When Julius II, the so called war Pope, became pope 1503 he didn't want to live in the same apartments of his rival Pope Borgia. He moved a floor upstairs and commissioned to Raphael the decorations of 4 rooms, which today are worlwide famous as Raphael's rooms, Stanze di Raffaello. The stanza di Eliodoro was realized by Raphael and his pupils from 1511 - 1514. In this period the Pope Julius the II was involved in many wars and was also supervising the construction of the new fortress that he strongly wanted in Civitavecchia.
This is the reason why Raphael sent a pupil from his school to make a draft painting in Civitavecchia, which has later been covered because it was not thaught as a work for the public. If you compare the two versions you can clearly understand that the one in Civitavecchia is a draft painting because not all the details were finished for example the saints don't have the halo and some characters don't have the eyes, all details that were not important for a draft painting.
It was a period of great commissions and the Pope called to Rome all the greatest artists of the Renaissance period such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Bramante and Michelangelo. Michelangelo, who painted 1508-1512 the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, designed also, following to the popular tradition, the Fortress in Civitavecchia renamed after him Michelangelo's Fortress.
The Michelangelo's Fortress commissioned by Julius II on 1508 was built to protect the coast and the port of Civitavecchia. The port became very important in the 15th and 16th century for the exportation of the alum mineral, found on the near Tolfa hills and in Allumiere, that takes the name after this mineral. The alum was used in the past to fix pigments of colours on the draperies and clothes.
The alum was produced and exported by a great banker Agostino Chigi, who was also the treasurer of Julius II and a good friend of Raphael. The banker Chigi commissioned to Raphael the frescoes in the so called Villa Farnesina, the banker's villa in Trastevere. Raphael, in fact, was very busy and was working at the same time for the stanze and for Villa Chigi.
Raphael had a workshop of 50 pupils and assistants and was often just supervising his commissions. He made only the most important protagonists and the skeleton of his frescoes leaving the rest to his pupils. The paintings found in Civitavecchia are made with the tempera technique and are perhaps, according to latest interpretations, draft paintings realized by Ugo da Carpi. Ugo da Carpi in fact used to paint with the thumbs and in some points you can see the fingerprints. Anyway a group of researchers is studying and at the end of this month there will be a conference where the specialists will give the response of the authour. In any case it's sure that these paintings are from the Renaissance style and need a restoration. Hopefully the local authorities will find the funds and donate to the city and the people a treasure like that.
