The _Stanza della Segnatura_ is so called from a judicial assembly once held here. The frescoes in this chamber are illustrative of the Virtues of Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence, who are represented on the ceiling by _Raphael_, in the midst of arabesques by _Sodoma_. The square pictures by Raphael refer:--the Fall of Man to Theology; the Study of the Globe to Philosophy; the Flaying of Marsyas to Poetry; and the Judgment of Solomon to Jurisprudence.

_Entrance Wall._--"The School of Athens." Raphael consulted Ariosto as to the arrangement of its 52 figures. In the centre, on the steps of a portico, are seen Plato and Aristotle, Plato pointing to heaven, and Aristotle to earth. On the left is Socrates conversing with his pupils, amongst whom is a young warrior, probably Alcibiades. Lying upon the steps in front is Diogenes. To his left Pythagoras is writing on his knee, and near him, with ink and pen, is Empedocles. The youth in the white mantle is Francesco Maria della Rovere, nephew of Julius II. On the right, is Archimedes, drawing a geometrical problem upon the floor. The young man near him with uplifted hands is Federigo II., Duke of Mantua. Behind these are Zoroaster and Ptolemy, one with a terrestrial, the other with a celestial globe, addressing two figures which represent Raphael and his master Perugino. The drawing in brown upon the socle beneath this fresco, is by _Pierino del Vaga_, and represents the death of Archimedes.

_Right Wall._--"Parnassus," Apollo surrounded by the Muses, on his right Homer, Virgil, and Dante. Below, on the right, Sappho, supposed to be addressing Corinna, Petrarch, Propertius, and Anacreon; on the left, Pindar and Horace, Sannazzaro, Boccaccio, and others. Beneath this, in grisaille, are,--Alexander placing the poems of Homer in the tomb of Achilles,--and Augustus preventing the burning of Virgil's Eneid.

_Left Wall._--Above the window are Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance. On the left, Justinian delivers the Pandects to Tribonian. On the right, Gregory IX. (with the features of Julius II.) delivers the Decretals to a jurist;--Cardinal de' Medici, afterwards Leo X., Cardinal Farnese, afterwards Paul III., and Cardinal del Monte, are represented near the pope. In the socle beneath is Solon addressing the people of Athens.

_Wall of Egress_.--"The Disputa," so called from an impression that it represents a Dispute upon the Sacrament. In the upper part of the composition the heavenly host are present;--Christ between the Virgin and St. John Baptist;--On the left, St. Peter, Adam, St.

John, David, St. Stephen, and another;--On the right, St. Paul, Abraham, St. James, Moses, St. Laurence, and St. George. Below is an altar surrounded by the Latin fathers, Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. Near St. Augustine stand St. Thomas Aquinas, St.

Anacletus with the palm of a martyr, and Cardinal Buonaventura reading. Those in front are Innocent III., and in the background Dante, near whom a monk in a black hood is pointed out as Savonarola. The Dominican on the extreme left is supposed to be Fra Angelico. The other figures are uncertain.

"Raphael a bien juge Dante en placant parmi les Theologiens, dans la _Dispute du Saint Sacrement_, celui pour la tombe duquel a ete ecrit ce vers, aussi vrai qu'il est plat:

'Theologus Dantes, nullius dogmatis expers.'"

_Ampere, Voyage Dantesque._

The chiaro-scuros on the socle beneath this fresco are by _Pierino del Vaga_ (added under Paul III.) and represent, 1, A heathen sacrifice; 2, St. Augustine finding a child attempting to drain the sea; 3, The Cumae Sibyl and Augustus.

"Raphael commenced his work in the Vatican by painting the ceiling and the four walls of the room called _della Segnatura_, on the surface of which he had to represent four great compositions, which embraced the principal divisions of the encyclopaedia of that period; namely, Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence.

"It will be conceived, that to an artist imbued with the traditions of the Umbrian school, the first of these subjects was an unparalleled piece of good fortune; and Raphael, long familiar with the allegorical treatment of religious compositions, turned it here to the most admirable account; and, not content with the suggestions of his own genius, he availed himself of all the instruction he could derive from the intelligence of others. From these combined inspirations resulted, to the eternal glory of the Catholic faith and of Christian art, a composition without a rival in the history of painting, and we may also add without a name; for to call it lyric or epic is not enough, unless, indeed, we mean, by using these expressions, to compare it with the allegorical epic of Dante, alone worthy to be ranked with this marvellous production of the pencil of Raphael.

"And let no one consider this praise as idle and groundless, for it is Raphael himself who forces the comparison upon us, by placing the figure of Dante among the favourite sons of the Muses; and, what is still more striking, by draping the allegorical figure of Theology in the very colours in which Dante has represented Beatrice; namely, the white veil, the red tunic, and the green mantle, while on her head he has placed the olive crown.

"Of the four allegorical figures which occupy the compartments of the ceiling, and which were all painted immediately after Raphael's arrival in Rome, Theology and Poetry are incontestably the most remarkable. The latter would be easily distinguished by the calm inspiration of her glance, even were she without her wings, her starry crown, and her azure robe, all having allusion to the elevated region towards which it is her privilege to soar. The figure of Theology is quite as admirably suited to the subject she personifies; she points to the upper part of the grand composition, which takes its name from her, and in which the artist has provided inexhaustible food for the sagacity and enthusiasm of the spectator.

"This work consists of two grand divisions,--Heaven and Earth,--which are united to one another by that mystical bond, the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The personages whom the Church has most honoured for learning and holiness are ranged in picturesque and animated groups on either side of the altar, on which the consecrated wafer is exposed. St. Augustine dictates his thoughts to one of his disciples; St. Gregory, in his pontifical robes, seems absorbed in the contemplation of celestial glory; St.

Ambrose, in a slightly different attitude, appears to be chaunting the Te Deum; while St. Jerome, seated, rests his hands on a large book, which he holds on his knees. Pietro Lombardo, Duns Scotus, St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Anacletus, St. Buonaventura, and Innocent III. are no less happily characterised; while, behind all these illustrious men, whom the Church and succeeding generations have agreed to honour, Raphael has ventured to introduce Dante with his laurel crown, and, with still greater boldness, the monk Savonarola, publicly burnt ten years before as a heretic.

"In the glory, which forms the upper part of the picture, the Three Persons of the Trinity are represented, surrounded by patriarchs, apostles, and saints: it may, in fact, be considered in some sort as a _resume_ of all the favourite compositions produced during the last hundred years by the Umbrian school. A great number of the types, and particularly those of Christ and the Virgin, are to be found in the earlier works of Raphael himself. The Umbrian artists, from having so long exclusively employed themselves on mystical subjects, had certainly attained to a marvellous perfection in the representation of celestial beatitude, and of those ineffable things of which it has been said that the heart of man cannot conceive them, far less, therefore, the pencil of man pourtray; and Raphael, surpassing them in all, and even in this instance while surpassing himself, appears to have fixed the limits, beyond which Christian art, properly so called, has never since been able to advance."--_Rio. Poetry of Christian Art._

The _Stanza of the Incendio del Borgo_ is decorated with frescoes illustrative of the triumphs of the Church from events in the reigns of Leo III. and Leo IV. The roof has four frescoes by _Perugino_ illustrative of the Saviour in glory.

_Entrance Wall._--The Victory of Leo IV. over the Saracens at Ostia, by _Giovanni da Udine_, from designs of Raphael. The pope is represented with the features of Leo X.; behind him are Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (Clement VII.), Cardinal Bibbiena, and others.

The castle of Ostia is seen in the background. Beneath are Ferdinand the Catholic and the Emperor Lothaire, by _Polidoro da Caravaggio_.

_Left Wall._--The "Incendio del Borgo," a fire in the Leonine City in 847. In the background Leo IV. is seen in the portico of the old St. Peter's arresting with a cross the progress of the flames, on their approach to the basilica. In the foreground is a group of fugitives, by _Giulio Romano_, resembling aeneas escaping from Troy with Anchises, followed by Ascanius and Creusa. Beneath are Godfrey de Bouillon and Astulf (Ethelwolf), the latter with the inscription: "Astulphus Rex sub Leone IV. Pont. Britanniam Beato Petro vectigalem fecit."

_Right Wall._--The Justification of Leo III. before Charlemagne, by _Pierino del Vaga_. The pope is a portrait of Leo X., the emperor of Francis I.

_Wall of Egress._--The Coronation of Charlemagne in the old St.

Peter's. Leo X. is again represented as Leo III., and Francis I. as Charlemagne. This fresco is partly by _Raphael_, partly by _Pierino del Vaga_. On the socle is Charlemagne, by _Polidoro da Caravaggio_.

_A Fifth Chamber_ has been decorated under Pius IX. with frescoes by _Fracassini_, in honour of the recent dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The Proclamation of the Dogma; the Adoration of the image of the Virgin; and the Reception of the news by the Virgin in heaven, from an angelic messenger, are duly represented!

From the corner of the Sala del Constantino, a custode, if requested, will give access to the

_Cappella di San Lorenzo_, a tiny chapel covered with frescoes executed by Fra Angelico for Nicholas V. in 1447. The upper series represents events in the life of St. Stephen.

1. His Ordination by St. Peter.

2. His Almsgiving.

4. He is brought before the Council at Jerusalem ("his accuser has the dress and shaven crown of a monk").

5. He is dragged to Execution.

6. He is Stoned. Saul is among the spectators.

"Angelico has represented St. Stephen as a young man, beardless, and with a most mild and candid expression. His dress is the deacon's habit, of a vivid blue."--_Mrs. Jameson._

The lower series represents the life of St Laurence.

1. He is ordained by Sixtus II. (with the features of Nicholas V.).

2. Sixtus II. delivers the treasures of the Church to him for distribution among the poor.

3. He Distributes them in Alms.

4. He is carried before Decius the Prefect.

5. He suffers Martyrdom A.D. 253.

Introduced in the side arches, are the figures of St. Jerome, St.

Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. John Chrysostom, St.

Athanasius, St. Leo--as the protector of Rome, and St. Thomas Aquinas--as painted by the Dominican Angelico, and for a Dominican pope Nicholas V.

"The Consecration of St. Stephen, the Distribution of Alms, and, above all, his Preaching, are three pictures as perfect of their kind as any that have been produced by the greatest masters, and it would be difficult to imagine a group more happily conceived as to arrangement, or more graceful in form and attitude, than that of the seated females listening to the holy preacher; and if the furious fanaticism of the executioners, who stone him to death, is not expressed with all the energy we could desire, this may be attributed to a glorious incapacity in this angelic imagination, too exclusively occupied with love and ecstasy to be ever able to familiarise itself with those dramatic scenes in which hateful and violent passions were to be represented."--_Rio. Poetry of Christian Art._

"The soul of Angelico lives in perpetual peace. Not seclusion from the world. No shutting out of the world is needful for him. There is nothing to shut out. Envy, lust, contention, discourtesy, are to him as though they were not; and the cloister walls of Fiesole no penitential solitude, barred from the stir and joy of life, but a possessed land of tender blessing, guarded from the entrance of all but holiest sorrow. The little cell was as one of the houses of heaven prepared for him by his Master. What need had it to be elsewhere? Was not the Val d'Arno, with its olive woods in white blossom, paradise enough for a poor monk? Or could Christ be indeed in heaven more than here? Was He not always with him? Could he breathe or see, but that Christ breathed beside him, or looked into his eyes? Under every cypress avenue the angels walked; he had seen their white robes,--whiter than the dawn,--at his bedside, as he woke in early summer. They had sung with him, one on each side, when his voice failed for joy at sweet vesper and matin time; his eyes were blinded by their wings in the sunset, when it sank behind the hills of Luni."--_Ruskin's Modern Painters._

The same staircase which is usually ascended to reach the Stanze (that on the left of the fountain in the Cortile S. Damaso) will also lead, by turning to the left in the loggia of the third floor, to:

_The Gallery of Pictures_, founded by Pius VII., who acted on the advice of Cardinal Gonsalvi and of Canova, and formed the present collection from the pictures which had been carried off by the French from the Roman churches, upon their restoration. The pictures have, to a great extent, been recently rearranged and are not all numbered. Each picture is worthy of separate examination. They are contained in four rooms, and according to their present position are:

_1st Room._--

ENTRANCE WALL:

1. St. Jerome: _Leonardo da Vinci_, painted in bistre.

16. St. John Baptist: _Guercino_.

4. The Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and Presentation in the Temple: _Raphael_;--formerly a predella to the Coronation of the Virgin in the third room.

5. The dead Christ and Mary Magdalen: _Andrea Mantegna_,--from the Aldrovandi gallery at Bologna.

7. Madonna with the Child and St. John: _Fr. Francia._

RIGHT WALL:

The Story of St. Nicolo of Bari: _Fra Angelico da Fiesole_,--two out of the three predella pictures once in the sacristy of S.

Domenico at Florence, whence they were carried off to Paris, where the third remains.