Vatican City, Italy (Enclave of Rome): Vatican Museums: Raphael Rooms: Room of Heliodorus: Liberation of St. Peter from Prison
Loading...
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 and Workshop , Raphael Rooms , Stanze , Room of Heliodorus , Apostles in Art , Saints in Art , High Renaissance Art , Italian High Renaissance Art , St. Peter in Art , Saint Peter in Art , Prisons in Art , Chiaroscuro
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
This painting (fresco) is within the Room of Heliodorus, which is 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 subject of the photo is "The Liberation of St. Peter from Prison," painted by Raphael in 1514, based on Apostles 12:1-19. Although chained to guards, an angel freed St. Peter one night while he was imprisoned. The fresco tells three points of the story: the central area with the angel liberating St. Peter; on the right, the angel leading the saint past sleeping soldiers; on the left, the soldiers waking up to the inexplicable disappearance of their prisoner. The masterpiece contrasts dark colors of the dungeon and the guards to the bright light of the angel (an artistic technique known as chiaroscuro). As noted in "The Vatican: All the Paintings" by Anja Grebe, "Within the context of the room, this work attests to the miraculous intervention of God on behalf of the faithful, with a special emphasis on St. Peter as the predecessor of the popes," (Grebe, 233).
Citation
Publisher
License
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0