Stanze di Raffaello are four small rooms having a great artistic value as three of them were completely painted by a famous Italian artist Raphael, and the fourth room was painted by his apprentices after his death.
Pope Julius II didn’t want to live in the chambers of his predecessor, Pope Alexander IV (Borgia), so he asked the young Raphael to paint the rooms he chose for himself in the Vatican palace.
Stanza della Segnatura is the first and the most famous of Stanze di Raffaello. Raphael painted the room from 1508 through 1511. About the same period, from 1508 through 1512, Michelangelo also worked in Vatican. He was engaged in painting the vaults of the Sistine Chapel. The frescoes of Stanza della Segnatura are dedicated to spiritual sciences: philosophy («The School of Athens»), theology («Disputation of the Holy Sacrament»), justice («Wisdom, moderation and strength») and poetry («Parnassus»). «The School of Athens» is considered the greatest work of Raphael, as well as a significant achievement in the world of painting.
Raphael painted Stanza di Eliodoro during 1511-1514. The frescoes of this room are dedicated to the protection of the God and the Church. Stanza dell`incendio di Borgo was the last room painted by Raphael in the period between 1514 and 1517. Its frescoes are dedicated to the history of papacy. «The Fire in the Borgo» is the most famous fresco of the room.
Stanza di Costantino is the largest of the four rooms. The room was completed by the apprentices of Raphael headed by Giulio Romano after Raphael died of fever in the age of 37 in 1520. All frescoes of the room are dedicated to the Roman emperor Constantine who legalized Christianity and then made it the official religion of the Western Roman Empire.
