Stanze del Vaticano. Picturae Sanctii Urbinatis ex Aula et Conclavibus Palatii Vaticani. No. 9. In Primo Conclavi

Detailed engravings of Raphael’s magnificent cycle of frescoes executed between 1509-14, and situated in the suite of medium-sized rooms in the Vatican papal apartments in which the pope himself lived and worked; these rooms are known simply as the Stanze. The intention of the Stanze frescoes was principally the glorification of the papacy and the illustration of the heroic acts of the popes. Raphael had been called to Rome toward the end of 1508 by Pope Julius II at the suggestion of the architect Donato Bramante. At this time Raphael was little known in Rome, but the young man soon made a deep impression on the volatile Julius and the papal court, and his authority as a master grew day by day.