Vatican City, Italy (Enclave of Rome): Vatican Museums: Raphael Rooms: Room of Heliodorus: Miracle of Bolsena
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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 photo shows most of the fresco, "The Miracle of Bolsena," which was painted by Raphael in 1512-1514. A Bohemian priest celebrating Mass in 1263 in the church of St. Christina (in the central Italian town of Bolsena) had doubts about transubstantiation, but was converted when blood miraculously dripped from the bread of the eucharist. This event led Pope Urban IV to institute the feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. Raphael designed the fresco around the intrusive doorway, with the altar above the door connecting to the various people through their gestures, glances, and other architectural elements. Julius II is depicted in the painting. The male figures right of foreground are one of the earliest representations of the Swiss Guard, which Julius II established in 1506.
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CC BY-NC-SA 4.0