The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila

English

The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila: Raphael

Price: Price on Request
Art Type: Various Paintings
Size:
English Comments: 0
International Comments: 0
Creating Date:
Introduction and Works of Raphael >>

Contemporary-Art.org

Reproduction

Enlarge

Raphael Various Paintings - The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila

Keywords: Meeting, Leo, Great, Attila

Work Overview: The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila
Artist Raphael
Year 1514
Type Fresco
Dimensions 500 cm × 750 cm (200 in × 300 in)
Location Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

The Meeting of Leo I and Attila is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael and his assistant Giulio Romano. It was painted in 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which is named after The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple.

The painting depicts the meeting between the Pope Leo I and Attila the Hun, and includes the images of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the sky bearing swords. Initially, Raphael depicted Leo I with the face of Pope Julius II but after Julius' death, Raphael changed the painting to resemble the new pope, Leo X.

In the last episode of the Stanza di Eliodoro, Raphael returns to the symmetrical compositional type of the Stanza della Segnatura. The painting represents. Pope Leo the Great who, with the assistance of God, prevented the Huns from attacking Rome.

In AD 452 Pope Leo I managed to halt Attila the Hun, on his way to invade Rome, at the river Mincio near Mantua. The Eternal City was thus saved from destruction. In the fresco, Leo X, in the figure of his namesake, is riding with great dignityin the company of his retinue towards the Huns, who are galloping into the picture from the right. A mere wave of Leo's hand is enough to repel them.

The figure of the Pope on horseback is a portrait of Leo X. It was originally intended to represent Julius II, but the Della Rovere Pope died before the completion of the cycle, and his portrait was substituted by that of his successor. The scene is divided into two parts: at left the Pope and his attendants, poised and solemn, offer a gesture of peace to the Huns. Above them, Saints Peter and Paul brandish a sword. At right, Attila and his attendants, also on horseback, are frightened to death at the view of the two saints, whose figures are counterbalanced by an armed foot soldier. In the background are Rome and Mount Mario, on which a fire is blazing.

This episode is clearly more fragmentary and dispersive than the other frescoes of the cycle. Many critics attribute this weakness to the extensive participation of Raphael's pupils, led by Giulio Romano.

The encounter between Leo the Great and Attila is the last fresco painted in this room. It was completed after the death of Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513), during the pontificate of his successor Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521). In fact the latter appears twice in the same scene, portrayed in the guise of Pope Leo the Great and as cardinal. According to legend, the miraculous apparition of Saints Peter and Paul armed with swords during the meeting between Pope Leo the Great and Attila (452 A.D.) caused the king of the Huns to desist from invading Italy and marching on Rome. Raphael situates the scene at the gates of Rome, identified by the Colosseum, by an aqueduct, an obelisk and other buildings, even if in fact the historical event took place in the north of Italy, near Mantua.

This is another fresco created by Raphael and his apprentice, Giulio Romano, in 1514 for the Stanza di Eliodoro. It depicts how Pope Leo the Great was able to prevent the entry and invasion of Rome by Attila the Hun and his army in 452 AD. Legend told that the late pope was able to maintain such peace through the divine intervention of Saint Peter and Paul.

This was clearly depicted in the painting with the defenders of the Eternal City on one side, while the Mongols on horseback appear to be scared and moving backwards at one side. The source of fear by Attila and his company is the view of the two saints holding swords.

The picture is very cinematic but art critics mention that the painting is fragmented and very divisive.

Copyright Statement:
All the reproduction of any forms about this work unauthorized by Singing Palette including images, texts and so on will be deemed to be violating the Copyright Laws.
To cite this webpage, please link back here.

>> English Comments >> Chinese Comments >> French Comments >> German Comments >>Report

The Meeting between Leo the Great and Attila

Raphael

Work Overview