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The Parnassus
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The Parnassus is a fresco painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael in the Raphael Rooms, in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome, painted at the commission of Pope Julius II. It was probably the second wall of the Stanza della segnatura to be painted, in about 1511, after La disputa and before The School of Athens, which occupy other walls of the room. The whole room shows the four areas of human knowledge: philosophy, religion, poetry and law, with The Parnassus representing poetry. The fresco shows the mythological Mount Parnassus where Apollo dwells; he is in the centre playing an instrument, surrounded by the nine muses, nine poets from antiquity, and nine contemporary poets. Apollo, along with Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, inspired poets. Raphael used the face of Laocoön from the classical sculpture Laocoön and His Sons, excavated in 1506 and also in the Vatican for his Homer, expressing blindness rather than pain. Two of the female figures in the fresco have been said to be reminiscent of Michaelangelo's Creation of Adam, Euterpe and Sappho, who is named on a scroll she holds.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: The Nine Muses, Apollo
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- The Creation of Adam is a fresco painting by Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted circa 1511–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God breathes life into Adam, the first man. The fresco is part of a complex iconographic scheme and is chronologically the fourth in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis. It is the most well-known of the Sistine Chapel fresco panels, and its fame as a piece of art is rivaled only by the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. The image of the near-touching hands of God and Adam has become iconic of humanity and has been reproduced in countless imitations and parodies. Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper and Michelangelo's Creation of Adam are the most replicated religious paintings of all time.
- Artist: Michelangelo
- Subject: Adam
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Vision of the Cross is a painting made between 1520 and 1524 by assistants of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. After the master's death in 1520, Gianfrancesco Penni, Giulio Romano and Raffaellino del Colle from Raphael's workshop worked together to finish the commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The Vision of the Cross is located in the Sala di Costantino. In the painting, emperor Constantine I is seen just before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. According to legend, a cross appeared to Constantine in the sky, after which as seen in the fresco and following Eusebius of Caesarea Vita Constantini, he adopted the Greek motto "Εν τούτῳ νίκα", i.e. "By this, conquer", a motto that has been rendered in Latin as "In hoc signo vinces", i.e. "In this sign you shall conquer". This Mannerist painting is a crowded and confused melee and melange of images, including a dragon, a dwarf, two popes, and various symbols. Proportions among the soldiers appear confused, with some dwarfed by more distant figures.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Constantine the Great
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Assumption of the Virgin is a fresco by the Italian Late Renaissance artist Antonio da Correggio decorating the dome of the Cathedral of Parma, Italy. Correggio signed the contract for the painting on November 3, 1522. It was finished in 1530. The composition was influenced by Melozzo da Forlì's perspective and includes the decoration of the dome base, which represents the four protector saints of Parma: St. John the Baptist with the lamb, St. Hilary with a yellow mantle, St. Thomas with an angel carrying the martyrdom palm leaf, and St. Bernard, the sole figure looking upwards. Below the feet of Jesus, the uncorrupt Virgin in red and blue robes is lofted upward by a vortex of singing or otherwise musical angels. Ringing the base of the dome, between the windows, stand the perplexed Apostles, as if standing around the empty tomb in which they have just placed her. In the group of the blessed can be seen: Adam and Eve, Judith with the head of Holofernes. At the centre of the dome is a foreshortened beardless Jesus descending to meet his mother.- Artist: Antonio da Correggio
- Subject: Assumption of Mary
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The ceiling is that of the Sistine Chapel, the large papal chapel built within the Vatican between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV, for whom the chapel is named. It was painted at the commission of Pope Julius II. The chapel is the location for papal conclaves and many important services. The ceiling's various painted elements form part of a larger scheme of decoration within the Chapel, which includes the large fresco The Last Judgment on the sanctuary wall, also by Michelangelo, wall paintings by several leading painters of the late 15th century including Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Pietro Perugino, and a set of large tapestries by Raphael, the whole illustrating much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Central to the ceiling decoration are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis of which The Creation of Adam is the best known, having an iconic standing equalled only by Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the hands of God and Adam being reproduced in countless imitations.- Artist: Michelangelo
- Art Form: Fresco
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Disputation of the Holy Sacrament
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The Disputation of the Sacrament, or Disputa, is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1510 as only the first part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. At the time, this room was known as the Stanza della Segnatura, and was the private papal library where the supreme papal tribunal met.- Artist: Raphael
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 7
Cardinal and Theological Virtues
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The Cardinal and Theological Virtues is a fresco by Raphael as part of his Stanza della Segnatura in the Palazzi Vaticani in Vatican City. It is 6.6m wide at the base. The cardinal virtues are personified as three women in a bucolic landscape, and the theological virtues by cupids: Fortitude, a woman holding an oak branch, with the branch shaken by the cupid Charity Prudence, with two faces, looking in a mirror, with a cupid Hope behind her holding a flaming torch Temperance, holding reins in her hand, guarding a cupid Faith, who points at the sky with his right hand Another interpretation might see Prudence as holding the reins and Temperance with two faces. Prudence is traditionally called auriga virtutum; it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure and Temperance moderates the attraction of the pleasures of the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods. See the Catechism of the Catholic Church.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Courage, Prudence, Temperance
- Genres (Art): Allegory
- Art Form: Fresco, Painting
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- 8
The Mass at Bolsena
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The Mass at Bolsena is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1512 and 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Raphael Rooms, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which is named after The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple. The Mass at Bolsena shows an incident that is said to have taken place in 1263. A Bohemian priest who doubted the doctrine of transubstantiation, celebrated mass at Bolsena, where the bread of the eucharist began to bleed. The following year, in 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi to celebrate this miraculous event. Bolsena is north of Rome and the priest who doubted was a German. He was taking mass and when he doubted the Transubstantiation, blood spouted from the host and fell onto the tablecloth in the shape of a cross and he was reconverted. Present in this painting is a self-portrait of the artist, Raphael, as one of the Swiss Guard in the lower right of the fresco, facing out with bound-up hair. This is one of several instances in which Raphael has placed himself in his paintings.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Bolsena, Corpus Christi
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 9
The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila
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The Meeting of Leo I and Attila is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael and his assistant Giulio Romano. It was painted in 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which is named after The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple. The painting depicts the meeting between the Pope Leo I and Attila the Hun, and includes the images of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the sky bearing swords. Initially, Raphael depicted Leo I with the face of Pope Julius II but after Julius' death, Raphael changed the painting to resemble the new pope, Leo X.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Attila the Hun, Pope Leo I
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 10
The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple
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The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple is a fresco of the Italian renaissance painter Raphael. It was painted between 1511 and 1512 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the room that takes its name from it, the Stanza di Eliodoro. The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple illustrates the biblical episode from 2 Maccabees. Heliodorus is ordered by Seleucus IV Philopator, the king of Syria, to seize the treasure preserved in the Temple in Jerusalem. Answering the prayers of the high priest Onias, God sends a horseman assisted by two youths to drive Heliodorus out. At the left, Raphael's patron, Julius II witnesses the scene from his litter. The money had been reserved for widows and orphans and a priest had seen and prayed and god sent down a horseman to drive him from the temple. The composition is divided into two halves, in the centre is the priest praying and the priest looks much like Julius II. On the right is the horseman fighting Heliodorus. The menorah by the priest in the centre shows that this is set BC and it's authentic.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Heliodorus
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Madonna del Parto is the name of an iconic depiction of the Virgin Mary shown as pregnant, which was developed in Italy, mainly in Tuscany in the 14th century. Examples include works by Taddeo Gaddi, Bernardo Daddi and Nardo di Cione. The Madonna was portrayed standing, alone, often with a closed book on her belly, an allusion to the Incarnate Word. The works were associated with the devotions of pregnant women, praying for a safe delivery. Sometimes, as with a statue by Sansovino in the Basilica of Sant'Agostino in Rome, the depiction is of a Virgin and Child, but known as a Madonna del Parto because it was especially associated with devotions over pregnancy. Here the Virgin wears the Girdle of Thomas, a belt of knotted cloth cord that was a relic held in Prato Cathedral, which many depictions wear.- Artist: Piero della Francesca
- Subject: Madonna, Child Jesus, Jesus Christ, Blessed Virgin Mary, Madonna and Child
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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Sibyls
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The Sybils, or Sybils receiving instruction from Angels, is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted in 1514, as part of a commission Raphael had received from the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi to decorate the interior of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome. The painting shows four sibyls - Cumaean, Persian, Phrygian and Tiburtine, accompanied by attendant angels. Art historian Michael Hirst notes there is a "striking" parallel between the figures of the Sybils and the practice sketches of Michelangelo.- Artist: Raphael
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 13
The Baptism of Constantine
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The Baptism of Constantine is a painting by assistants of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was most likely painted by Gianfrancesco Penni, between 1517 and 1524. After the master's death in 1520, Penni worked together with other members of Raphael's workshop to finish the commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The Baptism of Constantine is located in the Sala di Costantino. In the painting the Emperor Constantine the Great is depicted kneeling down to receive the sacrament from Pope Sylvester I in the Baptistery of the St John Lateran. The painter has given Sylvester the traits of Clement VII, the Pope who had ordered the frescoes to be finished, after the work was interrupted during the papacy of Hadrian VI. While attempting the control and serenity typical of the High Renaissance, the crowded scene demonstrates the Mannerist tendency towards complexity and discordance.- Artist: Gianfrancesco Penni
- Subject: Constantine the Great
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Crucifixion of St. Peter is a fresco painting by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti. It is housed in the Cappella Paolina, Vatican Palace, in the Vatican City, Rome. It is the last fresco executed by Michelangelo. The artist portrayed St. Peter in the moment in which he was raised by the Roman soldiers to the cross. Michelangelo concentrated the attention on the depiction of pain and suffering. The faces of the people present are clearly distressed. Pope Paul commissioned this fresco by Michelangelo in 1541 and unveiled it in his Cappella Paolina. Restoration of the fresco completed in 2009 revealed an image believed to be a self-portrait of Michelangelo himself. The figure is standing in the upper left corner of the fresco, wearing a red tunic and a blue turban. Blue turbans were often worn by Renaissance sculptors to keep the dust out of their hair.- Artist: Michelangelo
- Subject: Saint Peter, Crucifixion
- Art Form: Fresco, Painting
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- 15
The Fire in the Borgo
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The Fire in the Borgo is a painting by the workshop of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. Though it is assumed that Raphael did make the designs for the complex composition, the fresco was most likely painted by his assistant Giulio Romano. The painting was part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the room that was named after it, the Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo.- Artist: Giulio Romano
- Subject: Borgo
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Battle of Ostia
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The Battle of Ostia is a painting by the workshop of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. The painting was part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the room that was named after The Fire in the Borgo, the Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo and was inspired by the naval battle fought in 849 between the Saracens and a Christian League of Papal, Neapolitan and Gaetan ships. In the painting Pope Leo IV, with the features of Pope Leo X, is giving thanks after the Arab ships were destroyed by a storm.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Battle of Ostia
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 17
Crossing of the Red Sea
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The Crossing of the Red Sea is a fresco painting by the Italian artist Agnolo di Cosimo, known as Bronzino, finished in 1541-1542. It is housed in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. The fresco occupies the whole left wall of the chapel called "of Eleonora of Toledo", in on second floor of the palace, which was frescoed by Bronzino for the Grand Duchess in 1540-1545. The Biblical scene is depicted with the use of large figures which, seen from very near, gives the impression of an icy splendour, corroborated by the vivid colours. Some of the figures are clearly inspired by Michelangelo or Pontormo, as well as by the ancient statue sculpture. In particular, the foreground man on the left is a reproduction of the bronze Idolino.- Artist: Agnolo di Cosimo
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 18
The Donation of Constantine
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The Donation of Constantine or Donation of Rome is a painting by assistants of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was most likely painted by Gianfrancesco Penni or Giulio Romano, somewhere between 1520 and 1524. After the master's death in 1520, they worked together with other members of Raphael's workshop to finish the commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The Donation of Constantine is located in the Sala di Costantino. It was inspired by the famous forged documents that supposedly granted the Popes sovereignty over Rome's territorial dominions. The painting depicts an apocryphal historical event: Emperor Constantine kneels before Pope Sylvester I and offers the Pope and his successors control of the city of Rome and the entire Western Roman Empire. The depiction of Sylvester is modeled after Pope Clement VII who became pope in 1523. The painting shows the interior of the original Saint Peter's Basilica, which was in the process of being rebuilt at the time the painting was made. In the center background of the painting is the altar with its twisted, Solomonic columns.- Artist: Gianfrancesco Penni, Giulio Romano
- Subject: Pope Sylvester I, Constantine the Great
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Liberation of Saint Peter is a fresco painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael and his assistant Giulio Romano. It was painted in 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which is named after The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple. The painting shows how Saint Peter was liberated from Herod's prison by an angel, as described in Acts 12. It is technically an overdoor, probably the most majestic ever painted. The fresco shows three scenes in symmetrical balance formed by the feigned architecture and stairs. In the centre the angel wakes Peter, and on the right guides him past the sleeping guards. On the left side one guard has apparently noticed the light generated by the angel and wakes a comrade, pointing up to the miraculously illumined cell. This adds drama to the serene exit of Peter at the right.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Saint Peter
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 20
The Oath of Leo III
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The Oath of Leo III is a painting by the workshop of the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. The painting was part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the room that was named after The Fire in the Borgo, the Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo. In the fresco, Pope Leo III is seen during the trial on December 23 AD 800 during which he was brought face to face with the nephews of his predecessor Pope Hadrian I, who had accused him of misconduct. The assembled bishops declared that they could not judge the pope, after which Leo took an oath of purgation of his own free will.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Pope Leo III
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 21
Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood
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The Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood is a fresco by Paolo Uccello, commemorating English condottiero John Hawkwood, commissioned in 1436 for Florence's Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The fresco is an important example of art commemorating a soldier-for-hire who fought in the Italian paeninsula and is a seminal work in the development of perspective. The politics of the commissioning and recommissioning of the fresco have been analyzed and debated by historians. The fresco is often cited as a form of "Florentine propaganda" for its appropriation of a foreign soldier of fortune as a Florentine hero and for its implied promise to other condottieri of the potential rewards of serving Florence. The fresco has also been interpreted as a product of internal political competition between the Albizzi and Medici factions in Renaissance Florence, due to the latter's modification of the work's symbolism and iconography during its recommissioning. The fresco is the oldest extant and authenticated work of Uccello, from a relatively well-known aspect of his career compared to the periods before and after its creation.- Artist: Paolo Uccello
- Subject: John Hawkwood
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter (1481-1482) is a painting by Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino.- Artist: Pietro Perugino
- Subject: Saint Peter
- Genres (Art): Religious image, History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 23
Dante Alighieri
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Dante Alighieri (c. 1301) is a painting by Italian artist Giotto di Bondone. Created prior to Dante's permanent exile from Florence beginning in 1301, this painting is considered to the earliest portrait of the author of The Divine Comedy.- Artist: Giotto
- Subject: Dante Alighieri
- Genres (Art): Portrait
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 24
The Birth of the Virgin
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The Birth of the Virgin (1486-1490) is a fresco created by Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio for the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, Italy.- Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Subject: Blessed Virgin Mary
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 25
Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple
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Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple (1486-1490) is a fresco created by Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio for the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, Italy.- Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 26
Slaughter of the Innocents
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Slaughter of the Innocents (1486-1490) is a fresco created by Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio for the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, Italy.- Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 27
Procession of the Youngest King
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- Artist: Benozzo Gozzoli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 28
Angels Worshipping
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- Artist: Benozzo Gozzoli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 29
The Vigil of the Shepherds
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- Artist: Benozzo Gozzoli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 30
Procession of the Middle King
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- Artist: Benozzo Gozzoli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 31
Procession of the Old King
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- Artist: Benozzo Gozzoli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 32
The Damned
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The Damned (1499-1504) is a fresco by Italian artist Luca Signorelli.- Artist: Luca Signorelli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 33
The Elect
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The Elect (1499-1504) is a fresco by Italian artist Luca Signorelli.- Artist: Luca Signorelli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 34
Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman
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Giovanna degli Albizzi Receiving a Gift of Flowers from Venus (c. 1486) is a fresco by Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli. Originally created as a wedding party decoration at the Villa Tornabuoni in 1486, the fresco was whitewashed after the wedding festivities. It was discovered and transferred to canvas in 1863 and is now part of the art collection of the Louvre.- Artist: Sandro Botticelli
- Subject: Giovanna Tornabuoni
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 35
A Young Man Being Introduced to the Seven Liberal Arts
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A Young Man Being Introduced to the Seven Liberal Arts, also known as Lorenzo Tornabuoni Presented by Grammar to Prudentia and the other Liberal Arts or Lorenzo Tornabuoni Being Introduced to the Liberal Arts, is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, circa 1483-1486. The painting and its companion piece, Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman, originally decorated Villa Lemmi, a country villa near Florence owned by Giovanni Tornabuoni, uncle of Lorenzo de' Medici and head of the Roman branch of the Medici Bank. They were probably commissioned for the 1486 wedding of Giovanni's son Lorenzo to Giovanna of the Albizzi family, and are therefore thought to depict the two. A Young Man Being Introduced to the Seven Liberal Arts depicts a young man, perhaps Lorenzo Tornabuoni, led by a personification of Grammar into a circle of allegorical figures representing the Seven Liberal Arts. Presided over by Prudentia, the circle also includes Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy and Music, each recognizable by means of various attributes.- Artist: Sandro Botticelli
- Subject: Lorenzo Tornabuoni
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 36
Cronus (Saturn) defeats his father Uranus
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Cronus (Saturn) defeats his father Uranus (c. 1554-1556) is a painting by Italian artist Giorgio Vasari.- Artist: Giorgio Vasari
- Subject: Uranus, Cronus
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco, Painting
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- 37
Angels Worshipping
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- Artist: Benozzo Gozzoli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 38
The Vigil of the Shepherds
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- Artist: Benozzo Gozzoli
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 39
The Calling of the First Apostles
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The Calling of the First Apostles (1481-1482) is a fresco painted by Italian Renaissance artist Domenico Ghirlandaio.- Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Genres (Art): Christian art, History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The School of Athens, or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The Stanza della Segnatura was the first of the rooms to be decorated, and The School of Athens, representing Philosophy, was probably the second painting to be finished there, after La Disputa on the opposite wall, and the Parnassus. The picture has long been seen as "Raphael's masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the High Renaissance."- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Ancient Greece
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco, Painting
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The Last Judgment, or The Last Judgement, is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo executed on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity. The souls of humans rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ surrounded by prominent saints including Saints Catherine of Alexandria, Peter, Lawrence, Bartholomew, Paul, Sebastian, John the Baptist, and others. The work took four years to complete and was done between 1536 and 1541 Michelangelo began working on it twenty five years after having finished the Sistine Chapel ceiling. An older and more thoughtful Michelangelo originally accepted the commission for this important painting from Pope Clement VII. The original subject of the mural was the resurrection, but with the Pope's death, his successor, Pope Paul III, felt the Last Judgment was a more fitting subject for 1530s Rome and the judgmental impulses of the Counter-Reformation. While traditional medieval last judgments showed figures dressed according to their social positions, Michelangelo created a new standard.- Artist: Michelangelo
- Subject: Last Judgment
- Genres (Art): Christian art, History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 42
The Coronation of Charlemagne
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The Coronation of Charlemagne is a painting by the workshop of the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. Though it is believed that Raphael did make the designs for the composition, the fresco was probably painted by Gianfrancesco Penni. The painting was part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the room that was named after The Fire in the Borgo, the Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo. The painting shows how Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Romanorum by Pope Leo III on Christmas Evening, 800. It is quite likely that the fresco refers to the Concordat of Bologna, negotiated between the Holy See and the kingdom of France in 1515, since Leo III is in fact a portrait of Leo X and Charlemagne a portrait of Francis I.- Artist: Raphael
- Subject: Charlemagne, Pope Leo III
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Conversion of Saul is a fresco painted by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti. It is housed in the Cappella Paolina, Vatican Palace, in the Vatican City. The style is more mannerist than his earlier Sistine Chapel frescoes, and was not as well received by contemporaries. The next fresco he completed was The Crucifixion of St. Peter.- Artist: Michelangelo
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Battle of the Milvian Bridge
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, or The Battle at Pons Milvius, is a fresco in one of the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The Battle of Milvian Bridge, located in the Sala di Costantino, is by Giulio Romano and other assistants of the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, who died in 1520. It was most likely painted to Raphael's design between 1520 and 1524. After the master's death, Giulio Romano worked together with other members of Raphael's workshop to finish the commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge shows the battle that took place on 28 October 312 between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius. Legend says that Costantine had a dream where a cross appeared in the heavens; a voice told him he would win the battle of Ponte Milvio if he used the cross as his standard. The cross became his standard and he won the battle, and attributed his victory to the god of Christianity.- Artist: Giulio Romano
- Subject: Battle of the Milvian Bridge
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Flight into Egypt (c. 1304-1306) is a painting by Italian artist Giotto di Bondone.- Artist: Giotto
- Subject: Flight into Egypt
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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Massacre of the Innocents
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- Artist: Giotto
- Subject: Massacre of the Innocents
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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- 47
Adoration of the Magi
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- Artist: Giotto
- Subject: Biblical Magi, Adoration of the Magi
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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The Separation of Light from Darkness is, from the perspective of the Genesis chronology, the first of nine central panels that run along the center of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and which depict scenes from the Book of Genesis. Michelangelo probably completed this panel in the summer of 1512, the last year of the Sistine ceiling project. It is one of five smaller scenes that alternate with four larger scenes that run along the center of the Sistine ceiling. The Separation of Light from Darkness is based on verses 3–5 from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: ³And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Although in terms of the Genesis chronology it is the first of nine central panels along the Sistine ceiling, the Separation of Light from Darkness was the last of the nine panels painted by Michelangelo. Michelangelo painted the Sistine ceiling in two stages.- Artist: Michelangelo
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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Nativity: Birth of Jesus
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- Artist: Giotto
- Subject: Nativity of Jesus
- Genres (Art): History painting
- Art Form: Fresco
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COLLECTION16 LISTS
The Art of Art“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol 
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The Art of Art
“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol
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