Death of Ananias

In the tapestry cartoons Raphael again succeeded brilliantly in his historical depictions. As earlier in The School of Athens, he developed a pictorial language which made the ancient world alive and tangible. The compositions are full of tension and the narrative style dramatic. The figures’ facial expressions can be easily read, their grand gestures are eloquent, and they elicit varied and unmistakable reactions from the onlookers.