Vatican Museums display Raphael’s tapestries in Sistine Chapel, Oct 23-Nov 4, 2025, honoring King Charles III’s visit and ecumenical prayer with Pope Leo XIV.
Newsroom (27/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) From October 23 to November 4, 2025, the Vatican Museums will offer visitors a rare opportunity to view two monumental tapestries by Raphael in the Sistine Chapel, coinciding with the historic visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The royal couple will join Pope Leo XIV for a united ecumenical prayer for the care of Creation, an event that underscores the convergence of faith, art, and diplomacy.
The tapestries, The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen and The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, are part of the Acts of the Apostles series, a set of 10 large tapestries commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515 to adorn the Sistine Chapel’s walls. Designed by Raphael Sanzio, the master from Urbino, the series was woven by the renowned Flemish craftsman Pieter van Aelst using luxurious silk, gold, and silver threads. Seven of the 10 preparatory cartoons—full-size drawings representing Christ’s Charge to Peter, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, The Death of Ananias, The Healing of the Lame Man, The Blinding of Elymas, The Sacrifice at Lystra, and St. Paul Preaching at Athens—were completed by 1516. These tapestries, hung in the chapel by 1519, with the final three added by 1521, captivated viewers with their vivid storytelling and technical brilliance.
Raphael’s designs revolutionized narrative history painting, influencing European art for centuries. His cartoons masterfully blend dramatic storytelling, emotive gestures, and lifelike facial expressions, set against credible backdrops inspired by the natural world and ancient Roman architecture. This fusion of faith, artistic genius, and technical mastery cemented Raphael’s legacy as a cornerstone of the Renaissance.
Today, seven of the original cartoons are preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, under the stewardship of King Charles III, lending a profound connection to the royal visit. The 2025 Jubilee Year exhibition of The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen and The Miraculous Draught of Fishes in their intended Sistine Chapel setting not only celebrates Raphael’s enduring genius but also symbolizes the strengthened bond between the Catholic Church and the United Kingdom.
This rare display invites visitors to witness the timeless interplay of sacred art and cultural unity, reaffirming the Sistine Chapel as a beacon of faith and creativity.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vaticanstate.va
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