Walks in Rome (Est. 2001)
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  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
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    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
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      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
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      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Lions
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
    • San Paolo fuori le Mura
    • San Pietro in Montorio
    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea del Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
    • Catacombs of Domitilla
    • Circus Maxentius
    • Circus Maximus
    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
    • Forum of Trajan
    • Mausoleum of Augustus
    • Pantheon
    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Sant' Angelo
    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Mars Ultor
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
    • S. Prassede
    • S. Pudenziana
    • S. Venanzio
    • S. Zenone
    • Ss. Cosma e Damiano
    • Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
    • Churches
    • Domes
    • Fountains
    • Old Photographs
    • Palaces
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Palazzi
    • Palazzo Barberini
    • Palazzo del Quirinale
    • Palazzo della Cancelleria
    • Palazzo della Consulta
    • Palazzo delle Esposizioni
    • Palazzo Farnese
    • Palazzo Madama
    • Palazzo Venezia
    • Villa Farnesina
    • Villa Medici
  • Galleries & Museums
    • Galleria Borghese
    • Galleria Colonna
    • Galleria Doria-Pamphilj
    • Musei Capitolini
  • Piazzas
    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza del Campidglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Cloisters
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • House of the Owls
    • Knights of Malta
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione-Monti
    • Rione-Trevi
    • Rione-Colonna
    • Rione-Campo Marzio
    • Rione-Ponte
    • Rione-Parione
    • Rione-Regola
    • Rione-Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione-Pigna
    • Rione-Campitelli
    • Rione-Sant' Angelo
    • Rione-Ripa
    • Rione-Trastevere
    • Rione-Borgo

Walking Tours of Rome

The Vatican Museums:
​The 'Raphael' Tapestries


The Miraculous Draught of the Fishes, tapestry based on a cartoon by Raphael, Vatican Museums, Rome
The Miraculous Draught of the Fishes

In 1515 Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21) commissioned Raphael (1483-1520) to create ten full-scale coloured cartoons for a set of tapestries he wished to have made at the Brussels workshop of the renowned Flemish tapestry-maker, Pieter van Aelst (died 1536). The tapestries were intended to be hung, albeit only on very special occasions, in the Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel).

The tapestries, which, apart from one, measure between three and a half  by four/five metres, depict scenes from the lives of St Peter and St Paul. The first seven tapestries arrived in Rome at the end of 1519 and were first hung in the chapel on December 26th, which is St Stephen's Day. 
All ten tapestries had arrived by the time of Leo X’s death on December 1st, 1521. 

The tapestries are on display in the Pinacoteca in the Vatican Museums. 

By great fortune, seven of Raphael's cartoons have survived and form part of the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. 

Stoning of St Stephen, 'Raphael' tapestry, Pinacoteca, Vatican Museums, Rome
The Stoning of St Stephen
St Stephen was one of the seven men ordained by the Apostles as the first deacons responsible for distributing alms to the needy. He was falsely accused of blasphemy and when he rebuked his accusers he had an apparition of Jesus and God the Father. St Stephen was stoned to death. One of the witnesses was Saul, who guarded the executioners’ garments.
St Paul Preaching at Athens, 'Raphael' tapestry, Pinacoteca, Vatican Museums, Rome
St Paul Preaching at Athens
St Paul is depicted preaching in the agora before the judicial council of Athens on the subject of the immortality of the soul, a subject dear to Pope Leo X, who defined official church doctrine in the papal bull Apostolici Regiminis, which was issued on December 19th 1513.  
St Peter and the Healing of the Lame Man, 'Raphael' tapestry, Pinacoteca, Vatican Museums, Rome
St Peter and the Healing of the Lame Man
A crowd is gathered at the Porta Speciosa (Beautiful Gate) inside the complex of the Temple of Jerusalem. At the centre St Peter heals a lame man, while a youthful St John looks on.
Christ's Charge to St Peter, 'Raphael' tapestry, Pinacoteca, Vatican Museums, Rome
Christ's Charge to St Peter
 At Caesarea Philippi Christ addressed his disciples and said to Peter ‘I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 16:19). After his resurrection Christ appeared to his disciples and thrice charged Peter to ‘Feed my sheep’ (John 21:15-17). These two texts were the most important scriptural justifications of papal authority.
St Peter and the Death of Ananias, 'Raphael' tapestry, Pinacoteca, Vatican Museums, Rome
St Peter and the Death of Ananias
The Apostles persuaded wealthy men to sell off land and property so that the proceeds could be distributed to the poor. One of them, Ananias, retained some of the proceeds of the sale for his own personal use. Peter rebukes Ananias for his greed and deceit and strikes him down. On one side we see the Apostles distributing alms while on the other the wife of Ananias counts their money.

walking Tours of Rome

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2022. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Home
  • Personalised Tours
  • Vatican Tours
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Images
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
      • Pope Gregory XIII
      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
      • Pope Benedict XIV
      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Lions
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
    • San Paolo fuori le Mura
    • San Pietro in Montorio
    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea del Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
    • Catacombs of Domitilla
    • Circus Maxentius
    • Circus Maximus
    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
    • Forum of Trajan
    • Mausoleum of Augustus
    • Pantheon
    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Sant' Angelo
    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Mars Ultor
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
    • S. Prassede
    • S. Pudenziana
    • S. Venanzio
    • S. Zenone
    • Ss. Cosma e Damiano
    • Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
    • Churches
    • Domes
    • Fountains
    • Old Photographs
    • Palaces
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Palazzi
    • Palazzo Barberini
    • Palazzo del Quirinale
    • Palazzo della Cancelleria
    • Palazzo della Consulta
    • Palazzo delle Esposizioni
    • Palazzo Farnese
    • Palazzo Madama
    • Palazzo Venezia
    • Villa Farnesina
    • Villa Medici
  • Galleries & Museums
    • Galleria Borghese
    • Galleria Colonna
    • Galleria Doria-Pamphilj
    • Musei Capitolini
  • Piazzas
    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza del Campidglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Cloisters
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • House of the Owls
    • Knights of Malta
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione-Monti
    • Rione-Trevi
    • Rione-Colonna
    • Rione-Campo Marzio
    • Rione-Ponte
    • Rione-Parione
    • Rione-Regola
    • Rione-Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione-Pigna
    • Rione-Campitelli
    • Rione-Sant' Angelo
    • Rione-Ripa
    • Rione-Trastevere
    • Rione-Borgo