Raphael in the Vatican Museums with Livia Galante

High Renaissance artist and architect Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael, is widely regarded as one of three masters of the High Renaissance, alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. 

As soon as he arrived in Rome, the 25 year-old Raphael started to paint the papal apartment of Julius 2nd in the Vatican. These rooms would eventually be called Raphael’s Rooms. Among the masterpieces he created in the Rooms is his famous “School of Athens”.

Raphael’s works also stand out in the largest room of the Vatican Picture Gallery, where it is possible to follow the evolution of his art through three, recently cleaned, magnificent artworks: the “Coronation of the Virgin”, the “Madonna of Foligno” and “The Transfiguration”, which is considered to be Raphael’s greatest masterpiece. The Room VIII also includes detailed tapestries that were made in Flanders, now referred to as Belgium, according to Raphael’s designs.

Raphael worked in many other areas of the Vatican that now form part of the ceremonial route for distinguished visitors and are not generally accessible. The “Logge di Raffaello”, now a corridor space in the Apostolic Palace, were open originally to the elements on one side; the Logge were decorated in fresco around 1519 by Raphael's large team of artists under the supervision and sketches provided by the master. Raphael and his pupils were also involved in the decoration of the apartment of Cardinal Bibbiena painting the Loggetta, a small porch adjacent to the Stufetta, or bathroom, of the cardinal. 

Led by an expert on History and Conservation of the Artistic Heritage, Livia Galante, this Conversation will focus on Raphael in the Vatican Museums. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased comprehension of the art of Raphael in his Roman period.