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	Info
	View of the Stanza di Eliodoro c. 1512 Frescoes Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	View of the Stanza di Eliodoro c. 1512 Frescoes Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	View of the Stanza di Eliodoro c. 1512 Frescoes Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple 1511-12 Fresco, width at the base 750 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple 1511-12 Fresco, width at the base 750 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple (detail) 1511-12 Fresco Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple (detail) 1511-12 Fresco, width of detail: 230 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Mass at Bolsena 1512 Fresco, width at the base 660 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Mass at Bolsena (detail) 1512 Fresco Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Mass at Bolsena (detail) 1512 Fresco, width of detail: 141 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Mass at Bolsena (detail) 1512 Fresco Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Mass at Bolsena (detail) 1512 Fresco, width of detail: 136 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Mass at Bolsena (detail) 1512 Fresco, width of detail: 94 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Liberation of St Peter 1514 Fresco, width at base 660 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Liberation of St Peter (detail) 1514 Fresco, width of detail: 215 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Liberation of St Peter (detail) 1514 Fresco, width of detail: 235 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Liberation of St Peter (detail) 1514 Fresco, width of detail: 235 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Liberation of St Peter (detail) 1514 Fresco, width of detail: 220 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila 1514 Fresco, base: 750 cm Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican
	Ceiling 1513-14 Fresco Stanza di Eliodoro, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican