The tapestry room is devoted to Raphael and his sumptuous tapestries. The Acts of the Apostles, showing seven of the original 10 scenes from the lives of St Peter and St Paul, were commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515 to hang on the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel. They were, in some part, his attempt to match the glory that his predecessor Julius ll had achieved in his commission of Michelangelo's fabled ceiling fresco.

 

These tapestries used to hang on the lower walls in the Sistine Chapel.

" With the precious silk threads so heavily embellished with pure gold and silver, the chapel would have seemed to shimmer in the early 16th century. Although the ceiling today takes center stage, at that time it was the tapestries that dominated the decoration. According to the master of ceremonies at the Chapel, general opinion held that there was nothing more beautiful in the world. They were seen to be the finest ambassadors of High Italian Renaissance style."

For more on how tapestries were made go to:

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tapm/hd_tapm.htm