Raphael also had the oversight of all the excavations in and around
Rome, so that pieces of antique statuary, which were often found, might
be carefully preserved. "To this end," wrote Leo X., "I command every
one, of whatever condition or rank he may be, noble or not, titled or of
low estate, to make you, as superintendent of this matter, acquainted
with every stone or marble which shall be discovered within the extent
of country designated by me, who desire that every one failing to do so
shall be judged by you, and fined from one hundred to three hundred gold
crowns."
The third hall of the pope, called the Stanza del Incendio, was painted
from 1514 to 1517. The first fresco is "The Oath of Leo III.," who,
brought before the Emperor Charlemagne for trial, was acquitted through
a supernatural voice proclaiming that no one had the right to judge the
pope.
The second fresco is "The Coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III.," thus
signifying that the spiritual power is above the temporal power. The two
principal portraits are, however, Leo X. and Francis I., who formed an
alliance in 1515.
The third and finest picture is "The Conflagration of the Borgo Vecchio
at Rome." The other pictures were executed in part by the pupils of
Raphael. This was by his own hand. In 847 a fire broke out in Rome,
which extended from the Vatican to the Mausoleum of Adrian. The danger
from the high wind was very great, when Pope Leo IV. implored divine
aid, and at once the flames assumed the form of a cross, and the fire
was quenched. "Several of the figures," says Passavant, "are considered
as perfect and inimitable, amongst others the two beautiful and
powerful women who are bringing water in vases, and whose forms are so
admirably delineated under their garments agitated by the wind."
The last fresco shows the "Victory of Leo IV. over the Saracens at
Ostia." The pope, Leo IV., with the face of Leo X., is on the shore,
engaged in prayer.
At this time Raphael made sepia sketches for the Loggie leading to the
apartments of the pope; thirteen arcades, each arcade containing four
principal pictures. Forty-eight of these scenes are taken from the Old
Testament, and four from the life of Christ. Taken together, they are
called "Raphael's Bible." Vasari said of the decorations in the Loggie,
"It is impossible to execute or to conceive a more exquisite work."
Catherine II. of Russia had all these Loggie paintings copied on canvas,
and placed in the Hermitage, in a gallery constructed for them, like
that in the Vatican. This gallery cost a million and a half of dollars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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