Vatican Reveals Final Restored Raphael Room Following Ten-Year Cleaning Effort
The Vatican Museums have made a groundbreaking discovery in the restored Constantine room, part of the Raphael Rooms. The discovery confirms that Raphael himself painted two female figures, Justice and Courtesy, using an oil-on-wall technique, rather than the traditional fresco method.
This innovative approach, which involved applying oil paint directly onto the walls, was discovered during a recent restoration project. The project, focusing on the Hall of Constantine, has uncovered a novel mural painting technique that deviates from the conventional fresco method, which requires paint to be applied onto wet plaster.
Raphael's oil-on-wall technique offers several advantages. It allows for greater brilliance and richness of colour, as oil paints can achieve more luminosity and detail than fresco pigments. Moreover, this method provides more control over layering and blending, which is limited by the need for rapid work on wet plaster in traditional frescoes.
Technicians found a grid of metal nails embedded in the walls, believed to have been drilled into the wall to hold a natural resin surface in place. This resin surface was intended to serve as a canvas for Raphael's oil compositions. However, due to Raphael's untimely death in 1520 at the age of 37, the oil-on-wall project was never completed. Only two female figures—Justice and Courtesy—were identified as authentic Raphael oil-on-wall paintings. The rest of the room’s decorations were completed by his students using traditional fresco techniques.
The oil-on-wall technique is more complex and less stable over time compared to fresco, which has proven durability for centuries. Despite its technical challenges, Raphael's experiment was not widely adopted, likely due to its complexity and his untimely death.
This discovery rewrites part of the history of Renaissance mural painting, highlighting Raphael's pioneering spirit and willingness to innovate beyond the conventions of his time. Barbara Jatta, the director of the Vatican Museums, stated that the restoration rewrites another part of the history of art.
The restoration of the Constantine room, which was a private apartment for Pope Julius II in the Apostolic Palace, confirms earlier reports about Raphael's oil-on-wall painting technique. The room, dedicated to Roman emperor Constantine, is the fourth frescoed reception room in the Raphael Rooms, which were a private apartment for Pope Julius II and are part of the Vatican Museums. The scaffolding from the room was finally removed on June 26, 2023, revealing the unveiled novel mural painting technique using oil paint directly on the walls and a grid of nails embedded in the walls.
This discovery adds to the historical and technical significance of the Raphael Rooms, which were painted by Raphael Sanzio and his team during the Renaissance period. The commission for the Raphael Rooms came from Pope Julius II in 1508. Fabio Piacentini, one of the chief restorers, stated that the technique used and planned by Raphael in the Constantine room was experimental for the time and has never been found in any other mural made with oil paint.
In the Vatican Museums' restoration project, technicians discovered that Raphael used an innovative oil-on-wall technique for two female figures in the Constantine room, departing from the traditional fresco method. This discovery not only reveals Raphael's groundbreaking approach but also highlights his experimentation with technology in the realm of art.
