James Beck
Raphael: The Stanza della Segnatura.
George Braziller, 1993. The Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance. First edition. 0807613142 95 pages.
Oblong volume, measuring approximately 10.5" x 7.75", is bound in blue cloth, with stamped white lettering to spine. Book and dust jacket are in fine condition. Jacket is preserved in mylar cover.
The four Raphael Rooms ("Stanze di Raffaello") form a suite of reception rooms in the Apostolic Palace, now part of the Vatican Museums, in Vatican City. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop. Together with Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes, they are the grand fresco sequences that mark the High Renaissance in Rome.
"Recognising the precocious talent of Raphael, then aged twenty-six. Pope Julius II commissioned him to paint scenes based on the four branches of learning: Theology, Poetry, Jurisprudence and Philosophy. He created monumental works that attempted to unite the worlds of science, philosophy and art."