The five vaults covering the Loggia degli Eroi are a series of octagons surrounded by exquisite stucco work in lime and marble powder, inspired by the examples of the Vatican Loggias and those at the Villa Madama in Rome. The vaults bear depictions of patriotic episodes in Roman history, including Orazio Coclite sul ponte Sublicio (Horatius Cocles holding the Pons Sublicius) and Marco Curzio che si getta nella voragine (Marcus Curtius leaping into the chasm).
The Roman episodes on the vaults echo the depiction as saviours of the nation of twelve of Andrea Doria's ancestors, frescoed on the north wall of the Loggia degli Eroi.