Delphi Complete Works of Raphael (Illustrated) E-Book

Raphael Raphael

• Herausgeber: Delphi Classics
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Masters of Art
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 279

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Celebrated for his clarity of form, ease of composition and the sublime beauty of his ‘Madonnas’, Raphael is the epitome of the High Renaissance genius. In spite of his untimely death, he left behind a large body of work that would have a monumental influence on the course of art in the ensuing centuries. Delphi’s Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing digital readers to explore the works of great artists in comprehensive detail. This volume presents Raphael’s complete works in beautiful detail, with concise introductions, hundreds of high quality images and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)* The complete paintings of Raphael — over 120 paintings, fully indexed and arranged in chronological and alphabetical order
* Includes reproductions of rare works
* Features a special ‘Highlights’ section, with concise introductions to the masterpieces, giving valuable contextual information
* Enlarged ‘Detail’ images, allowing you to explore Raphael’s celebrated works in detail, as featured in traditional art books
* Hundreds of images in stunning colour – highly recommended for viewing on tablets and smart phones or as a valuable reference tool on more conventional eReaders
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the complete paintings
* Easily locate the paintings you want to view
* Includes Raphael's drawings and cartoons - spend hours exploring the artist’s works
* Features three bonus biographies, including Vasari’s original text - discover Raphael's artistic and personal life
* Scholarly ordering of plates into chronological orderPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting e-Art booksCONTENTS:The Highlights
RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
ST. SEBASTIAN
THE MOND CRUCIFIXION
THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN
AN ALLEGORY (VISION OF A KNIGHT)
MADONNA DEL GRANDUCA
MADONNA OF THE GOLDFINCH
MADONNA OF THE MEADOW
PORTRAIT OF AGNOLO DONI
THE CANIGIANI HOLY FAMILY
THE DEPOSITION
SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA
THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS
THE ALBA MADONNA
THE PARNASSUS
PORTRAIT OF POPE JULIUS II
THE TRIUMPH OF GALATEA
SISTINE MADONNA
MADONNA DELLA SEGGIOLA
PORTRAIT OF BALTHASAR CASTIGLIONE
LA DONNA VELATA
THE RAPHAEL CARTOONS
THE TRANSFIGURATIONThe Paintings
THE COMPLETE PAINTINGS
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PAINTINGSThe Drawings
LIST OF DRAWINGSThe Biographies
LIFE OF RAFFAELLO DA URBINO by Giorgio Vasari
RAPHAEL SANTI: “THE PERFECT ARTIST, THE PERFECT MAN” by Jennie Ellis Keysor
RAPHAEL by Estelle M. HurllPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

Leseprobe

Raphael

(1483-1520)

Contents

The Highlights

Resurrection of Christ

St. Sebastian

The Mond Crucifixion

The Marriage of the Virgin

An Allegory (Vision of a Knight)

Madonna Del Granduca

Madonna of the Goldfinch

Madonna of the Meadow

Portrait of Agnolo Doni

The Canigiani Holy Family

The Deposition

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

The School of Athens

The Alba Madonna

The Parnassus

Portrait of Pope Julius II

The Triumph of Galatea

Sistine Madonna

Madonna Della Seggiola

Portrait of Balthasar Castiglione

La Donna Velata

The Raphael Cartoons

The Transfiguration

The Paintings

The Complete Paintings

Alphabetical List of Paintings

The Drawings

List of Drawings

The Biographies

Life of Raffaello Da Urbino by Giorgio Vasari

Raphael Santi: “The Perfect Artist, the Perfect Man” by Jennie Ellis Keysor

Raphael by Estelle M. Hurll

The Delphi Classics Catalogue

© Delphi Classics 2015

Version 1

Browse our Art eBooks…

Buy the entire Masters of Art Series at a reduced price

Masters of Art Series

Raffaello Sanzio

By Delphi Classics, 2015

COPYRIGHT

Masters of Art - Raphael

First published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2015.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 9781910630884

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [email protected]

www.delphiclassics.com

Interested in Renaissance literature and art?

Then you’ll love these eBooks…

Explore Renaissance eBooks

Enjoying our Art series of eBooks? Then try our Classical Music series:

A first of its kind in digital print, the Delphi Great Composers series allows digital readers to explore the works of the world’s greatest composers in comprehensive detail, with interactive links to popular streaming services.

Explore the series so far…

The Highlights

Urbino, a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro — Raphael’s birthplace

Raphael’s family home in Urbino, which is now a museum dedicated to the artist

Possible self-portrait of Raphael in his teenage years

‘Portrait of a Young Man’, 1514 — lost during the Second World War, this is a possible self-portrait of Raphael as a young man

THE HIGHLIGHTS

In this section, a sample of some of Raphael’s most celebrated works is provided, with concise introductions, special ‘detail’ reproductions and additional biographical images.

Resurrection of Christ

Completed between 1499 and 1502, the Resurrection of Christ is one of Raphael’s earliest extant works and is now housed in the São Paulo Museum of Art, being the only conserved work of the artist in the Southern Hemisphere. Also known as the Kinnaird Resurrection, named after its early owner Lord Kinnaird, the composition is ruled by a complex ideal geometry, interlinking all the elements of the scene and evoking a strange animated rhythm, transforming the characters in the painting into co-protagonists in a unique “choreography”. The painting demonstrates influence from Pinturicchio and Melozzo da Forlì, though the spatial orchestration of the work, with its tendency to movement, demonstrates Raphael’s knowledge of the contemporary Florentine style.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

St. Sebastian

This 1502 painting is housed in the Accademia Carrara of Bergamo and depicts the third century martyr, cloaked in an ornate red robe. Saint Sebastian was killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian’s persecution of the Christians in 288 AD. He is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post or tree, riddled with arrows. Despite this being the most common artistic depiction of Sebastian, he was, according to legend, rescued and healed by Irene of Rome. The details of Saint Sebastian’s martyrdom were first spoken of by the fourth century bishop Ambrose of Milan (Saint Ambrose) in his sermon on Psalm 118. Ambrose stated that Sebastian came from Milan and that he was already venerated there at that time.

The young Raphael depicts the Saint with a flawless pure skin that would be replicated again in subsequent years in the paintings of the artist’s famous Madonnas. A cropped golden halo surrounds the head of the Saint, as he contemplates his earthly fate. Instead of choosing to depict the grisly execution, Raphael instead hints at the martyr’s death through a single arrow, which St. Sebastian holds delicately with his right hand, much like a musician holding a violin bow, adding grace to the composition. The artist’s dexterous and fine handling of paint is revealed in the detailed depiction of the Saint’s hair, which gently curls, reinforcing the delicate impression.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

‘St. Sebastian’ (detail) by Andrea Mantegna, 1480

The Mond Crucifixion

The Mond Crucifixion (also known as the Crocifissione Gavari) demonstrates Raphael’s early influence from the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino.  According to Vasari, Raphael’s father placed the youngster in Perugino’s workshop as an apprentice when he was eight years’ old, although only one other source confirms this report. Most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500. The influence of Perugino on Raphael’s early work at this time is clear and Vasari wrote that it was impossible to distinguish between their hands at this period. Their stylistic portrayal of characters, particularly females and male youths are very similar. Both master and pupil apply paint thickly, using an oil varnish medium, in shadows and darker garments, while they both apply very thinly on flesh areas. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in their works. Raphael is described in records as a “master”, indicating he was fully trained, in 1501, by which time he was likely to have left Perugino’s studio.

The altarpiece in the church of San Domenico in Città di Castello, near Raphael’s hometown of Urbino, depicts Jesus on the cross, in a serene aspect, in spite of his death. There are two angels floating on either side of him, catching his blood in chalices. On Christ’s left kneels Mary Magdalene, with John the Evangelist standing behind her. On his right Mary stands and St. Jerome, to whom the altar was dedicated, is kneeling. At the foot of the cross is the inscription RAPHAEL/ VRBIN / AS /.P.[INXIT] (“Raphael of Urbino painted this”) in silver letters. The altarpiece was bequeathed to London’s National Gallery by Ludwig Mond, a German-born chemist and industrialist, who later took British nationality.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Dr Ludwig Mond (1839-1909) — whose estate, including his great art collection, was valued at £1 million.

The Marriage of the Virgin

Also known as Lo Sposalizio, this grand oil painting was completed for the Franciscan church of San Francesco, Città di Castello, and depicts the marriage ceremony between Mary and Joseph.  During the early 1500’s patrons in Citta di Castello sent three commissions to Raphael’s master Pietro Perugino, which in his master’s absence were completed by Raphael, including The Marriage of the Virgin, now believed to be his last work as an apprentice. Evidently inspired by Perugino’s Marriage of the Virgin, Raphael completed his interpretation of the subject in 1504. Several historians have disputed that Perugino’s painting preceded Raphael’s and some have suggested the painting was not Perugino’s at all, but instead produced after Raphael’s by one of Perugino’s followers, though a piece of sixteenth century documentary evidence supports the conclusion that Perugino had begun working on the painting in 1499.

The differences between Raphael and Perugino’s interpretations of the same subject were famously compared by the art biographer Giorgio Vasari, who wrote that it “may be distinctly seen the progress of excellence of Raphael’s style, which becomes much more subtle and refined, and surpasses the manner of Pietro. In this work,” he continued, “there is a temple drawn in perspective with such evident care that it is marvellous to behold the difficulty of the problems which he has there set himself to solve.”

The painting completed by Raphael was commissioned by Filippo degli Albezzini to hang in a church dedicated to Saint Francis, where it remained until General Giuseppe Lechi led forces to Città di Castello to liberate it from Austrian occupation, when the painting was ‘gifted’ to the general. Lechi sold it in 1801 to Giacomo Sannazaro, who himself sold it in 1804 to the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan. By whatever means it arrived there and was in the possession of the hospital for a short time, before the hospital sold it to the Italian state for 53,000 francs. It has since then been displayed in Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera, in spite of an 1859 proposal to donate the image to France after that country’s army had entered Milan.

Through these various relocations, the painting was damaged. The panel had several cracks in the upper half, while there was rippling and bowing throughout. Italian artist Giuseppe Molteni was employed to repair the painting in November 1857 and he chose to preserve the panel rather than transfer it to canvas, spending months flattening the panel and hydrating it to overcome the damage of desiccation. This decision on the part of Molteni has permitted twentieth century art historians to use infrared reflectography to study the underdrawing beneath the painted surface. Molteni also undertook to clean the surface of the painting, which had been subjected to restoration before. He did not clean aggressively, as he wanted to be sure that elements of the original painting were preserved.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

‘Marriage of the Virgin’ by Perugino, c. 1504

An Allegory (Vision of a Knight)

This tiny painting is also known by its the subtitle ‘The Dream of Scipio’ and was completed by 1505. Now housed in London’s National Gallery, it likely formed a pair with Raphael’s Three Graces panel, which is also a 17 cm square and is now housed in the Château de Chantilly museum.

Various theories have been proposed as to what the panel is intended to represent. Some art historians believe the sleeping knight represents the Roman general Scipio Africanus (236-184 BC) who dreamed that he had to choose between Virtue (behind whom is a steep and rocky path) and Pleasure (in looser robes). However, the two feminine figures are not presented as contestants. They may represent the ideal attributes of the knight: the book, sword and flower might suggest the ideals of scholar, soldier and lover that a knight should posses. The most likely source for the allegory is from a passage in Silius Italicus’ Punica, a Latin epic poem recounting the Second Punic War.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

‘The Three Graces’ — the accompanying panel

Madonna Del Granduca

Raphael led a “nomadic” life in the early 1500’s, working in various centres in Northern Italy, though he spent a good deal of time in Florence, from about 1504. He received a letter of recommendation, dated October 1504, from the mother of the next Duke of Urbino, recommending the artist to the Gonfaloniere of Florence: “The bearer of this will be found to be Raphael, painter of Urbino, who, being greatly gifted in his profession has determined to spend some time in Florence to study. And because his father was most worthy and I was very attached to him, and the son is a sensible and well-mannered young man, on both accounts, I bear him great love...” Raphael’s good looks and courtly manners rapidly made him popular at the Florentine court.

The Madonna del Granduca is believed to have been painted in 1505, shortly after Raphael’s arrival in Florence. The influence of Leonardo da Vinci, whose works the young artist first encountered there, can be seen in the use of sfumato in this work. This technique is one of the four canonical painting modes of the Renaissance (the other three being cangiante, chiaroscuro and unione). Sfumato comes from the Italian “sfumare”, “to tone down” or “to evaporate like smoke”. Leonardo was the most prominent practitioner of sfumato and his Mona Lisa famously demonstrates the technique, with the blurred outlines of the equivocal smile. Leonardo described sfumato as rendering a subject “without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane.” Raphael delicately depicts the gradual shade and light on the Virgin and Christ’s faces, achieving fine contours and producing soft, imperceptible transitions between colours and tones. The plain black background adds to the impression created, working as a foil to the beauty of the depiction of the subjects.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail of the face of Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’, demonstrating the use of sfumato, particularly in the shading around the eyes and the blurred outline of the smile.

Madonna of the Goldfinch

Housed in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, the Madonna del cardellino dates from c. 1505 and is one of Raphael’s most famous Madonnasfrom his Florentine period, created before his move to Rome. Like The Madonna of the Meadow and La Belle Jardinière, Madonna of the Goldfinch is clothed in red, referring to Christ’s eventual Passion and the figures are grouped in a pyramidal structure, guiding the viewer’s eye to Mary at the apex of the triangular structure. The paintings also share a natural background, with a connection to the church through the representation of the colour blue and symbols of books and crosses.

In Madonna of the Goldfinch, Raphael arranges Mary, Christ and the young John the Baptist to fit into a geometrical design. Though the positions of the three bodies are natural, together they form an almost regular triangle. The Madonna is portrayed as young and beautiful, as with Raphael’s various other Madonna paintings. Christ and John are depicted as little more than babies, as John holds a goldfinch in his hand, while Christ reaches out to touch the bird. The goldfinch represents Christ’s crucifixion, due to a legend that its red spot was born at the time of the crucifixion. According to the legend, the bird flew down over the head of Christ and was taking a thorn from His crown, when it was splashed with the drop of His blood. The book in Mary’s hand reads Sedes Sapientiae or “The Throne of Wisdom.” This term is usually applied to images in which Mary is seated upon a throne, with Jesus on her lap, but in this case the inscription implies that the rock on which Mary is sitting is her natural throne.

The painting was a wedding gift from Raphael to his friend Lorenzo Nasi. On November 17 1548, Nasi’s house was destroyed by an earthquake and the painting broke into seventeen pieces. It was immediately taken away to be repaired and was hastily put back together, though the seams remain quite visible. In 2002, George Bonsanti of the Precious Stones organisation gave the task of restoration to Patrizia Riitano. During the six year process that followed, her team worked to remove the years of grime that had degraded the painting’s colour, working to repair the damage done by the earthquake long ago. Before beginning the project, they studied the work as closely as possible, utilising resources such as X-rays, CAT scans, reflective infra-red photography and even lasers. Riitano closely studied the previous ‘quick fix’ layers that had been applied and removed them until the original layers by Raphael were reached. The restoration was completed in 2008 and the painting was put on display in the Uffizi.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

The painting prior to restoration

Madonna of the Meadow

This other famous Madonna from Raphael’s Florentine period was also completed in c. 1506. Once again we are presented with an idyllic image of Mary with St. John the Baptist and the Christ Child in a peaceful green meadow. The pyramid structure is reprised, as the three figures are linked by looks and touching hands. The Virgin Mary is represented wearing a gold-bordered blue mantle, set against a red dress, with her right leg lying along a diagonal plane. As before, the blue of her clothing symbolises the church and the red colour Christ’s death and sacrifice. With eyes fixed on her son, Mary’s head is turned to the left and slightly inclined, while in her hands she holds up Christ, as he leans forward unsteadily to touch the miniature cross gripped by John. The poppy refers to Christ’s Passion, death and Resurrection. The perfect beauty, softly lit from the left, has won the painting great acclaim over the centuries for its ineffable grace and fine handling. The canvas is now housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Portrait of Agnolo Doni

Completed between 1506 and 1507 and housed in the Pitti Palace of Florence, this portrait was commissioned as part of a pair, depicting a recently married merchant and his wife. Agnolo Doni married Maddalena Strozzi in 1503, though Raphael’s portraits were probably executed in 1506, the period in which he studied Leonardo’s Mona Lisa closely, as the figures are presented in a similar way to the picture plane, and their hands, like those of Leonardo’s painting, are placed on top of one another. The low horizon of the landscape background permits a careful assessment of the human figure, providing a uniform light, defining surfaces and volumes. The relationship between landscape and figure presents a clear contrast to Leonardo’s striking settings, suggesting a threatening presence of nature. The portraits present the merchant and his wife as wealthy and confident people, with noble pretensions, as they calmly gaze out at the viewer. The compositions exude an overall sense of serenity that even the close attention to the materials of clothes and jewels is unable to attenuate.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

The companion piece: the portrait of Maddalena Strozzi Doni

The Canigiani Holy Family

Housed in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, this group depiction of the Holy Family was completed in 1508 and portrays Joseph, Mary, the Christ Child and Saint Elizabeth with her son, the infant John the Baptist. The figures are structured in a formal pyramidal composition, which is in contrast to the informal scene, expressed by the glances. All the figures all share eye contact with one other person, as well as other interrelations developed between the individuals. The exacting observation of interpersonal behaviour gives the painting its personal feel, in spite of its somewhat rigid and outward appearance. Raphael synthesises elements drawn from Leonardo and Michelangelo, while adding a decisively Northern landscape and delicate colourist passages dominated by iridescent tones. At the top of the canvas, groups of putti can be seen in two banks of clouds and they also share their own glances, while none of the cherubim figures glance downwards at the Holy Family. The putti were in fact over-painted in the late 18th century but later restored in 1983.

The current name of the artwork derives from the Florentine family that originally owned it before it passed into the Medici collection and then into Germany with the marriage of Anna Maria Lodovica de’ Medici to the Palatine Elector.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

The Deposition

Signed and dated “Raphael Urbinas MDVII (1507)”, this painting is housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome and forms the central panel of a larger altarpiece commissioned by Atalanta Baglioni of Perugia in honour of her slain son, Grifonetto Baglioni. The Baglioni family were the lords of Perugia and surrounding areas, and were also the leading condottiere or leaders of mercenary troops. There was an especially bloody episode in Perugia on the night of July 3, 1500, when Grifonetto Baglioni and several embittered members of the family conspired to murder much of the rest of the Baglioni family as they slept. According to Matarazzo, the chronicler of the family, following the bloodshed, Grifonetto’s mother Atalanta Baglioni refused to give her son refuge in her home and when he returned to the city he was confronted by Gian Paolo Baglioni, the head of the family, who had survived the night by escaping over the rooftops. Atalanta changed her mind and rushed after her son, but arrived only in time to see him being killed by Gian Paolo and his men. Several years later, Atalanta commissioned Raphael to paint an altarpiece to commemorate Grifonetto in the family chapel in San Francesco al Prato.

The artist spent two years working on the commission, developing his design through two phases and numerous preparatory drawings. It was to be the last of several major commissions by Raphael for Perugia, the home city of his master Perugino. He had already painted for the same church the Oddi Altarpiece (now in the Vatican) for the Baglioni’s great rival family and several other large works. The new commission marked an important stage in his development as an artist and the formation of his mature style.

The panel remained in its location until in 1608 it was forcibly removed by a gang working for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V. In order to pacify the city of Perugia, the Pope commissioned two copies of the painting from Giovanni Lanfranco and the Cavaliere d’Arpino and the copy by Arpino still resides in Perugia. Though confiscated by the French in 1797 and exhibited in Paris in the Louvre, then renamed the Napoleon Museum, it was returned to the Galleria Borghese in 1815, except for the predella which was taken to the Vatican Museums.

The scene depicted is in fact neither the formal understanding of the Deposition (the removal of Christ from the Cross) nor the Entombment, but placed somewhere between both events. On the right is Mount Calvary, the location of the Crucifixion and Deposition, and on the left is the cave where the Entombment will take place. Two men, lacking halos, use a piece of linen to carry the dead Christ and it seems as if all the participants in the carrying of the body are in suspended animation. The two carriers and Christ form strong diagonals in the shape of a V. The younger man on the right holding Christ is believed to be a representation of Atalanta’s son, Grifonetto. Besides the two bearers, St. John and Nicodemus stand behind and to the left, while Mary Magdalene holds the hand of Christ. The posture of the legs of Nicodemus appear awkwardly and may hint at the work of apprentices in Raphael’s studio.

On the far right, in the other figural group slightly behind the main group, are the three Marys supporting the Virgin Mary, who has fainted due to her grief. Unlike the colour tones used during his Florentine years, Raphael balances his use of strong reds, blues, yellows and greens, creating a subtle contrast in his flesh tones, as demonstrated by Mary Magdalene’s hand holding the dead Christ’s hand. Christ’s mother is presented with extreme torsion and sharply cut drapery, known as a figura serpentinata. Though seen in other famous works, her positioning seems to have been directly inspired by the example of Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, completed only a few years earlier.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Study in the Louvre

Faith, one of the predella panels

Michelangelo’s ‘Doni Tondo’, 1507

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Depicting Saint Catherine of Alexandria, leaning on the wheel of her martyrdom, this 1507 canvas is now housed in London’s National Gallery. It was painted towards the end of Raphael’s Florentine period and is considered to be a work of the artist’s transitional phase. The representation of religious passion is reminiscent of Pietro Perugino’s female figures, though the graceful contrapposto of Catherine’s pose is typical of the influence of Leonardo’s style. Contrapposto or ‘counterpose’ is an artistic term used in the visual arts to describe a person standing with most of their weight on one foot, with shoulders and arms twisting off-axis from the hips and legs, giving the figure a more dynamic or alternatively relaxed appearance. Raphael’s Saint Catherine is believed to be an echo of Leonardo’s lost painting Leda and the Swan, which now survives in several copies by other Renaissance artists.

The Saint’s left arm leans on the wheel (the spikes have been reduced to rounded shapes in order to tone down the element of cruelty) and her right hand is pressed to her breast while she gazes up at a sky flooded with light. The composition is as rich in harmonious movement as the colouration is full and varied. The landscape is painted with particular care. Its light shading indicates the influence of Leonardo, though the jagged mountains that often characterise Leonardo’s landscapes are absent. The delicate modelling of the Saint and the slight torsion of her body as she leans on the wheel fully express the balanced character of Raphael’s art. The panel clearly shows the intense formal research that underlies the painting.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

‘Leda and the Swan’ a copy by Giovanni Francesco Melzi, after the lost painting by Leonardo, 1508-1515 — the use of contrapposto influenced Raphael’s depiction of St. Catherine

The School of Athens

One of the most celebrated frescoes of the Italian Renaissance, The School of Athens was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael’s commission to decorate the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. The Stanza della Segnatura was the first of the rooms to be decorated and Raphael chose to represent Philosophy with a depiction of Plato’s famous Academy. The School of Athens is one of a group of four main frescoes on the walls of the Stanza, each depicting one distinct branch of knowledge. The fresco was probably the second painting to be finished there, after La Disputa (Theology) on the opposite wall and before the Parnassus (Literature). The School of Athens has long been regarded by many as Raphael’s masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the High Renaissance.

In the fresco, he portrays many famous Greek philosophers, with Plato and Aristotle at the centre, but, as he made few designations outside possible likenesses, with no contemporary documents explaining the painting, the identification of philosophers is problematic. Plato is depicted on the left and Aristotle, his student, on the right. Both figures hold modern bound copies of their books in their left hands, while gesturing with their right. Plato holds his Timaeus, Aristotle his Nicomachean Ethics. Plato is depicted as old, grey and bare-foot, bearing the features of the artist Leonardo. Aristotle stands slightly ahead of him and is younger and handsome, dressed with gold and wearing shoes, while the youth about them seem to look his way. In addition, the two central figures gesture along different dimensions: Plato vertically, upward along the picture-plane, into the beautiful vault above; Aristotle on the horizontal plane at right-angles to the picture-plane (hence in strong foreshortening), initiating a powerful flow of space toward the viewers. Their gestures indicate the central aspects of their philosophies, for Plato, his Theory of Forms, and for Aristotle, his empiricist views, with an emphasis on concrete particulars.

The building is represented in the shape of a Greek cross, which art historians believe was intended to express harmony between pagan philosophy and Christian theology. The architecture was inspired by the work of Bramante, who, according to Vasari, helped Raphael with the fresco. There are two sculptures in the background: one on the left of Apollo, the god of light, archery and music, holding a lyre, while the sculpture on the right is Athena, goddess of wisdom, in her Roman guise as Minerva. The main arch, above the characters, reveals a meander (also known as a Greek fret or Greek key design), a design using continuous lines that repeat in a “series of rectangular bends” which originated on pottery of the Greek Geometric period and then become widely used in ancient Greek architectural friezes.

Detail

Detail: the central figures, Plato (left) and Aristotle (right)

Detail

Detail: Michelangelo depicted as Heraclitus

Detail

Detail

Detail (self-portrait left)

The fresco in situ

The Alba Madonna

This beautiful painting was commissioned by Paolo Giovio, Raphael’s first biographer, who planned to send it to the church of the Olivetani in Nocera dei Pagani and the piece was completed by 1510. In the eighteenth century, the painting belonged to the Spanish House of Alba, whose name it bears. In 1836 it was acquired by Nicholas I of Russia, who made the painting one of the highlights of the Imperial Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. A century later the Soviet Government clandestinely sold it to Andrew W. Mellon, who donated his collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it resides today.

The Alba Madonna depicts the Madonna, Christ and John the Baptist in a typical Italian countryside. Mary is dressed in an antique costume of turban, sandals and flowing robes. The serene, bucolic atmosphere of Raphael’s tondo belies its emotional meaning. John the Baptist holds up a cross to Christ, which the infant grasps, while all three figures stare at the symbol of the Passion. The older boy looks at Jesus full of understanding, visibly saddened, while the Virgin places her hand on his shoulder, as if to comfort him.

During its time in the Hermitage, the painting would be transferred from a circular panel to a square canvas. Through analysis of the painting, it was determined that the original panel was severely split down the centre and on the right side. The canvas pattern is visible on the surface and the landscape on the far right was damaged in the transferring process. During World War II a group of over 100 pieces of art belonging to the National Gallery of Art, including the Alba Madonna, were transported by train to Asheville, NC, where they would be stored in the unfinished music room of Biltmore House. Transported with the utmost secrecy, heavy steel doors were installed and bars were put in the windows of the barren music room. In 1944 after it became clear that the war would soon be over, the paintings were returned to the National Gallery of Art.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

The Parnassus

The fresco of The Parnassus in the Stanze di Raffaello in the Vatican was painted in c. 1510 at the commission of Pope Julius II and was probably the third completed wall of the Stanza della segnatura to be painted, in 1511, after La disputa and The School of Athens, occupying the other walls of the room. The Parnassus represents poetry, presenting the mythological Mount Parnassus, where according to legend, Apollo dwells, placed in the centre of the fresco, playing a contemporary violin rather than a classical lyre, surrounded by the nine muses, nine poets from antiquity and nine contemporary poets.

For depicting the face of Homer (in a dark blue robe to the left of centre), Raphael used the face of Laocoön, which had only been recently excavated in 1506, from the celebrated sculpture Laocoön and His Sons, using the expression of the main figure’s intense pain to represent the classical poet’s blindness. Several female figures in the fresco have been said to be inspired by Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam and other Sistine ceiling paintings, with muscular body frames that are unusual for Raphael’s oeuvre. Sappho is the only female poet portrayed in the scene, presumably name so that she is not confused with a muse; interestingly, she is a late addition that does not appear in the print by Marcantonio Raimondi that records a drawing for the fresco.

Detail: Dante Alighieri, Homer, Virgil and Statius

Detail: Thalia, Clio, Euterpe, Calliope and Apollo

Detail

Detail

Laocoön and his sons, also known as the Laocoön Group. Marble, copy after a Hellenistic original from c. 200 BC. Found in the Baths of Trajan, 1506 — the head of Laocoön was used by Raphael as a model for Homer’s head in ‘The Parnassus’ fresco.

Portrait of Pope Julius II

Completed between 1511 and 1512, this striking portrait of Pope Julius II would have a lasting influence on subsequent papal portraiture. The canvas was specially hung at the pillars of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, on the main route from the north into Rome, on feast and high holy days. Giorgio Vasari, writing long after Julius’ death, said that “it was so lifelike and true it frightened everyone who saw it, as if it were the living man himself”. The portrait now exists in several versions and copies and for many years a version of the painting, now housed in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, was believed to be the original version, though in much more recent times opinion shifted and it is now generally agreed that London’s National Gallery version is the original portrait.