G. Becatti – Abstract

The Fire in the Borgo is one of the less appreciated frescoes of Raphael's rooms. However, this scene is one of the most interesting works of the painter. Differents iconographic interpretations have been studied by several scholars during XIX and XX centuries, but it seems to be possible to add a new reading of this episode, by the unknowledgment of the two classical architectures painted by Raphael as theatrical decorations. The antiques buildings in fact are an actual citation of real monuments that are in the Roman Forums. They probably were already correctly individued by Raphael and contemporary scholars in the first part of the XVI century, during the papacy of Leo X. Particularly, the Aeneas and Anchises group is collocated in front of the ruins of the temple of Mars Ultor, that was probably already identificated in this context according to the old literature (like Ovid and Virgil), used as powerful reference for the cultural and political situation. So the archeological context is not only an antiquarial citation, but it has an important meaning for the iconographical program of this subject, in connection with the two frescoes besides this scene: Crowning of Charlemagne and The Battle of Ostia. So the painting of The Fire in the Borgo is extremely complex and it can be considered one of the last works of the Humanistic Renaissance in Rome.