RAFFAELLO Sanzio
(b. 1483, Urbino, d. 1520, Roma)

Ceiling

1513-14
Fresco
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

The four great paintings on the ceiling show scenes from the Old Testament, the theme being God's intervention at a critical moment in Man's destiny: Moses and the Burning Bush is above the fresco The Expulsion of Heliodorus; Isaac's Sacrifice of his Son is above The Mass at Bolsena; Noah's Dream is above The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila; and Jacob's Ladder is above The Liberation of St Peter.