consisting of four rooms designed by Raphael, and completed by his
pupils after his death, to illustrate the triumphs and establishment
of the Catholic Church. The principal frescoes are:--
IN THE FIRST ROOM.--_On the right_, the Incendio del Borgo, A.D. 847;
_over the window_, Justification of Leo III.; _in front_, Victory of
Leo IV. over the Saracens at Ostia; and _opposite_, Coronation of
Charlemagne. The chiaro-oscuro portraits, _below_, by Caravaggio,
represent the princes who first gave tribute to the Church. The roof
is by Perugino, Raphael's master.
SECOND ROOM.--Illustrative of Theology, _on the entry wall_; Poetry,
_over the window_; Philosophy, _in front_; and Jurisprudence, _on the
right_. Representations of the Fall of Man, the Flaying of Marsyas,
the Study of the Globe, the Judgment of Solomon, _on the ceiling_. _On
the walls_ corresponding--the Dispute on the Sacrament, Mount
Parnassus, the School of Athens (a portico crowded with philosophers,
which gives its name to the room), Prudence, Fortitude, and
Temperance.
THIRD ROOM.--_In front_, the Miraculous Expulsion of Heliodorus from
the Temple; _on the right_, the Mass of Bolsena; _on the entry wall_,
Attila driven back from Rome by Leo I.; _over the left window_, S.
Peter's Release from Prison (notice the four different lights here).
_The ceiling_ represents subjects from the Old Testament.
FOURTH ROOM.--_On the right_, Battle between Constantine and Maxentius
at the Ponte Molle; _entry wall_, Baptism of Constantine; _left wall_,
Rome presented by Constantine to Silvester; _in front_, the Cross
appearing to Constantine (the dwarf is Gradasso da Norcia, from
Berni's Poetry); _on the vault_, the pagan statue thrown down
represents the Triumph of Faith, by Lauretti (notice the wonderful bit
of perspective here); _on the right-hand corner, a door leads into
the_ ANTICAMERA OF THE STANZE, originally painted by Raphael, restored
by Carlo Maratta. _Out of this room is_