 The painting was part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the "Stanze di Raffaello", in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.It depicts Pope Leo IV halting a fire in 847 with a benediction from a balcony in front of the Old St. Peter's Basilica.The mural lends its name to the "Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo" ("The Room of the Fire in the Borgo").