Vatican City, Italy (Enclave of Rome): Vatican Museums: Raphael Rooms: Room of the Fire in the Borgo: Battle of Ostia
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Authors
Sheppard, Beth M.
Issue Date
May 20, 2017
Type
Image
Language
Keywords
Italy , Vatican City , Rome , Vatican Museums , Musei Vaticani , Art Museums , Sacred Art , Church Art , Paintings , Frescoes , Raphael , Raffaello Sanzio , Raphael Rooms , Stanze , High Renaissance Art , Italian High Renaissance Art , Christian Humanism in Art , Room of the Fire in the Borgo , Stanza dell' Incendio del Borgo , Room of Fire , Fire in the Borgo , Battle of Ostia , Leo IV in Art , Popes in Art , Ships in Art , Prisoners in Art , Pirates in Art , Saracens in Art , God in Art , Angels in Art , Ceiling Roundels , Painted Ceilings
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
The image is of the painting, "The Battle of Ostia," within The Room of the Fire in the Borgo (Stanza dell' Incendio del Borgo; or, Room of Fire), one of four Raphael Rooms that are part of the Vatican Museums. These are public museums that display about 20,000 of 70K works collected by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries. The museums were founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century. Only the Louvre in France receives more annual visitors than the Vatican Museums. The museums consist of 24 galleries, with the Sistine Chapel being the last room visited. The Raphael Rooms (known in Italian as the Stanze), which precede the Sistine Chapel on a tour of the Vatican Museums, were the private chambers of several popes. The paintings in the Rooms, designed by the master but completed over 15 years (1508-1524) primarily by Raphael's pupils, depict historic events that are framed in exuberant High Renaissance style. "The Battle of Ostia" was completed by his workshop in 1515. It depicts an event during the reign of Leo IV in 849: Saracen pirates off Ostia threatening to advance up the Tiber estuary to Rome, but the pope's fleet was victorious. The fresco is also a reference to Pope Leo X (1513 to 1521), who was planning a crusade to counter a threat by the Turks. The ceiling roundel above the wall painting is that of God the Father, enthroned among angels and cherubs.
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License
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0