Delphi Complete Works of Raphael (Illustrated)

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

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© Delphi Classics 2015

Version 1

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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

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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.

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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.

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‘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.

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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.

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‘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.

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‘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.

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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 Madonnas from 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