Ceiling
Photogallery
Ceiling
In the grotesques and in the arches there are still some parts that can be attributed to Luca Signorelli, Bramantino, Lorenzo Lotto and Cesare da Sesto. They date to the first decoration commissioned by Julius II at the beginning of his pontificate, that was interrupted and then replaced by the present one due to the pontiff's great admiration for the first frescoes of Raphael in the adjoining Room of the Segnatura. Raphael replaced the grotesques in the centre of the ceiling with four episodes of the Old Testament: Noah leaving the ark (Genesis 8: 15-20), The sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22: 1-14), Moses before the burning bush (Exodus 3: 1-12), and Jacob's dream (Genesis 28: 10-22).