Palchi dorati. I soffitti lignei di Raffaello della sala Vecchia degli Svizzeri e della sala dei Chiaroscuri nel Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano

Abstract

When Giovanni de’ Medici was elected Pope Leo X in 1513, he decided to modernize the Papal Apartments, located in the
medieval core of the Apostolic Palace and previously set up by his predecessor Julius II. The renewal of this setting focused
on the room of the Chiaroscuri, used in the sixteenth century for secret consistories or for solemn Papal meetings with the
Cardinals, and on the Sala Vecchia degli Svizzeri, a sort of antechamber where the Cardinals received their robes. The aim
of this paper is to understand the relationship between the coffered wooden ceiling designed by Raphael and the original
decoration executed by the Sanzio workshop and, furthermore, the involvement of Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane in the
ceiling’s construction.