Creation of the World

Creation of the World
Artist Raphael

In 1516, Agostino Chigi, a Florentine banker, hired his friend Raphael to decorate the dome of the Chigi Chapel, their private chapel and burial place for their family, in Santa Maria del Popolo.

The artist designed a cartoon illustrating the planets being held by winged angels, a star studded sky and the zodiac. God was illustrated doing the Creation at the middle medallion of the dome. These cartoons are made into a mosaic by Luigi di Pace, a craftsman from Venice.

The artwork resembles the designs at the Sistine Chapel, and also one of those few works which showcases the knowledge of the artist about astronomy and celestial bodies.