The smallest country in the world unveiled its last and most important of the restored Raphael rooms, the beautifully decorated and frescoed reception room of the Apostolic Palace.

The Vatican Museum was on a decade-long project to clean and restore the largest of the four Raphael rooms, built by the superstar Renaissance painter and architect. Built using the marvellous painting technique of Raphael, the construction of the rooms began with full zest, but never saw completion. At the age of 37, painter Raphael died in 1520 before the hall could be completed and was later completed by his students using other techniques, since they could not master the teacher’s art.

The Vatican took it as their responsibility to restore all four rooms decorated by the Italian painter and architect Raphael, who was admired for his clarity of form, sense of composition, and visual achievements. He used oil paint directly on the wall and arranged a grid of nails embedded in the wall to hold in place the resin surface on which he painted.

Restoration Important

The reception room recently restored was painted by Raphael and his students in the first quarter of the 1500s, and was dedicated to the fourth-century Roman Emperor Constantine, who embraced Christianity and helped spread the faith throughout his Roman Empire.

Even during that time, the Vatican City talk of the town was that Raphael wanted to decorate the rooms not with frescoes—that is, painting a wall while the plaster is still not completely dried—but by oil paints directly on the wall to give the image greater brilliance.

All these 10 years of restoration of the Room of Constantine was one of the chief restoration projects of the Vatican. The hall is one of the most valued assets of the world, even till date.