The Stanza Di Eliodoro

In looking at The Stanza Di Eliodoro by Raphael, I get a sense that the power of religion is being brought upon us through art. As I look around at the painting there is a feeling that three different scenes are brought into one painting. On the far left of the painting there are guards fighting with soldiers. Bruschini says, “The scene is lit in a fantastic manner by several light sources: the torch of the soldier in the foreground, the moon half hidden by the clouds and, most of all, the cold light of dawn”(61). In the middle of the painting Peter is being held as prisoner with two guards watching over him. An angel is attending to Peter with powerful light coming shinning off the guard’s armor suits and distracting them. I feel like this is the main scene as the light coming from the angel is directly in the middle of the painting. Raphael really wants you to notice this and the power that comes with religion. On the right side of the painting you see that same angel assisting St. Peter out of the prison. You can still see the powerful ray of light coming off the angel along with guards laying on the stairwell in defeat. Raphael had put together a story in one painting to help him get the point of religion across in his art.