Inv.: 43876
Artist:  Cartoons by Raphael Sanzio,
Woven in Brussels, workshop of Pieter van Aelst
Date:  1515-1521
Material: Wool, silk, gilt silver
Dimensions: 498 cm x 535 cm (16.34 ft. x 17.55 ft.)        

This tapestry is part of a series, called the Scuola Vecchia, which depicts scenes from the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul.  They were originally executed for the decoration of the side walls in the Sistine Chapel.  Commissioned by Pope Leo X around 1513-1514, Raphael Sanzio designed the cartoons for the tapestries which were finished in 1516.  After the cartoons were sent to be woven in Pieter van Aelst’s workshop in Brussels, seven finished tapestries were sent back to Rome. These tapestries were mounted in the Sistine Chapel in time for a Mass celebrated by the Pope on December 26, 1519. The three remaining tapestries: Death of Ananias, St. Paul in Prison and St. Paul preaching in Athens, were completed later and all ten tapestries were hanging in the Sistine Chapel by 1521.  The tapestries then changed ownership and location various times until they came to rest in the Vatican once again in 1808.    This particular tapestry shows the scene from the Acts of the Apostles (18: 1-4) in the New  Testament when St. Paul arrives at the Aeropagus in Athens to preach about the true God to the Greeks.

RESTORATION PROCESS:

• Elimination of the old restorations to the whole tapestry

• Alignment of the warping

• Stitching the damaged and delicate areas to a support, which has been dyed to a color harmonious to the surrounding area in order to reinforce the original threads

• Eventual weaving on the loom of the selvages to act as support to the original fragments

• Penciling a pattern of rhombus-shapes on the new lining which will act as a guide for the stitching of the new lining to the tapestry

• Series of color and black & white photographic documentation before, during and after the restorations

• Catalog of documentation on the state of the work before restoration, first projected plan of the work, material description and a complete folder of the photographic documentation

• Samples and scientific analysis of the thread with documentation and regeneration using a video-microscope

Total Cost:  $427,100.00                     

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