​Priceless masterpieces of the Vatican. Stanzas of Raphael. Rafael Santi. Raphael's Stanzas: Stanza della Segnatura and Stanza d'Eliodoro Raphael's Stanzas

Raphael's four stanzas are rooms in the Vatican Palace that are open to the public. They are best known for the amazing frescoes painted by Raphael and his talented students. Along with Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, they are the most outstanding works dating back to the Renaissance. Initially, the stanzas were the personal apartments of Pope Julius II, who did not want to occupy the same rooms that once belonged to representatives of the hated Borgia family.

It was he who invited Raphael, at that time a relatively young artist from Urbino (he was only twenty-five years old), to completely change the interior of the rooms. With the death of Julius in 1513, Leo X became Pope. He continued to control the decoration of the rooms, but, unfortunately, the great artist also died. The frescoes were completed by Raphael's students - Gianfrancesco Penni, Giulio Romano and Raffaellino del Collier. Thus, each of the walls is decorated with a fresco composition; there are four of them in total in the stanza.

The Stanza della Segnatura contains Raphael's most outstanding frescoes. All of them, except the first Vatican work of the great artist, date back to the beginning of the Renaissance period. The name of the stanza literally translates as “signature room” - until the mid-16th century, the pontiff held meetings here and signed important documents. Initially, however, it was used by Julius II as a library and personal office, as frescoes painted between 1508 and 1511 eloquently tell. They reflect the three greatest aspects of the human spirit: Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Supernatural Truth is illustrated in the Disputation, and Reasonable Truth in the School of Athens.

Goodness is presented in Virtue and Law, and Beauty in Parnassus. The School of Athens is rightfully considered one of Raphael's greatest works. The artist depicted prominent philosophers on the canvas (about fifty characters), placing Aristotle and Plato in the center: the first points down as a sign of connection with the earth, the second raises his hands to him.

In the most beautiful fresco "Parnassus" Raphael painted Apollo playing the lyre and nine muses with talented writers: Homer, Dante, Horace, Ovid, etc. During the reign of Leo X, the room was used as a training or music classroom, here he kept his musical instruments . The setting from the time of Julius II was replaced by Fra Giovanni da Verona. He covered all the walls with wood.

Stanza d'Eliodoro

This stanza was originally intended for the Pope's private audiences and was decorated immediately after Raphael completed work on Segnaturoi. The images of the frescoes are filled with one idea - faith in God’s miraculous protection of the church. On the ceiling are four episodes of the Old Testament - all painted by Raphael himself, while in the grotesques and arches there are some works by Luca Signorelli, Bramantino, Lorenzo Lotto and Cesare da Sesto. The fresco “The Expulsion of Eliodorus” gave the dance its name - it depicts a heavenly horseman expelling the Syrian Eliodorus from the temple in Jerusalem.

Another work, “Mass in Bolsena,” shows an amazing miracle - the hands of an unbelieving priest were stained with blood. Another fresco - “The Liberation of the Apostle Peter” - tells about the release of the apostle from prison. The work is divided into two parts: in the right, Peter escapes from prison, led by an angel, in the left, the awakened guards raise the alarm. Art critics agree that a colossal amount of work has been done on the lighting. Refractions of rays and shadows, flickering flames, blinding darkness - it’s hard to imagine that one person wrote this.

Stanza del Incendio di Borgo

During the time of Julius II, the stanza was used as a meeting room for the highest court of the Holy See, presided over by the Pope. This is evidenced by the frescoes on the ceiling, executed by Pietro Vannucci. During the time of Leo X, the room was used as a dining room, and Raphael was entrusted with painting the walls, who, however, entrusted most of the work to his students.

The painting of the frescoes took three years, from 1514 to 1517. The frescoes illustrate the political aspirations of Leo X through the narrative of the lives of two previous popes of the same name: Leo III ("Coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III") and Leo IV ("Fire of the Borgo" ). In all episodes, the Pope is depicted with the face of the then-ruling Pontiff Leo X. It was thanks to the work “Fire in the Borgo” that the stanza acquired its name, and the fresco itself reflects the ancient legend, according to which Pope Leo IV was able to tame the flames and protect the townspeople.

Stanza of Constantine

A room designed for receptions and other official events. After Raphael's sudden death in 1520, it was completed by his students based on the artist's sketches and previous works. The stanza was named after Constantine, the first Christian emperor who officially recognized the Christian faith and granted others freedom of religion.

The wall paintings reflect four episodes from the life of the great ruler: evidence of the defeat of paganism and the triumph of the Christian religion, the battle with Maxentius, the tyrant invader, and the vision of Christ, the baptism of Constantine and the donation of Rome. The original wooden roof, erected under Pope Leo X, was replaced by a decree of Gregory XIII with modern roofing. They were decorated by order of Pope Tomaso Laureti, depicting the victory of Christianity in the center. The work was completed at the end of 1585 under the direction of Pope Sixtus V.

Where is it and how to get there

Raphael's stanzas occupy four rooms of the Papal Palace in the very center of the Vatican. Exact address: 00120 Vatican City, Papal See, Apostolic Palace, Apostolic Palace.

Metro: line A, towards Battistini, Ottaviano and Cipro stations.

Buses: No. 49 – stops in the square opposite the Vatican Museum; No. 32, 81, 982 – stop Piazza del Risorgimento.

"Raphael's Stanzas" translated from Italian means "Raphael's rooms" (la stanza-room). This is one of the main attractions of Rome, part of the Vatican Museum complex. It includes four rooms painted by the great artist together with his talented students between 1508 and 1524.

The first room where the paintings were completed was the Stanza of Signatures, so named because the Church Tribunal met here. However, from the very beginning, Julius II intended to use the room as his personal office and library, so he wanted the walls to be painted were closely related to the purpose of the hall. The design idea was undoubtedly developed with the help of theologians and writers of the Roman Curia. In the four tondos of the ceiling, Raphael depicted in the form of lovely female figures allegorical embodiments of those disciplines that were of particular interest to Julius II

One of the first and largest works of Raphael Santi in Rome was the artistic painting of the papal apartments. Giuliano della Rovere, being elected Pope under the name Julius II, refused to use the apartment where Pope Alexander VI Borgia had previously lived as a personal residence.

Julius II chose several spacious rooms on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace and hired famous artists to work on the decorative design of the rooms. Among the artists involved were Bramante, Sodoma, Baldassare Peruzzi, Lorenzo Lotto, and even Pietro Perugino, one of Raphael’s first teachers. By the way, the painting of the ceiling of one of the rooms that Perugino was working on did not please the Pontiff so much that, as soon as he saw the master’s work, he ordered it to be washed off immediately.

In the same way, Julius II did not appreciate the efforts of the other artists involved. According to Vasari, it was Bramante, who at that time was the chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica, who advised inviting the young and little-known Raphael to complete the task.

Blessing

Satisfied with the first results of the talented artist’s work, Julius II completely entrusted Santi with the painting of the apartments, ordering the complete removal of the works of previous masters.

Stanza della Segnatura

The name of the room comes from the Court of the Holy See located above, called the “Signature of Justice and Mercy.” Over the years, this hall was used by the Pope for various types of meetings.

Disputation on the Sacrament (Theology, 1509)

The fresco “Dispute about the Sacrament of Communion” is not so much a conversation about the sacrament of communion as it is the glorification and triumph of the church. Above, in heaven, God the Father is depicted, below him is Christ with the Mother of God and John the Baptist, below is a dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the saints and patriarchs of the Old Testament seated on the clouds. Below, on the ground, are the fathers of the church - Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure and other theologians, while in the crowd on the right hand you can see Dante, the greatest poet, and Dominican Savanarolu, almost hidden under a black hood. The fresco is distinguished by its amazing compositional unity and harmony.

The Stanza della Segnatura was the first room Raphael worked on. The luxurious paintings decorating the walls of the room are allegorical images of theology, philosophy, law and poetry, which, according to the author, form the basis of human society.

School of Athens (Philosophy, 1509-1511)

The best of all the frescoes in the stanzas is unanimously recognized as the “School of Athens” - one of the greatest creations of Renaissance art in general and Raphael in particular. In the center of the composition are the figures of Aristotle and Plato. Plato (in a red cloak and with the features of Leonardo da Vinci) raises his hand to to the sky - as a sign that the world of ideas is found in the heavens; Aristotle (in a blue cloak) points his hand down - as a sign that the world of ideas is connected with earthly experience.

Other great philosophers are also represented on the fresco: Socrates (to the left of Plato), Diogenes (lying on the steps of the stairs), and in the foreground below is Pythagoras surrounded by students (on the left), Heraclitus, sitting in deep thought almost in the center (with facial features Michelangelo), Euclid, bent over, with a compass in his hands (with the facial features of Bramante), Ptolemy and Zoroaster (on the right), with whom two young men are talking (one of them with the facial features of Raphael himself, the other is the painter of Sodoma, who began working in the this station).

The author put his signature on Euclid's tunic, writing in gold letters at the neck: "R.V.S.M.", Raphael of Urbino in his own hand. Raphael brilliantly copes with the task of distributing more than fifty characters in the fresco, where each is endowed with its own unique personality.

1.Zeno of Citium or Zeno of Elea.2. Epicurus.3.Frederico II, Duke of Mantua.4.Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles of Acragantes.5.Averroes.6.Pythagoras.7.Alcibiades or Alexander the Great.8.Antisthenes or Xenophon.9.Hypatia (facial features Raphael's beloved Margherita).10.Aeschines or Xenophon.11.Parmenides.12.Socrates.13.Heraclitus of Ephesus (portrait resemblance to Michelangelo).14.Plato (portrait of Leonardo da Vinci) with the treatise “Timaeus” in his left hand.15 .Aristotle holding the Nicomachean Ethics.16.Diogenes.17.Plotinus.18.Euclid (or Archimedes) with his disciples (portrait resemblance to the architect Bramante).19.Most likely, Hipparchus, according to other versions Strabo or Zarathustra.20.Claudius Ptolemy .21.Protogen.22.R - Apelles (facial features of Raphael himself)

Love and kindness are born along with religion, philosophy gives a person reason, beauty is given by poetry and art, and justice can triumph through justice.

Parnassus (Poetry, 1510-1511)

The artist depicted a hill with a grove, symbolizing Parnassus, the famous Greek mountain, considered in ancient times to be the residence of the Muses. In the center is Apollo, around him are nine muses and poets, both ancient and Renaissance.On the left rises the powerful figure of an inspiredly singing Homer in a dark blue pallium. Apparently, Raphael was unfamiliar with the Greek busts of the epic poet, and he gave him the features of Laocoon, recently extracted from the ground near the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The blind man stretches his right hand forward, as if determining the path by touch. In order to balance his figure, the muse Urania in a bright red robe is placed on the right with her back to the viewer. The young man, sitting on a stone under a tree, is mesmerized by the singing of the blind Homer, hastily writing on a slate tablet and trying not to miss a single word of the Iliad. .Next to Homer is a figure with Dante’s profile, familiar from the Dispute fresco, but this time in brighter attire. From behind Homer’s left shoulder, the head of Virgil is visible, pointing with Dante’s hand at Apollo playing the viol. Behind the singer of the “Aeneid” stands an imitator to him the poet Statius, whose subtle features remind him of Raphael himself.

To the right of Apollo sits on the ground with a seven-string lyre Erato, the muse of lyric poetry. Behind her stands the muse of history Clio, written in profile, next to Thalia with a mask of comedy in her hand and the muse of music Euterpe. Below on the right side of the window, Elder Pindar is saying something, commandingly pointing his finger down, as if advising the servants of the muses to descend from the Parnassian heights to the sinful earth and brand with their pen the arbitrariness reigning there. One of the poets does not agree with him, throwing up his hands. This, according to - apparently Horace, and next to him, perhaps, the lyricist Catullus, on whose face bewilderment is reflected. Above them is the Neapolitan poet Sannazzaro, with whom the author was friends. But above, diagonally, a young dark-haired man with a sharply turned torso fixed an expressive gaze on the viewer, speaking of a strong-willed character. This is none other than Michelangelo, again captured. Shocked by some of his poetic revelations that fell into his hands, Raphael boldly ranked Michelangelo among the host of poets, with which many contemporaries agreed.

This theme of the decorative design of the room suggests that it was originally intended to house either the Pontiff’s office or his personal library, even if no documentary evidence for this was found.

Mercy and Justice (Jurisprudence, 1511)

Stanza di Eliodoro

In 1511, having completed the painting of the first room, Raphael began creating sketches for the frescoes of the next room, intended for papal audiences.

Expulsion of Eliodorus from the Temple (1511-1512)

The plot of the fresco "The Expulsion of Eliodor" (1511-1512), from which the stanza received its name, is borrowed from the Old Testament. The Syrian leader Eliodor tried to steal gold from the Jerusalem Temple, intended for widows and orphans. For this, the Lord's punishment was sent to him in in the image of a beautiful horseman angel in golden armor.

The left side of the composition depicts Pope Julius II, who is carried in a chair to a defeated criminal. The fresco served as a reminder of how the troops of Pope Julius II defeated and disgracedly expelled the French army from the Papal States. In the center of the fresco in the temple, the Great Priest Onnas prays at candles. The architecture of the temple is reminiscent of the design of St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican, by the architect Bramante.

At this time, Pope Julius II had just returned to Rome after a devastating military campaign against the French, which ended for the Holy See with the loss of Bologna and created the threat of an invasion of foreign troops on the peninsula.

Mass in Bolsena (1512)

The fresco is dedicated to an event that took place in the 13th century in the quiet town of Bolsena, on the shores of the lake of the same name. During a mass in a local church, one Bohemian priest, at the moment of the consecration of the Gifts, suddenly doubted the mystery of divine reincarnation and immediately saw how the cloth covering the ostia (prosphora) and his hands stained with blood.

To commemorate this miracle, the church holiday Corpus Domini was established - the day of Corpus Christi. Going on another campaign against the obstinate Bologna, Julius II visited those places and suggested to Raphael the idea for a fresco. At this event, a kneeling Pope Julius II is present, and on the right is a group of Swiss guards from papal guards dressed in colorful costumes

The window niche of the first end wall was not cut in the middle, which forced Raphael to reckon with this flaw, which disrupted the middle axis of the fresco. But he managed to find a brilliant compositional solution. As if by cutting off part of the image with the edge of the window opening, he thereby created the illusion that the space is shifted to the left and is partially hidden by the arch of the architectural frame of the fresco. Thanks to this ingenious find, the viewer's point of view is clearly fixed in the center of the image.

Political instability prompted Raphael to create a cycle of frescoes telling about the protection that God can give through the Christian faith and the Church.

Stanza of Eliodorus

This Hall was set aside by order of Pope Julius II for private audiences, which the Pontiff often granted to major political and religious figures and diplomats. Naturally, the decoration of the hall should have reflected the importance of this place. The theme of its paintings is the miraculous patronage provided by God to the church. Raphael was the creator of the four main walls located in the wall arches, while the caryatids and the ceiling painting with grotesques belong to the brushes of other artists. However, the ceiling paintings harmoniously continue the compositions of the wall frescoes made according to Raphael’s sketches. In the center of the vault there is a circle with coat of arms of Pope Julius II.

God Appears to Moses

Jacob's Ladder

God Appears Before Noah's Flood

Sacrifice of Isaac

Liberation of St. Peter (1513-1514)

The fresco “The Liberation of Peter” was painted with great skill, telling about the miraculous liberation of the Apostle Peter from prison. This contains a hint of an episode from the life of Pope Leo X. While still a cardinal, he was captured by the French at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, but managed to escape.

The composition is divided into three parts. In the center is depicted behind bars, in a dungeon, the sleeping Apostle Peter, over whom an angel is bending. On the right side, an angel leads Peter out of prison while the guards are sleeping; on the left, the awakened guards, having discovered Peter’s disappearance, raise the alarm. Raphael uses night lighting with great skill in this fresco, creating a dramatic mood and deep expressiveness.

The presented stories tell about some historical events and the miracles that occurred related to them. The painting of Eliodoro's Room continued from 1511 to 1514.

Meeting of Pope Leo with Attila (1514)

The fresco "Meeting of Saint Leo I the Great with Attila" (1514), illustrates the special care of the Creator for Rome. On the left is a papal cortege led by Pope Leo I the Great (440-461 AD) on a white horse, which, according to legend, he stopped the advance of the troops of the Hun king Attila. In fact, this episode took place in the north of Italy, but the artist’s imagination transfers the action to the gates of Rome, since Rome was considered the heart of Christianity.

In the background of the picture you can see the most remarkable architectural monuments of Rome: the Colosseum, Aqueduct, Basilica and Obelisk. In the center of the composition, Attila, riding a black horse, looks in horror at the heavens, where he sees a vision of the apostles Peter and Paul, armed with swords. When Raphael was working on fresco, Pope Julius II died, and the image of Leo I the Great is actually a portrait of Leo X, successor of Julius II.

Supreme Creator on the throne

Holy Trinity with twelve Apostles

Christ with Mercy and Justice(it is assumed that it was under this fresco that Julius II’s chair stood when he signed the decrees of pardon).

Stanza dell'Incendio di Borgo

The last of four rooms in the decoration of which Raphael was directly involved. The maestro entrusted most of the work on the artistic painting of the hall to his students, including Giulio Romano, Giovanni Francesco Panni, Giovanni da Udine and some others. He himself was involved in the implementation of other projects, in particular, a large-scale project for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica, being appointed to the position of chief architect of the cathedral.

Fire in Borgo (1514)

The first fresco painted in the third hall is called "The Fire of the Borgo" (1514), which gave the name to the hall itself. All the paintings in it glorify the acts of the Carolingian era popes Leo III and Leo IV. According to legend, Pope Leo IV extinguished the fire in 847 year, a terrible fire was blessed with its blessing, which devastated the populous Borgo quarter adjacent to the Vatican Palace. A strong wind rose and contributed to the spread of the fire, and the flames already threatened St. Peter's Basilica. One of Raphael's best works on composition, dynamism, color and plasticity is dedicated to this miraculous event. the figures were entrusted to the students.

Raphael paid special attention to the placement of buildings with Corinthian and Ionic columns on the fresco. In the depths of the elevation, where fourteen marble steps lead, half of the facade of the old St. Peter's Cathedral, destroyed before Raphael's appearance in Rome, is visible. A little to the right is the corner of the Vatican Palace with an open loggia, from where the pope in a tiara and a red cape over a light cassock addresses the Roman people with a blessing. But his figure is given in the depths of the picture, having lost its dominant significance. All attention is focused on the picture of the fire. Along the steps of the wide staircase a young mother with a naked child rises to the papal palace, seeking salvation from the fire, and near the palace, under the loggia, a crowd of frightened women kneeling is crying out for help.

"Stanza del Incendio di Borgo" was intended for dinners. The subjects taken as the basis for the compositions of the frescoes are related to real events from the history of the Holy See. Raphael began work on creating sketches for the dining room in 1513, shortly after the coronation of Pope Leo X.

Battle of Ostia (1514-1515)

In 846, the Saracens attacked Ostia, plundered the local cathedral and took with them many prisoners, filling the holds of their ships with them. Three years later they returned again for booty, but this time the victory remained with the papal soldiers, and sitting on a block of marble, like on the throne, the pontiff turns his grateful gaze to heaven. This is another image of Leo X, and cardinals Giulio de Medici, Bibbiena and other high-ranking officials are recognizable nearby

Admiring the earlier works of the young artist, the Pontiff wished to see on the walls of the room a cycle of frescoes telling about the most significant events in the life of his predecessors, in particular Pope Leo III and Pope Leo IV.

Coronation of Charlemagne (1516-1517)

On the opposite wall there is a scene of the “Coronation of Charlemagne.” (1516-1517) An event that took place in 800 in the ancient Basilica of St. Peter. Taking into account the historical meeting in Bologna of the French monarch Francis I with the Roman pontiff Leo X in 1516, In order to conclude an alliance between France and the Vatican, Charlemagne acquired a resemblance to Francis I according to an existing drawing made by one of the Bolognese artists, and Leo III was accordingly given the features of Pope Leo X.

Just as Pope Leo III, who placed the crown on the head of the most glorious conqueror in the Basilica of St. Peter, thus strengthening mutual understanding and friendship with the secular authorities, so the agreement with France, reached during the reign of Leo X, once again confirmed the desire of the Church to strengthen peace and harmony with the most powerful rulers of Europe. The authorship of the fresco has not yet been clarified, but the work belongs to the brush of one of the students of Raphael’s school.

The most significant fresco of the third Stanza is “Fire in Borgo” (Incendio di Borgo), from which the name of the room itself comes. The fresco tells about the events of the mid-9th century, when a severe fire occurred in Rome. The Borgo area (that's the name of the area near St. Peter's Basilica) was almost completely engulfed in fire. Pope Leo IV, having sent a blessing to the Roman people, managed to miraculously stop the disaster and thereby save the population of the city.

Oath of Leo III (1517)

Fresco in a lunette called "The Vindication of Leo III" (1517). Raphael distributed among his students the work of painting the Stanza of the Fire, preparing sketches and drawings, and supervising their work to the extent that the hard work of the last years of his life allowed him to do so. Therefore, Raphael completely entrusted the completion of work in the Stanza “Fire in Borgo” to his students, and his hand touched only individual details.

Hall of Constantine (Sala di Costantino)

The fourth and final room of the famous papal apartments is the “Hall of Constantine”. The painting of the room was commissioned from Raphael in 1517, but the great maestro only managed to prepare sketch drawings. Raphael died in 1520 at the age of 37.

The Hall of Constantine is the most spacious room of the Apartments. The hall was used primarily for special occasions - banquets, wedding ceremonies of the Pope's relatives or large semi-official audiences. It was decorated by the apprentices of Raphael's school, since the Teacher himself had died by that time, leaving sketches of frescoes and the work was completed only under Clement VII. The general idea of ​​the frescoes in the Hall pursues the same goals as the artistic design of other halls—glorifying the Church.

The frescoes were painted by students of the famous artist - Giulio Romano, Giovanni Francesco Panni, Raffaellino del Colle and Perin del Vaga - between 1520 and 1524. The ceiling of the hall received paintings a little later; the Sicilian artist Tommaso Laureti worked on their creation.

Vision of the Cross

In the Vision of the Holy Cross, Emperor Constantine addresses his troops before the decisive battle against the pagan Emperor Maxentius, and, raising his eyes to the sky, sees a sparkling cross with the Greek inscription “with this sign you will conquer.”

The cycle of frescoes is dedicated to scenes from the life of Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to be baptized. It was under Constantine that the first Christian churches began to be built and all kinds of persecution for religious beliefs alien to the pagan world ceased.

Battle between Constantine and Maxentius

The plot of the Battle of the Malvian Bridge is the glorious victory of Emperor Constantine over the pagan Emperor Maxentius, at the Malvian Bridge, north of Rome.

The “Hall of Constantine” was used mainly for lavish banquets and ceremonial receptions.

Ceiling painting by Tommaso Lauretti, “Triumph of the Christian religion over paganism” (1565).

Baptism of Constantine

In Epiphany we see Constantine receiving the sacrament from Pope Sylvester (314-335 AD), depicted as similar in appearance to the reigning Pope Clement VII.

Donation of Rome

The Donation of Constantine depicts Emperor Constantine transferring the right to temporal rule to Pope Sylvester, symbolically represented by a gilded figurine of the goddess of Rome.

Stanzas of Raphael

Stanze di Raffaello - rooms (stanza - room) in the Papal Palace of the Vatican. They already existed under Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455). Pope Julius II chose them for his apartments, not wanting to live where the shadow of the hated Borgias still hovered, that is, in the apartments of Alexander VI. On the advice of Bramante, Julius II commissioned the very young Raphael to paint the stanzas (the artist was only twenty-five years old). Raphael's Stanzas are four relatively small rooms (approximately 9 by 6 m), painted in 1508-1517 by Raphael together with his students, and a hall, the paintings of which were carried out by students according to the painter's sketches after his death. The fourth room, the Hall of Constantine, was painted by Raphael's students and is therefore less known. Each of the walls is entirely occupied by a fresco composition, so there are four of them in each of the stanzas. The paintings amaze with their depth of design, richness of imagery, compositional clarity and orderliness, and overall harmony.

Stanza del Incendio di Borgo

Stanza del Incendio di Borgo (Stanza dell "Incendio di Borgo) is the last of the stanzas painted by Raphael (1514-1517). The themes of the paintings are taken from the history of the papacy, namely, episodes associated with Leo III and Leo IV, which allowed to glorify Leo X, who was then on the papal throne. The best fresco of this stanza, after which it is named, is “Fire in Borgo.”
According to legend, when a fire broke out in Borgo (the area adjacent to the papal palace) in 847, Pope Leo IV miraculously stopped it by making the sign of the cross over the crowd fleeing the fire. In the depths you can see part of the Cathedral of St. Peter's, and with the old facade that still existed during Raphael's work on the painting of the stanzas.

Estancia del Incendio del Borgo (Vista general I)

Estancia del Incendio del Borgo (Vista general II)

“Fire in Borgo” Stanza dell "Incendio di Borgo

"Fire in Borgo" (fragment)

"Fire in Borgo" (fragment)

"Fire in Borgo" (fragment)

Coronation of Charlemagne

Coronation of Charlemagne (fragment)

The Oath or Justification of Leo III

Oath, or justification of Leo III (frament)

Battle of Ostia

Battle of Ostia (fragment)

Stanza della Segnatura

Stanza della Segnatura was the papal office, and papal decrees were signed here. This is the first of the stanzas painted by Raphael (1508-1511). The theme of the painting is human spiritual activity. The frescoes represent its four areas: "The School of Athens" - philosophy, "Disputa" - theology, "Parnassus" - poetry, and "Wisdom, Temperance and Strength" - justice.

Stanza della Segnatura 1

Stanza della Segnatura 2

"School of Athens" - philosophy

School of Athens (Escuela de Atenas)

The best of all the frescoes in the stanzas is unanimously recognized"School of Athens" - one of the greatest creations of Renaissance art in general and Raphael in particular. In the center of the composition are the figures of Aristotle and Plato. Plato (in a red cloak and with the features of Leonardo da Vinci) raises his hand to the sky - as a sign that the world of ideas is found in the upper reaches; Aristotle (in a blue cloak) points his hand down - as a sign that the world of ideas is connected with earthly experience. Other great philosophers are also represented on the fresco: Socrates (to the left of Plato), Diogenes (lying on the steps of the stairs), and in the foreground below - Pythagoras surrounded by students (left), Heraclitus, sitting in deep thought almost in the center (with facial features Michelangelo), Euclid, bent over, with a compass in his hands (with the facial features of Bramante), Ptolemy and Zoroaster (on the right), with whom two young men are talking (one of them with the facial features of Raphael himself, the other - the painter of Sodoma, who began working in this station). According to the master’s plan, imbued with the ideas of Christian Neoplatonism, such similarities were supposed to symbolize the influence and deep kinship of ancient philosophy and new theology. Raphael's signature (RSVM) is at the collar of his robe.

Diogenes (Diogenes) School of Athens (fragment)

Heraclitus of Ephesus (Michelangelo)
School of Athens (fragment)

Plato (Leonardo da Vinci) School of Athens (fragment)

Pythagoras (Pitagora) School of Athens (fragment)

Plato (Leonardo da Vinci) and Aristotle
(School of Athens (fragment)

"Disputa" - theology

Fresco "Disputation" - this is not so much a conversation about the sacrament of communion as the glorification and triumph of the church. Above, in heaven, God the Father is depicted, below him is Christ with the Mother of God and John the Baptist, below is a dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and the apostles sitting on the clouds. Below, on the ground, are the church fathers, popes, clergy, and believers, among whom you can see Dante, Savonarola and the artist monk Fra Beato Angelico. The fresco is distinguished by its amazing compositional unity and harmony.

"Disputation" - theology (Disputation of the Holy Sacrament)

Disputa (fragment)

Dispute (fragment) 2

"Parnassus" - poetry

"Parnassus". In the center is Apollo, around him are nine muses and poets, both ancient and Renaissance. On the left are depicted the blind Homer, Virgil, Dante, Petrarch, Anacreon, Sappho, on the right are Terence, Ariosto, Ovid, Horace.

"Parnassus"

Parnassus (Parnaso) Homer, Dante (fragment)

Parnassus (fragment)

Three cardinal virtues - The Cardinal Virtues

Trebonian presenting the Pandettas to Justinian

Gregory IX approving the Decretals

Ceiling (vault) paintings

Ceiling (vault) Estancia del Sello (Boveda)

Fresco on the ceiling (Adam and Eve)

Philosophy

Justice (Justice)

Eliodoro's Room (Stanza di Eliodoro)

Raphael painted the Stanza d'Eliodoro in 1511-1514. The theme of her paintings is the miraculous patronage provided by God to the church.

Stanza di Eliodoro I

Stanza di Eliodoro) II

Exile of Eliodorus

Fresco "The Expulsion of Eliodorus", from which the stanza got its name, tells how a heavenly horseman expels the Syrian military leader Eliodorus from the Jerusalem Temple, which he wanted to plunder. It is believed that this plot contains an allusion to the expulsion of the French from the Papal States. On the left is Pope Julius II seated. The character of this strong and powerful man is perfectly conveyed.

The Exile of Eliodorus (fragment)

Mass in Bolsena (Massatbolsena) 1512

IN "Mass in Bolsena"depicts a miracle that occurred in 1263, when during a service the host in the hands of an unbelieving priest became stained with blood. A kneeling Pope Julius II is present at this event, and on the right is a group of Swiss Guards from the papal guard, dressed in bright suits.

Liberation of Saint Peter

The fresco was painted with great skill"Liberation of Peter", telling about the miraculous release of the Apostle Peter from prison. This contains a hint of an episode from the life of Pope Leo X. While still a cardinal, he was captured by the French at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, but managed to escape. The composition is divided into three parts. In the center is depicted behind bars, in a dungeon, the sleeping Apostle Peter, over whom an angel is bending. On the right side, an angel leads Peter out of prison while the guards are sleeping; on the left, the awakened guards, having discovered Peter’s disappearance, raise the alarm. Raphael uses night lighting with great skill in this fresco, creating a dramatic mood and deep expressiveness.

Liberation of Peter (fragment)

Meeting of Saint Leo the Great with Atilla

Meeting of Saint Leo the Great with Attila (fragment)

The Hall of Constantine was decorated with frescoes after the death of Raphael. Based on his sketches, Francesco Penni and Giulio Romano painted pictures of events from the life of Emperor Constantine.

The murals in Stanza d'Elidoro tell of the miraculous patronage provided by God to the papacy, religion, the apostles and the Church. Raphael's fresco "The Liberation of Peter" - the artist's first "night scene" - was painted with amazing skill.

The paintings in the Stanza della Segnatura, the pope's study, represent the spiritual spheres of human activity: poetry, theology, philosophy and justice. The frescoes are considered a masterpiece of the High Renaissance. The fresco “School of Athens” depicts the great ancient Greek philosophers: in the center are Plato and Aristotle, to the left of Plato is Socrates, in the foreground below is Pythagoras surrounded by students, Euclid is sitting almost in the center with a compass in his hands, and the great geographer Ptolemy is standing on the right and the astronomer Zoroaster with a celestial globe. Diogenes lies on the steps, and the seated Heraclitus rests on a marble block with his back. Raphael also depicted himself - in the guise of one of the young men talking with Ptolemy and Zoroaster.

In the Stanza dell'Incendiodi Borgo, the fresco "Fire in the Borgo" depicts Pope Leo IV stopping a fire that occurred in 847 in the residential quarter of St. Peter by making the sign of the cross to the fleeing crowd.

Through the vestibule next to the Hall of Constantine you can enter the Chapel of Nicholas V, painted around 1447-1550. Fra Angelico. The frescoes depict scenes from the life of St. Lawrence and Stefan.

Six rooms of Pope Alexander VI Borgia were painted with frescoes in 1492-1495. under the leadership of Pinturicchio. His private chambers house part of the collection of contemporary religious art, which represents all areas of art of the 20th century. The bulk of the works are located in the rooms under the Sistine Chapel.

Raphael (actually Raffaello Santi or Sanzio, Raffaello Santi, Sanzio) (March 26 or 28, 1483, Urbino - April 6, 1520, Rome), Italian painter and architect.

Raphael, the son of the painter Giovanni Santi, spent his early years in Urbino. In 1500-1504, Raphael, according to Vasari, studied with the artist Perugino in Perugia.

From 1504, Raphael worked in Florence, where he became acquainted with the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolommeo, and studied anatomy and scientific perspective.
Moving to Florence played a huge role in Raphael's creative development. Of primary importance for the artist was familiarity with the method of the great Leonardo da Vinci.

Following Leonardo, Raphael begins to work a lot from life, studying anatomy, mechanics of movements, complex poses and angles, looking for compact, rhythmically balanced compositional formulas.
The numerous images of Madonnas he created in Florence brought the young artist all-Italian fame.
Raphael received an invitation from Pope Julius II to Rome, where he was able to become more familiar with ancient monuments and took part in archaeological excavations. Having moved to Rome, the 26-year-old master received the position of “artist of the Apostolic See” and the assignment to paint the state rooms of the Vatican Palace, from 1514 he directed the construction of St. Peter’s Cathedral, worked in the field of church and palace architecture, in 1515 he was appointed Commissioner of Antiquities, responsible for the study and protection of ancient monuments, archaeological excavations. Fulfilling the pope's order, Raphael created murals in the halls of the Vatican, glorifying the ideals of freedom and earthly happiness of man, the limitlessness of his physical and spiritual capabilities.

The painting “Madonna Conestabile” by Rafael Santi was created by the artist at the age of twenty.

In this painting, the young artist Raphael created his first remarkable embodiment of the image of the Madonna, which occupied an extremely important place in his art. The image of a young beautiful mother, generally so popular in Renaissance art, is especially close to Raphael, whose talent had a lot of softness and lyricism.

Unlike the masters of the 15th century, new qualities emerged in the paintings of the young artist Raphael Santi, when a harmonious compositional structure does not constrain the images, but, on the contrary, is perceived as a necessary condition for the feeling of naturalness and freedom that they generate.

Holy family 1507-1508. Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

Painting by artist Raphael Santi “The Holy Family” by Canigiani.

The customer of the work is Domenico Canigianini from Florence. In the painting “The Holy Family”, the great Renaissance painter Raphael Santi depicted the Holy Family in the classical vein of biblical history - the Virgin Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus Christ along with St. Elizabeth and the baby John the Baptist.

However, only in Rome did Raphael overcome the dryness and some stiffness of his early portraits. It was in Rome that Raphael's brilliant talent as a portrait painter reached maturity.

In Raphael’s “Madonnas” of the Roman period, the idyllic mood of his early works is replaced by the recreation of deeper human, maternal feelings, as Mary, full of dignity and spiritual purity, appears as the intercessor of humanity in Raphael’s most famous work - “The Sistine Madonna”.

The painting “The Sistine Madonna” by Raphael Santi was originally created by the great painter as an altar image for the church of San Sisto (St. Sixtus) in Piacenza.

In the painting, the artist depicts the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, Pope Sixtus II and Saint Barbara. The painting “The Sistine Madonna” is one of the most famous works of world art.

How was the image of the Madonna created? Was there a real prototype for it? In this regard, a number of ancient legends are associated with the Dresden painting. Researchers find similarities in the Madonna's facial features with the model of one of Raphael's female portraits - the so-called “Lady in the Veil”. But in resolving this issue, first of all, one should take into account the famous statement of Raphael himself from a letter to his friend Baldassare Castiglione that in creating the image of perfect female beauty he is guided by a certain idea, which arises on the basis of many impressions from the beauties the artist saw in life. In other words, the basis of the creative method of the painter Raphael Santi is the selection and synthesis of observations of reality.

In the last years of his life, Raphael was so overloaded with orders that he entrusted the execution of many of them to his students and assistants (Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Udine, Perino del Vaga, Francesco Penni and others), usually limiting himself to general supervision of the works.

Raphael had a huge influence on the subsequent development of Italian and European painting, becoming, along with the masters of antiquity, the highest example of artistic perfection. The art of Raphael, which had a tremendous influence on European painting of the 16th-19th and, partly, 20th centuries, for centuries retained the meaning of indisputable artistic authority and model for artists and viewers.

In the last years of his creative work, based on the artist’s drawings, his students created huge cardboards on biblical themes with episodes from the life of the apostles. Based on these cardboards, Brussels masters were supposed to create monumental tapestries that were intended to decorate the Sistine Chapel on holidays.

Paintings by Rafael Santi

The painting “Angel” by Raphael Santi was created by the artist at the age of 17-18 at the very beginning of the 16th century.

This magnificent early work by the young artist is part or fragment of the Baroncha altarpiece, damaged by the 1789 earthquake. The altarpiece “Coronation of Blessed Nicholas of Tolentino, conqueror of Satan” was commissioned by Andrea Baronci for his home chapel in the church of San Agostinho in Citta de Castello. In addition to the fragment of the painting “Angel”, three more parts of the altar have been preserved: “The Most High Creator” and “The Blessed Virgin Mary” in the Capodimonte Museum (Naples) and another fragment “Angel” in the Louvre (Paris).

The painting “Madonna Granduca” was painted by the artist Rafael Santi after moving to Florence.

The numerous images of Madonnas created by the young artist in Florence (“Madonna of Granduca”, “Madonna of the Goldfinch”, “Madonna of the Greens”, “Madonna with the Child Christ and John the Baptist” or “The Beautiful Gardener” and others) brought Raphael Santi all-Italian fame.

The painting “The Dream of a Knight” was painted by the artist Rafael Santi in the early years of his work.

The painting is from Borghese’s legacy, probably paired with another work by the artist, “The Three Graces.” These paintings - "The Dream of a Knight" and "The Three Graces" - are almost miniature in composition size.

The theme of “The Knight’s Dream” is a unique refraction of the ancient myth of Hercules at the crossroads between the allegorical embodiments of Valor and Pleasure. Near the young knight, depicted sleeping against the backdrop of a beautiful landscape, stand two young women. One of them, in formal attire, offers him a sword and a book, the other a branch with flowers.

In the painting “The Three Graces” the very compositional motif of three naked female figures is apparently borrowed from an antique cameo. And although there is still a lot of uncertainty in these works of the artist (“The Three Graces” and “The Dream of a Knight”), they attract with their naive charm and poetic purity. Already here, some features inherent in Raphael’s talent were revealed - the poetry of images, a sense of rhythm and the soft melodiousness of lines.

Battle of St. George with the Dragon 1504-1505. Louvre Museum, Paris.

The painting “The Battle of St. George with the Dragon” by Raphael Santi was painted by the artist in Florence, after he left Perugia.

“The Battle of St. George with the Dragon” is based on a biblical story popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The altarpiece “Madonna of Ansidei” by Raphael Santi was painted by the artist in Florence; the young painter was not yet 25 years old.

Unicorn, a mythical animal with the body of a bull, horse or goat and one long straight horn on its forehead.

The unicorn is a symbol of purity and virginity. According to legend, only an innocent girl can tame the ferocious unicorn. The painting “Lady with a Unicorn” was painted by Rafael Santi based on a mythological plot popular during the Renaissance and mannerism, which many artists used in their paintings.

The painting “Lady with a Unicorn” was badly damaged in the past, but has now been partially restored.

Painting by Raphael Santi “Madonna in Greenery” or “Mary and Child and John the Baptist”.

In Florence, Raphael created the Madonna cycle, indicating the onset of a new stage in his work. Belonging to the most famous of them, “Madonna of the Greens” (Vienna, Museum), “Madonna with the Goldfinch” (Uffizi) and “Madonna of the Gardener” (Louvre) represent a kind of variants of a common motif - the image of a young beautiful mother with the child Christ and little John the Baptist against the backdrop of a landscape. These are also variations of one theme - the theme of maternal love, bright and serene.

Altarpiece painting "Madonna di Foligno" by Raphael Santi.

In the 1510s, Raphael worked a lot in the field of altar composition. A number of his works of this kind, including the Madonna di Foligno, lead us to the greatest creation of his easel painting - the Sistine Madonna. This painting was created in 1515-1519 for the Church of St. Sixtus in Piacenza and is now in the Dresden Art Gallery.

The painting “Madonna di Foligno” in its compositional structure is similar to the famous “Sistine Madonna”, with the only difference that in the painting “Madonna di Foligno” there are more characters and the image of the Madonna is distinguished by a kind of internal isolation - her gaze is occupied with her child - the Christ Child .

The painting “Madonna del Impannata” by Rafael Santi was created by the great painter almost at the same time as the famous “Sistine Madonna”.

In the painting, the artist depicts the Virgin Mary with the children Christ and John the Baptist, Saint Elizabeth and Saint Catherine. The painting “Madonna del Impannata” testifies to the further improvement of the artist’s style, to the complication of images in comparison with the soft lyrical images of his Florentine Madonnas.

The mid-1510s were the time of Raphael's best portrait work.

Castiglione, Count Baldassare (Castiglione; 1478-1526) - Italian diplomat and writer. Born near Mantua, he served at various Italian courts, was the ambassador of the Duke of Urbino in the 1500s for Henry VII of England, and from 1507 in France for King Louis XII. In 1525, already at a fairly advanced age, he was sent by the papal nuncio to Spain.

In this portrait, Raphael showed himself to be an outstanding colorist, able to sense color in its complex shades and tonal transitions. The portrait of the Lady in the Veil differs from the portrait of Baldassare Castiglione in its remarkable coloristic qualities.

Researchers of the work of the artist Raphael Santi and historians of Renaissance painting find in the features of the model of this female portrait of Raphael a resemblance to the face of the Virgin Mary in his famous painting “The Sistine Madonna.”

Joan of Aragon 1518 Louvre Museum, Paris.

The customer of the painting is Cardinal Bibbiena, writer and secretary to Pope Leo X; the painting was intended as a gift to the French king Francis I. The portrait was only begun by the artist, and it is not known for certain which of his students (Giulio Romano, Francesco Penni or Perino del Vaga) completed it.

Joanna of Aragon (? -1577) - daughter of the Neapolitan king Federigo (later deposed), wife of Ascanio, Prince Taliacosso, famous for her beauty.

The extraordinary beauty of Joan of Aragon was glorified by contemporary poets in a number of poetic dedications, the collection of which comprised an entire volume, published in Venice

The artist’s painting depicts a classic version of the biblical chapter from the Revelation of John the Theologian or the Apocalypse.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, but they did not stand, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...”

Frescoes by Raphael

The fresco by artist Raphael Santi “Adam and Eve” also has another name - “The Fall”.

The size of the fresco is 120 x 105 cm. Raphael painted the fresco “Adam and Eve” on the ceiling of the pontiff’s chambers.

The fresco by artist Raphael Santi “The School of Athens” also has another name - “Philosophical Conversations”. The size of the fresco, the length of the base is 770 cm. After moving to Rome in 1508, Raphael was entrusted with painting the pope's apartments - the so-called stanzas (that is, rooms), which include three rooms on the second floor of the Vatican Palace and the adjacent hall. The general ideological program of the fresco cycles in the stanzas, as conceived by the customers, was supposed to serve to glorify the authority of the Catholic Church and its head - the Roman high priest.

Along with allegorical and biblical images, individual frescoes depict episodes from the history of the papacy; some compositions include portrait images of Julius II and his successor Leo X.

The customer of the painting “The Triumph of Galatea” is Agostino Chigi, a banker from Siena; The fresco was painted by the artist in the banquet hall of the villa.

Raphael Santi's fresco "The Triumph of Galatea" depicts the beautiful Galatea swiftly moving through the waves on a shell drawn by dolphins, surrounded by newts and naiads.

In one of the first frescoes executed by Raphael, the Dispute, which depicts a conversation about the sacrament of the sacrament, cult motifs were most prominent. The symbol of communion itself - the host (wafer) - is installed on the altar in the center of the composition. The action takes place on two planes - on earth and in heaven. Below, on a stepped dais, the church fathers, popes, prelates, clergy, elders and youths were located on both sides of the altar.

Among other participants here you can recognize Dante, Savonarola, and the pious monk-painter Fra Beato Angelico. Above the entire mass of figures in the lower part of the fresco, like a heavenly vision, the personification of the Trinity appears: God the Father, below him, in a halo of golden rays, is Christ with the Mother of God and John the Baptist, even lower, as if marking the geometric center of the fresco, is a dove in sphere, a symbol of the holy spirit, and on the sides the apostles are seated on floating clouds. And all this huge number of figures, with such a complex compositional design, is distributed with such skill that the fresco leaves an impression of amazing clarity and beauty.

Prophet Isaiah 1511-1512. San Agostinho, Rome.

Raphael's fresco depicts the great biblical prophet of the Old Testament at the moment of revelation of the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah (9th century BC), Hebrew prophet, zealous champion of the religion of Yahweh and denouncer of idolatry. The biblical Book of the Prophet Isaiah bears his name.

One of the four great Old Testament prophets. For Christians, Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messiah (Immanuel; ch. 7, 9 - “...behold, the Virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call his name Immanuel”) is of particular significance. The memory of the prophet is revered in the Orthodox Church on May 9 (May 22), in the Catholic Church on July 6.

Frescoes and last paintings of Raphael

The fresco “The Deliverance of the Apostle Peter from Prison,” which depicts the miraculous release of the Apostle Peter from prison by an angel (an allusion to the release of Pope Leo X from French captivity when he was papal legate), makes a very strong impression.

On the ceiling lamps of the papal apartments - Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael painted the frescoes “The Fall”, “The Victory of Apollo over Marsyas”, “Astronomy” and a fresco on the famous Old Testament story “The Judgment of Solomon”.
It is difficult to find in the history of art any other artistic ensemble that would give the impression of such figurative richness in terms of ideological and visual-decorative design as Raphael’s Vatican stanzas. Walls covered with multi-figure frescoes, vaulted ceilings with rich gilded decor, with fresco and mosaic inserts, a beautifully patterned floor - all this could create the impression of overload, if not for the high orderliness inherent in the general design of Raphael Santi, which brings to this complex artistic complex necessary clarity and visibility.

Until the last years of his life, Raphael paid great attention to monumental painting. One of the artist’s largest works was the painting of the Villa Farnesina, which belonged to the richest Roman banker Chigi.

In the early 1910s, Raphael painted the fresco “The Triumph of Galatea” in the main hall of this villa, which is one of his best works.

Myths about Princess Psyche tell about the desire of the human soul to merge with love. For her indescribable beauty, people revered Psyche more than Aphrodite. According to one version, a jealous goddess sent her son, the deity of love Cupid, to arouse in the girl a passion for the ugliest of people, however, when he saw the beauty, the young man lost his head and forgot about his mother’s order. Having become the husband of Psyche, he did not allow her to look at him. She, burning with curiosity, lit a lamp at night and looked at her husband, not noticing a hot drop of oil falling on his skin, and Cupid disappeared. In the end, by the will of Zeus, the lovers united. Apuleius in Metamorphoses retells the myth of the romantic story of Cupid and Psyche; the wanderings of the human soul, eager to meet its love.

The painting depicts Fornarina, the lover of Rafael Santi, whose real name is Margherita Luti. Fornarina's real name was established by researcher Antonio Valeri, who discovered it in a manuscript from a Florentine library and in a list of nuns of a monastery, where the novice was identified as the widow of the artist Raphael.

Fornarina is the legendary lover and model of Raphael, whose real name is Margherita Luti. According to many Renaissance art critics and historians of the artist’s work, Fornarina is depicted in two famous paintings by Rafael Santi - “Fornarina” and “The Veiled Lady.” It is also believed that Fornarina, in all likelihood, served as a model for the creation of the image of the Virgin Mary in the painting “The Sistine Madonna”, as well as some other female images of Raphael.

Transfiguration of Christ 1519-1520. Pinacoteca Vatican, Rome.

The painting was originally created as an altarpiece for the Cathedral of Narbonne, commissioned by Cardinal Giulio Medici, Bishop of Narbonne. The contradictions of the last years of Raphael’s work were most reflected in the huge altar composition “The Transfiguration of Christ” - it was completed after Raphael’s death by Giulio Romano.

This picture is divided into two parts. The upper part shows the actual transformation - this more harmonious part of the picture was done by Raphael himself. Below are the apostles trying to heal a possessed boy

It was Raphael Santi’s altar painting “The Transfiguration of Christ” that became an indisputable model for academic painters for centuries.
Raphael died in 1520. His premature death was unexpected and made a deep impression on his contemporaries.

Raphael Santi deservedly ranks among the greatest masters of the High Renaissance.