Stanza di Eliodoro
by RAFFAELLO

After the completion of the Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael began the decoration of the adjacent room, afterwards called the Stanza di Eliodoro, after the subject of one of the works painted there. The cycle was painted between September 1511 and June 1514. Julius II died during this period and his successor, Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent) caused the last scenes to be completed.

The program for this room was not a traditional one: the subjects were developed specifically for this room and for Julius II personally. The general theme is that of God's intervention in human destiny and it is presented through four stories, two from the Acts of Apostles and the Apocrypha (The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple; The Liberation of St Peter) and two from Church history (The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila; The Mass at Bolsena). The vaults of the ceiling represent episodes of divine intervention in the history of Israel (the Burning Bush, the Announcement of the Flood to Noah, Jacob's Dream, the Sacrifice of Isaac).

The cycle is mainly descriptive. Raphael develops it with those characteristics of dignity and grandiosity which were by then his trademarks. He enhances his compositions by breaking up the symmetry and the enclosed rhythm of the Stanza della Segnatura with more lively and colourful effects.

The pope intended to use this room as a private audience chamber. Accordingly, the frescoes were meant to illustrate the power of the Church and its representatives.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
View of the Stanza di Eliodoro
c. 1512
Frescoes
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1200*905
True Color
180 Kb



View of the Stanza di Eliodoro
c. 1512
Frescoes
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1251*900
True Color
176 Kb



View of the Stanza di Eliodoro
c. 1512
Frescoes
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

750*1037
True Color
173 Kb



The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple
1511-12
Fresco, width at the base 750 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1400*799
True Color
270 Kb



The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple
1511-12
Fresco, width at the base 750 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1035*749
True Color
193 Kb



The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple (detail)
1511-12
Fresco
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

907*1086
True Color
164 Kb



The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple (detail)
1511-12
Fresco, width of detail: 230 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

901*1103
True Color
195 Kb



The Mass at Bolsena
1512
Fresco, width at the base 660 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1300*851
True Color
219 Kb



The Mass at Bolsena (detail)
1512
Fresco
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1000*1296
True Color
219 Kb



The Mass at Bolsena (detail)
1512
Fresco, width of detail: 141 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

902*1102
True Color
158 Kb



The Mass at Bolsena (detail)
1512
Fresco
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

833*1030
True Color
137 Kb



The Mass at Bolsena (detail)
1512
Fresco, width of detail: 136 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

901*1097
True Color
164 Kb



The Mass at Bolsena (detail)
1512
Fresco, width of detail: 94 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

901*1096
True Color
171 Kb



The Liberation of St Peter
1514
Fresco, width at base 660 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1400*917
True Color
228 Kb



The Liberation of St Peter (detail)
1514
Fresco, width of detail: 215 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

902*1108
True Color
172 Kb



The Liberation of St Peter (detail)
1514
Fresco, width of detail: 235 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

901*1098
True Color
122 Kb



The Liberation of St Peter (detail)
1514
Fresco, width of detail: 235 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1000*1237
True Color
207 Kb



The Liberation of St Peter (detail)
1514
Fresco, width of detail: 220 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

908*1118
True Color
169 Kb



The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila
1514
Fresco, base: 750 cm
Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

1428*800
True Color
243 Kb



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

852*1100
True Color
223 Kb




Summary of works by Raphael
Paintings in Umbria and Florence
up to 1504 | 1505-06 (Florence) | 1507-08 (Florence) | 1505-08 (Umbria)
Decoration of the Stanze
Segnatura | Eliodoro | Borgo | Constantino
Paintings in Rome
1509-12 | 1513-14 | 1515-17 | Loggia | Villa Farnesina | 1518-20
Other
Tapestries and cartoons | Drawings | Architecture