it then fell to his apprentices.  The frescoes show the ‘Coronation of Charles the Great’, the ‘Pledge of Leone III’, the ‘Battle of Ostia’ and the ‘Fire of Borgo’ in 847 A.D in the district near San Pietro that miraculously stopped after a solemn blessing given by the Pope.