A text of great scientific rigor and photographs of incomparable quality illustrate a fascinating complex of frescoes, the Stanza della Segnatura.
[Raphael. The Stanza della Segnatura] Raphael arrived in 1508, at the age of 28, in the Rome of Julius II, one of the most energetic and controversial popes, who launched the reconstruction of St. Peter’s and persuaded Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He also asked Raphael to decorate his private lodgings in the Vatican. The young artist began with the ceiling of the Stanza della Segnatura, in the context of a group project. Noticing the artist’s skill, Julius II had the work just finished by other artists destroyed, leaving the entire room for Raphael. This led to a grand project: the Rooms of the Vatican, an astonishing masterpiece of the painting of all ages. Recent restoration work has brought the frescoes back to their original luminous splendor, offering full legibility of details and absolute graphic and chromatic clarity. With a brilliant text by Andrea Emiliani and photographs of incomparable quality, in a volume that also contains actual-size reproductions, readers have the possibility of entering the clear but complex visual itinerary envisioned by Raphael.