Raphael
This first of the famous "Stanze" or "Raphael Rooms" to be painted, now known as the "Stanza della Segnatura" after its use in Vasari's time, was to make a stunning impact on Roman art, and remains generally regarded as his greatest masterpiece, containing "The School of Athens", "The Parnassus" and the "Disputa". Raphael was then given further rooms to paint, displacing other artists including Perugino and Signorelli. He completed a sequence of three rooms, each with paintings on each wall and often the ceilings too, increasingly leaving the work of painting from his detailed drawings to the large and skilled workshop team he had acquired, who added a fourth room, probably only including some elements designed by Raphael, after his early death in 1520. The death of Julius in 1513 did not interrupt the work at all, as he was succeeded by Raphael's last Pope, the Medici Pope Leo X, with whom Raphael formed an even closer relationship, and who continued to commission him. Raphael's friend Cardinal Bibbiena was also one of Leo's old tutors, and a close friend and advisor.
Adoration of the Shepherds (Raphael)
Although there are indications that this drawing could be Raphael's design, additional study is needed. The active composition of the design is very different from designs of the period. It can be argued that this design is related to the "Raphael Rooms" in the Vatican, as some of the compositions in the "Adoration of the Shepherds" occur in those compositions. It can also be argued that many of the features of this drawing belong to the traits of the early 16th century. Raphael used a goldfinch perched in the tree in "Madonna and the goldfinch," currently in the Uffizi Gallery and dated to 1505-1506. However, after the early 16th century Raphael did not appear to use the goldfinch again. Details of the composition including the fully kneeling shepherd, the second shepherd stepping in, the active Joseph, and the Virgin with her hand on her bosom, became common in depictions of the "Adoration of the Shepherds" later in the 16th and 17th centuries.