The Raphael Rooms in the Vatican Museums: Masterpieces of the Renaissance

Published on 3 October 2024 at 10:39

Although a visit to the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s awe-inspiring frescoes is probably at the top of your list of what you need to see at the Vatican Museums, there is plenty more to see in Rome’s most incredible museum. The marvellous frescoes that Raphael painted in what are now known as the Raphael Rooms, commissioned by Pope Julius II at the same time as Michelangelo was working in the Sistine Chapel, provide a unique insight into the culture of the High Renaissance and are a spectacular highlight of the Vatican Museums in their own right. Read on to discover what to look out for in these stunning masterpieces of Renaissance art!

Raphael and the Vatican

Known as the ‘Prince of Painters,’ Raphael was idolised during his lifetime and treated with a reverence enjoyed by few artists before or since. Amazingly precocious, the Urbino-native was recognised for his marvellous abilities as a painter from a very early age. He was apprenticed to the renowned Renaissance artist Perugino (a key figure in the first decorations to adorn the Sistine chapel) when he was a boy, but it wasn’t long before Raphael became famous in his own right.

The pupil soon eclipsed his master, and by the time Raphael was in his 20s his paintings were in high demand all over Italy and beyond. Unlike the cantankerous Michelangelo - the posterboy for the artist as troubled genius, cast adrift from the easy pleasures of the world - Raphael was at ease rubbing shoulders with cardinals and aristocrats, princes and popes. His youthful good looks and charm made him a natural at court, and Raphael soon rose to a position of influence and prominence in the Vatican.

If you’ve joined us in the Sistine Chapel on one of our in-depth Vatican tours, then you’ll know the story of how Pope Julius II cajoled, threatened and bribed Michelangelo to redecorate the papal chapel during his reign. But the insatiable Julius wasn’t content with leaving his patronage there; deciding that his own living quarters weren’t up to scratch, he called on the young hotshot Raphael and his workshop to decorate them with splendid paintings.

«   »

Add comment

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Create Your Own Website With Webador