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About This Work
On the right, citizens frantically escape a fire in the Borgo district while Pope Leo IV appears on a distant balcony to offer a miraculous blessing. In the foreground, a young man carries an elderly man on his shoulders, visually referencing the classical hero Aeneas fleeing Troy. On the left, a separate scene depicts a naval battle and the subsequent capture of Saracen prisoners by papal forces.
These works reflect the High Renaissance project of reconciling Christian history with classical humanist ideals, specifically using Virgilian motifs to bolster the legitimacy of the Papacy. The synthesis of pagan epic and Christian miracle is a hallmark of the Neoplatonic atmosphere prevalent in the Vatican court under Leo X.