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Raphael's solution for ceiling decoration, stretching a velarium, or awning, across the illusive opening in the ceiling and using it as an autonomous support for the painting, found widespread application. Analogous solutions are found in later works, such as in San Secondo.
The picture shows the ceiling of the Sala dei Gesta Rossiana. The decoration was executed by Ercole Procaccini and Cesare Baglione. The central scene depicts Pier Maria II Rossi Receives the Order of St Michael from Francis I of France in 1542.
The choice of themes manifest the desire of the man who commissioned the work - a local feudal lord whose position had been trimmed when the new Farnese duchy of Parma was formed - to keep the memory of his family's importance alive.
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