ABSTRACT
The idea of including a chapter on the Stanza della Segnatura in this study of the architectural and urban developments of the pontificate of Julius II was prompted by two intriguing assertions made by Manfredo Tafuri and Christiane Joost-Gaugier. In the first, Tafuri argues that the frescoes of the Stanza constitute a “manifesto” of the projects of Bramante in Rome.1 In the second, Joost-Gaugier suggests that the approximate cardinal orientations of the four walls of the chamber were intended to align the frescoes to more distant geographical horizons.2
