Room of Mysteries

Alexander VI kneels in elaborate papal vestments in the Resurrection fresco. Pinturicchio painted this portrait of the pope who had commissioned the Borgia Apartment’s decoration. Although much of the Room of Mysteries was entrusted to the workshop, the patron’s face received the master’s own attention. The room’s name refers to episodes from the lives of Mary and Christ. They include the Annunciation, the birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi and the Resurrection. Several scenes celebrate joyful or triumphant events in Mary’s life, reflecting Alexander’s particular devotion to her. Restoration completed in 2006 recovered original painted decoration on the lower walls. It had been considered an eighteenth-century addition and was covered with tapestries when the rooms were adapted for the modern religious art collection in 1973. The restored surfaces extend the Renaissance scheme below the great religious scenes, preserving more of the setting made around Alexander and his household.