Latest news with #BarbaraJatta
Asharq Al-Awsat
19 hours ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Vatican Unveils Last of Restored Raphael Rooms After 10-Year Cleaning That Yielded New Discoveries
The Vatican Museums on Thursday unveiled the last and most important of the restored Raphael Rooms, the spectacularly frescoed reception rooms of the Apostolic Palace that in some ways rival the Sistine Chapel as the peak of high Renaissance artistry. A decade-long project to clean and restore the largest of the four Raphael Rooms uncovered a novel mural painting technique that the superstar Renaissance painter and architect began but never completed: the use of oil paint directly on the wall, and a grid of nails embedded in the walls to hold in place the resin surface onto which he painted. Vatican Museums officials recounted the discoveries on Thursday in inaugurating the hall, known as the Room of Constantine, after the last scaffolding came down. The reception room, which was painted by Raphael and his students starting in the first quarter-century of the 1500s, is dedicated to the fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine whose embrace of Christianity helped spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire. 'With this restoration, we rewrite a part of the history of art,' Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta said. Pope Julius II summoned the young Raphael Sanzio from Florence to Rome in 1508 to decorate a new private apartment for himself in the Apostolic Palace, giving the then 25-year-old painter and architect a major commission at the height of his artistic output. Even at the time, there were reports that Raphael had wanted to decorate the rooms not with frescoes but with oil paint directly on the wall, to give the images greater brilliance. The 10-year restoration of the Rome of Constantine proved those reports correct, said Fabio Piacentini, one of the chief restorers. Vatican technicians discovered that two female figures, Justice and Courtesy and located on opposite corners of the hall, were actually oil-on-wall paintings, not frescoes in which paint is applied to wet plaster. They were therefore clearly the work of Raphael himself, he said. But Raphael died on April 6, 1520, at the age of 37, and before the hall could be completed. The rest of the paintings in the room were frescoes completed by his students who couldn't master the oil technique Raphael had used, Jatta said. During the cleaning, restorers discovered that Raphael had clearly intended to do more with oil paints: Under the plaster frescoes, they found a series of metal nails which they believed had been drilled into the wall to hold in place the natural resin surface that Raphael had intended to paint onto, Piacentini said. 'From a historical and critical point of view, and also technical, it was truly a discovery,' he said. 'The technique used and planned by Raphael was truly experimental for the time, and has never been found in any other mural made with oil paint.' The final part of the restoration of the room was the ceiling, painted by Tommaso Laureti and featuring a remarkable example of Renaissance perspective with his fresco of a fake tapestry 'Triumph of Christianity over Paganism.' The Raphael Rooms were never fully closed off to the public during their long restoration, but they are now free of scaffolding for the many visitors flocking to the Vatican Museums for the 2025 Jubilee.
Boston Globe
a day ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Vatican unveils last of restored Raphael Rooms after 10-year cleaning that yielded new discoveries
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'With this restoration, we rewrite a part of the history of art,' Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta said. Advertisement Pope Julius II summoned the young Raphael Sanzio from Florence to Rome in 1508 to decorate a new private apartment for himself in the Apostolic Palace, giving the then 25-year-old painter and architect a major commission at the height of his artistic output. Even at the time, there were reports that Raphael had wanted to decorate the rooms not with frescoes but with oil paint directly on the wall, to give the images greater brilliance. The 10-year restoration of the Rome of Constantine proved those reports correct, said Fabio Piacentini, one of the chief restorers. Advertisement Vatican technicians discovered that two female figures, Justice and Courtesy and located on opposite corners of the hall, were actually oil-on-wall paintings, not frescoes in which paint is applied to wet plaster. They were therefore clearly the work of Raphael himself, he said. But Raphael died on April 6, 1520, at the age of 37, and before the hall could be completed. The rest of the paintings in the room were frescoes completed by his students who couldn't master the oil technique Raphael had used, Jatta said. During the cleaning, restorers discovered that Raphael had clearly intended to do more with oil paints: Under the plaster frescoes, they found a series of metal nails which they believed had been drilled into the wall to hold in place the natural resin surface that Raphael had intended to paint onto, Piacentini said. 'From a historical and critical point of view, and also technical, it was truly a discovery,' he said. 'The technique used and planned by Raphael was truly experimental for the time, and has never been found in any other mural made with oil paint.' The final part of the restoration of the room was the ceiling, painted by Tommaso Laureti and featuring a remarkable example of Renaissance perspective with his fresco of a fake tapestry 'Triumph of Christianity over Paganism.' The Raphael Rooms were never fully closed off to the public during their long restoration, but they are now free of scaffolding for the many visitors flocking to the Vatican Museums for the 2025 Jubilee. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Advertisement
CTV News
a day ago
- General
- CTV News
Vatican unveils last of restored Raphael Rooms after 10-year cleaning that yielded new discoveries
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican Museums on Thursday unveiled the last and most important of the restored Raphael Rooms, the spectacularly frescoed reception rooms of the Apostolic Palace that in some ways rival the Sistine Chapel as the peak of high Renaissance artistry. A decade-long project to clean and restore the largest of the four Raphael Rooms uncovered a novel mural painting technique that the superstar Renaissance painter and architect began but never completed: the use of oil paint directly on the wall, and a grid of nails embedded in the walls to hold in place the resin surface onto which he painted. Vatican Museums officials recounted the discoveries on Thursday in inaugurating the hall, known as the Room of Constantine, after the last scaffolding came down. The reception room, which was painted by Raphael and his students starting in the first quarter-century of the 1500s, is dedicated to the fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine whose embrace of Christianity helped spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire. 'With this restoration, we rewrite a part of the history of art,' Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta said. Pope Julius II summoned the young Raphael Sanzio from Florence to Rome in 1508 to decorate a new private apartment for himself in the Apostolic Palace, giving the then 25-year-old painter and architect a major commission at the height of his artistic output. Even at the time, there were reports that Raphael had wanted to decorate the rooms not with frescoes but with oil paint directly on the wall, to give the images greater brilliance. The 10-year restoration of the Rome of Constantine proved those reports correct, said Fabio Piacentini, one of the chief restorers. Vatican technicians discovered that two female figures, Justice and Courtesy and located on opposite corners of the hall, were actually oil-on-wall paintings, not frescoes in which paint is applied to wet plaster. They were therefore clearly the work of Raphael himself, he said. But Raphael died on April 6, 1520, at the age of 37, and before the hall could be completed. The rest of the paintings in the room were frescoes completed by his students who couldn't master the oil technique Raphael had used, Jatta said. During the cleaning, restorers discovered that Raphael had clearly intended to do more with oil paints: Under the plaster frescoes, they found a series of metal nails which they believed had been drilled into the wall to hold in place the natural resin surface that Raphael had intended to paint onto, Piacentini said. 'From a historical and critical point of view, and also technical, it was truly a discovery,' he said. 'The technique used and planned by Raphael was truly experimental for the time, and has never been found in any other mural made with oil paint.' The final part of the restoration of the room was the ceiling, painted by Tommaso Laureti and featuring a remarkable example of Renaissance perspective with his fresco of a fake tapestry 'Triumph of Christianity over Paganism.' The Raphael Rooms were never fully closed off to the public during their long restoration, but they are now free of scaffolding for the many visitors flocking to the Vatican Museums for the 2025 Jubilee. By Nicole Winfield.
The Independent
a day ago
- General
- The Independent
Vatican unveils last of restored Raphael Rooms after 10-year cleaning that yielded new discoveries
The Vatican Museums on Thursday unveiled the last and most important of the restored Raphael Rooms, the spectacularly frescoed reception rooms of the Apostolic Palace that in some ways rival the Sistine Chapel as the peak of high Renaissance artistry. A decade-long project to clean and restore the largest of the four Raphael Rooms uncovered a novel mural painting technique that the superstar Renaissance painter and architect began but never completed: the use of oil paint directly on the wall, and a grid of nails embedded in the walls to hold in place the resin surface onto which he painted. Vatican Museums officials recounted the discoveries on Thursday in inaugurating the hall, known as the Room of Constantine, after the last scaffolding came down. The reception room, which was painted by Raphael and his students starting in the first quarter-century of the 1500s, is dedicated to the fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine whose embrace of Christianity helped spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire. 'With this restoration, we rewrite a part of the history of art,' Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta said. Pope Julius II summoned the young Raphael Sanzio from Florence to Rome in 1508 to decorate a new private apartment for himself in the Apostolic Palace, giving the then 25-year-old painter and architect a major commission at the height of his artistic output. Even at the time, there were reports that Raphael had wanted to decorate the rooms not with frescoes but with oil paint directly on the wall, to give the images greater brilliance. The 10-year restoration of the Rome of Constantine proved those reports correct, said Fabio Piacentini, one of the chief restorers. Vatican technicians discovered that two female figures, Justice and Courtesy and located on opposite corners of the hall, were actually oil-on-wall paintings, not frescoes in which paint is applied to wet plaster. They were therefore clearly the work of Raphael himself, he said. But Raphael died on April 6, 1520, at the age of 37, and before the hall could be completed. The rest of the paintings in the room were frescoes completed by his students who couldn't master the oil technique Raphael had used, Jatta said. During the cleaning, restorers discovered that Raphael had clearly intended to do more with oil paints: Under the plaster frescoes, they found a series of metal nails which they believed had been drilled into the wall to hold in place the natural resin surface that Raphael had intended to paint onto, Piacentini said. 'From a historical and critical point of view, and also technical, it was truly a discovery,' he said. 'The technique used and planned by Raphael was truly experimental for the time, and has never been found in any other mural made with oil paint.' The final part of the restoration of the room was the ceiling, painted by Tommaso Laureti and featuring a remarkable example of Renaissance perspective with his fresco of a fake tapestry 'Triumph of Christianity over Paganism.' The Raphael Rooms were never fully closed off to the public during their long restoration, but they are now free of scaffolding for the many visitors flocking to the Vatican Museums for the 2025 Jubilee. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Robert Francis Prevost Is 1st American Pope
The Sistine Chapel in 1939, when it was set up for the conclave that elected Pope Pius XII. As the cardinals vote for the next leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, they will be facing Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment' in the Sistine Chapel, a powerful work that may appear to be watching over the solemn, weighy occasion. Of the Sistine Chapel, Pope John Paul II once wrote, 'everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged.' But the chapel has not always been the official place for the papal conclave. This year's conclave is only the 14th to be held inside the chapel since rules for electing a pontiff were first drafted some 800 years ago, said Ralf van Bühren, who teaches art history at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome. The conclave was first held in the chapel in 1492. Then for more than 300 years, conclaves were held in different spaces in the Apostolic Palace, the papal residence. It was not until 1878 that the church again started holding the papal elections in the Sistine Chapel. And it did not become the official site for the conclave until 1996, when Pope John Paul II drafted new rules for papal elections, noted Barbara Jatta, the director of the Vatican Museums. In the early centuries of the church, the popes were elected by acclamation — a kind of group voice vote — and the clergy as well as the population of Rome could participate. Gradually, voting rights were restricted to the top ranks of the clergy, though external interference from monarchs and aristocrats was common. The longest conclave in history lasted 33 months, between Nov. 29, 1268, and Sept. 1, 1271. It prompted Gregory X, the pontiff who emerged from that election, to draw up rules that were first used in 1276. These were adjusted over the years, overhauled by John Paul II, and tweaked by Benedict XVI. Conclave comes from 'cum clave,' Latin for with a key, and the cardinals remained sequestered until a pope was chosen. Small, hastily built cubicles were erected in the Sistine Chapel and surrounding halls and rooms. Each cardinal was allowed an aide or two, though since space was scarce, the aides were often forced to sleep on makeshift lofts above the cubicles. There were periods in history when cardinals were literally walled in, along with a crew of assistants. The Vatican archives and museums have documents referring to payments for some of the additional conclave crews: masters of ceremonies, confessors, sacristans, doctors, nurses and pharmacists. 'It was an entire world,' said Michela Gianfranceschi, a Vatican Museums official. An official known as a conclave marshal was given the keys to where the cardinals were staying and acted as their intermediary to the outside world while they remained sequestered. The diaries of past participants suggest that papal conclaves were hardly picnics. Over the centuries there have been fires inside the hall. Fights broke out among cardinals. Riots erupted in the streets outside. Mary Hollingsworth, in her book about the 1559 conclave, writes that during the four months that led to the election of Pope Pius IV, 'the living conditions in the Vatican had deteriorated dramatically: one cardinal died, many were ill (some of them dying subsequently), and the stench in the Sistine Chapel, where 21 of them had their cells, was so bad that the area had to be fumigated.' The election of Urban VIII took place during three weeks in the summer of 1606, and contemporary documents say that the 55 cardinals involved suffered in the stifling Roman heat. By the time they were released, 12 cardinals had a fever, two had to leave because of illness and others were close to death. Even Urban had to postpone his election ceremony because he was ill. Some popes sought to find alternative spaces to house the cardinals, including above the colonnade in St. Peter's Square, a plan that was never carried out, or camping out in the Vatican gardens, which was also nixed, Ms. Gianfranceschi said. In the early 19th century, four conclaves were held at the Quirinale, the pontifical palace across town that today is the residence of the Italian president. The move to the Quirinale was partly for practical considerations: It was more spacious, and the number of cardinals had grown, Ms. Gianfranceschi said. But the popes lost the palace when Italy became a kingdom, and in 1878 the papal elections were shifted to the Sistine Chapel. Under John Paul's rules, a Vatican guesthouse with modest lodgings was built for the voting cardinals.
