STANZA OF HELIODORUS

The Stanza of Heliodorus was painted immediately after that of the Segnatura, then from 1511 to be completed in 1514.

In 1511 Raphael painted the Voult, then, between 1511 and 1512, on one of the two long walls, he painted the Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple of Jerusalem followed by one of the two walls with windows, where in 1512 Raphael frescoed the Mass of Bolsena, on the other one, from 1513 to 1514, he represented the Liberation of St. Peter from prison where there are strong light cuts, finally, on the second of the long walls, in 1514, the Meeting of Attila and Leo the Great.

The Voult - click to enlarge

This room, in the episodes of the Liberation of St. Peter and the stop of Attila, shows the further development of the language of Raphael, which dramatizes the narrative with light cuts never before attempted. A luminosity that influenced Caravaggio himself. This is a turning point in the history of art, which Raphael conceived to contrast the convulsive drama of human events, with the serenity that accompanies the history of the church.

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