Vatican Museums

The wooden ceiling that Leo X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521) had built was replaced in the time of Gregory XIII with a ceiling that was decorated with frescoes. The task was entrusted to the Sicilian painter Tommaso Laureti who began the work in 1582, completing it in 1585 under Pope Sixtus V (pontiff from 1585 to 1590). In the corners of the ceiling the undertakings of Gregory XIII are depicted while in the frieze above the four episodes of the life of Constantine, we see the heraldic elements of Sixtus V. In the central panel Laureti illustrated the Triumph of Christian religion that refers to the destruction of the pagan idols and their replacement with the image of Christ, ordered by Constantine throughout the empire. Around the central panel the artist painted eight regions of Italy, two in each of the four pendentives, and three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa.