The Cloister of Bramante and Raphael's fresco of the Sibyls

Abstract

There are not many places in Rome where one can experience the perfection of the architecture built in the early Renaissance. One of these is Bramante's cloister, a masterpiece that ushered in the 16th century and became a source of inspiration for the great masters who arrived in Rome in the following years, including Michelangelo and, above all, Raphael. Inside the church of Santa Maria della Pace, annexed to Bramante's cloister, the artist of Urbino would create an absolute masterpiece, the fresco of the Sibyls in the Chigi chapel. With Bramante, the cloister - a place steeped in centuries-old traditions - became a space where he could apply his study of harmony based on the Vitruvian principles of firmitas, utilitas and venustas: solidity, functionality and elegance. In its perfect arches, the architect gave shape to a system of optical illusions favouring the harmonisation of the forms, made possible by human perception: it was a principle that would be repeated on a monumental scale by the architects of subsequent generations. When Pietro da Cortona was called on, more than a century later, to remodel the Santa Maria della Pace complex, he was able to profit from Bramante's vast experience and make good use of the principles of symmetry and equilibrium to create an exquisitely Baroque setting of immense fascination.