After he had done these works, Raphael had to leave Florence and go to Urbino as both his father Giovanni and his mother had died, and so all the family affairs were in a muddle. And while he was living in Urbino, for Guidobaldo da Montefeltro (then commander of the Florentine troops) he painted two small but very beautiful Madonnas (in his second style), which are today in the possession of Guidobaldo, the most illustrious duke of Urbino. For the same patron he also executed a picture of Christ praying in the Garden with the three apostles sleeping some distance away. This painting is so finely finished that it is like an exquisite miniature. For a long time it was owned by Francesco Maria, duke of Urbino, and then it was presented by the most illustrious Signora Leonora, his consort, to the Venetians Don Paolo Giustiniano and Don Pietro Quirini, hermits at the holy hermitage of Camaldoli. In her honour they afterwards placed it (as being a relic and a rare work of art, in a word as being by Raphael of Urbino) in the room of the father superior of the hermitage, where it is treated with the reverence it deserves.
After he had executed this work and put his affairs in order, Raphael went back to Perugia, where in the church of the Servites, for the chapel of the Ansidei, he painted a panel picture of Our Lady, St John the Baptist, and St Nicholas; and for the Lady Chapel in San Severo (a small monastery of the Order of Camaldoli) he did a fresco painting of Christ in Glory and a God-the-Father with angels around him and six seated figures of saints: St Benedict, St Romuald, St Lawrence, St Jerome, St Maurus, and St Placid, three on each side. On this work, which was at that time regarded as an extremely beautiful example of fresco, Raphael signed his name in big, very legible characters. In the same city he was also commissioned by the nuns of St Anthony of Padua to paint a panel picture of Our Lady with Jesus Christ sitting on her lap and (as pleased those simple, holy women) fully clothed, and with St Peter, St Paul, St Cecilia, and St Catherine on either side of the Madonna. Raphael depicted the two saintly virgins with the most beautiful and graceful expressions and the most wonderfully varied head-dresses anywhere to be seen; and this was an unusual thing in those days. In a lunette over the panel he painted a very fine God-the-Father and in the predella of the altar he did three scenes with little figures: Christ praying in the Garden, carrying the cross (and in this scene the gestures of the soldiers dragging him along are beautifully expressed) and lying dead in the lap of his mother. This is certainly a marvellous and devout work of art, held in great honour by those nuns and highly admired by all painters. I must record that it was recognized, after Raphael had been in Florence, that influenced by the many works he saw painted by the great masters he changed and improved his style of painting so much that it had nothing to do with his earlier manner; in fact, the two styles seemed to be the work of two different artists, one of whom was more proficient than the other.
Before Raphael left Perugia, Madonna Atalanta Baglioni begged him to consent to paint a panel picture for her chapel in the church of San Francesco; however, as he could not do it then he promised that after returning from Florence (where he had to go to see to his affairs) he would not disappoint her. And so after he had arrived in Florence, where he devoted himself to intense study of the art of painting, he prepared the cartoon, with the intention, which he fulfilled, of going back to execute the picture as soon as he had the chance.
While Raphael was living in Florence, Agnolo Doni (who was very cautious with his money in other things, but spent it readily, although still as economically as possible, on works of painting and sculpture, which gave him immense pleasure) commissioned Raphael to paint the portraits of himself and his wife; and these, in Raphael’s new style, may be seen in the possession of his son Giovanbattista, in the beautiful and spacious house that Agnolo built on the Corso de’ Tintori in Florence, near the Canto degli Alberti.
For Domenico Canigiano, Raphael painted a picture of Our Lady, with the Infant Jesus welcoming a little St John brought to him by St Elizabeth who, as she holds him forward, is gazing with a most animated expression at St Joseph, who stands there with both hands resting on a staff and inclines his head towards her, as if praising the greatness of God and marvelling that at her age she should have such a young child. All the figures are shown wondering at the feeling and reverence with which, despite their tender years, the two cousins are caressing each other; not to mention that every stroke of colour made by the brush in the heads, hands, and feet appears to be living flesh rather than mere paint applied by the hand of an artist. Today this magnificent picture belongs to Domenico Canigiano’s heirs, who treasure it with the respect due to a work by Raphael of Urbino.
This great painter studied the old paintings of Masaccio in the city of Florence; and what he saw in the works of Leonardo and Michelangelo inspired him to study even more intensely, so that there followed a striking improvement in his style and skill. Raphael was especially fond of Fra Bartolommeo of San Marco, who was among his circle of friends in Florence and whose use of colours he greatly admired and tried hard to imitate. In return, Raphael taught this good priest the principles of perspective, of which the friar had formerly been ignorant.
However, when their friendship was at its height Raphael was recalled to Perugia, where he first of all finished the painting for Madonna Atalanta Baglioni, the cartoon for which, as I said earlier, he had drawn while in Florence. In this inspired painting there is a dead Christ being carried to the sepulchre, executed with such loving care and so fresh that it appears to have been only just finished. In composing this work Raphael imagined to himself the grief as they lay him to rest felt by the nearest and dearest relations of some much loved person, who had sustained the happiness, dignity and well-being of a whole family. One sees the swooning figure of Our Lady and the graceful heads of other weeping figures, notably St John who, with his hands clasped, drops his head in a way that would move the hardest heart to pity. The diligence, the skill, the devotion, and the grace expressed in this work are really marvellous, and everyone who sees it is amazed at the attitudes of its figures, the beauty of the draperies and, in brief, the perfection of its every detail.
After he had finished this work, Raphael went back to Florence where the Dei, a Florentine family, commissioned him to paint an altarpiece for their chapel in Santo Spirito. He almost completed the sketch for this work, but in the meantime he did a painting which was subsequently sent to Siena. (This picture remained with Domenico Ghirlandaio, so that he could finish a piece of blue drapery, when Raphael left Florence.) At that time Bramante of Urbino, who was working for Julius II, because he was distantly related to Raphael and came from the same part of the world wrote to him saying that he had persuaded the Pope to build some new apartments where Raphael would have the chance to show what he could do.
Raphael found the proposal agreeable and so he left for Rome, abandoning his work in Florence and leaving the panel for the Dei family in the unfinished condition in which Baldassare later, after Raphael’s death, had it placed in the parish church of his native town. When he arrived in Rome Raphael found several artists at work decorating the rooms in the Vatican, some of which were already finished. Piero della Francesca had completed a scene in one room, Luca da Cortona had nearly finished a wall in another, and Don Pietro della Gatta, abbot of San Clemente, had started several paintings. Moreover, Bramantino of Milan had executed a number of figures, mostly portraits from life, which were regarded as being extremely beautiful. However, after he had been welcomed very affectionately by Pope Julius, Raphael started to paint in the Stanza della Segnatura a fresco showing the theologians reconciling Philosophy and Astrology with Theology, in which there are portraits of all the sages of the world shown disputing among themselves in various ways.1 Standing apart are some astrologers who have drawn various kinds of figures and characters relating to geomancy and astrology on some little tablets which, by the hands of some very beautiful angels, they are sending to the evangelists to expound. Among them is Diogenes with his cup, lying deep in thought on the steps: thi
s is a finely conceived figure which deserves high praise for its beauty and the appropriate negligence of its clothing. There, also, are Aristotle and Plato, one holding the Timaeus, the other with the Ethics; and round them in a circle is a great school of philosophers. The astrologers and geometers are using compasses to draw innumerable figures and characters on their tablets; and it is hardly possible to describe how splendid they look. Among them is a handsomely built young man who is inclining his head and throwing out his arms in admiration: this is a portrait of Duke Federigo II of Mantua, who was in Rome at that time. Similarly, there is a figure stooping down and holding in its hand a pair of compasses with which it is making a circle on one of the tablets; and this, they say, is the architect Bramante, portrayed so realistically that he seems to be alive. Beside a figure with its back turned, holding a globe of the heavens, is a portrait of Zoroaster, and next to him is Raphael, the artist himself, in a self-portrait drawn with the help of a mirror. He is shown with a youthful head, an air of great modesty, and a gracious and attractive manner, and he is wearing a black cap. Also defying description are the beauty and goodness shown in the heads and figures of the evangelists, in whose faces Raphael depicted a very lifelike air of intentness and concentration, notably in those who are writing. Thus behind St Matthew, who is copying into a book the characters from the inscribed tablets held out to him by an angel, is an old man who had put a sheaf of papers on his knee and is now copying everything that St Matthew is writing; as he concentrates in this awkward position he seems to be twisting his jaws and his head up and down with the strokes of his pen. As well as the many fine details with which Raphael expressed his ideas, one must remark the composition of the entire scene; for it is convincingly arranged with such order and proportion that by the genius shown in this work Raphael clearly demonstrated his determination to be the undisputed master among all those using the brush. He also embellished the picture with a view in perspective and with a number of figures, executed in such a soft and delicate style that Pope Julius was persuaded to demolish all the scenes painted by the other artists, both the new and the old, so that Raphael alone might be honoured before all those who had laboured there previously.
The painting by Giovanni Antonio Sodoma of Vercelli, which was above Raphael’s work, was to be destroyed on the Pope’s orders, but Raphael decided to make use of its compartments and arabesques. There were also some medallions, four in number, and in each of these Raphael painted a figure symbolizing the scenes beneath. Each figure was on the same side as the story it represented. For the first scene, where Raphael had depicted Philosophy, Astrology, Geometry, and Poetry making their peace with Theology, there is a woman representing Knowledge, seated on a throne supported on either side by a figure of the goddess Cybele shown wearing the many breasts with which the ancients used to depict Diana Polymastes. Her dress is composed of four colours representing the various elements: from the head down the colour of fire; below the girdle the colour of air; from her sex to her knees the colour of earth, and from there to the feet the colour of water. Shown with her are several very beautiful putti.
In another tondo towards the window overlooking the Belvedere Raphael depicted Poetry, in the person of Polyhymnia crowned with laurel; with her legs crossed, she is holding an archaic musical instrument in one hand and a book in the other. Her expression and posture are of supernatural beauty, and she stands with her eyes raised up to heaven, accompanied by two vivacious and spirited putti who with her and the other figures form a group of great beauty and variety. And also on this side, over the window, he later painted Mount Parnassus.
In another of the medallions, over the scene where the Doctors of the Church are deciding the form of the Mass, Raphael depicted Theology surrounded by books and other appropriate objects and also accompanied by many beautiful putti. And above the other window overlooking the courtyard, in the fourth medallion, he depicted Justice with her scales and uplifted sword and with the same putti as accompany the other figures. The effect is extremely beautiful, for, as I shall describe in the appropriate place, on the wall below Raphael painted the giving of the civil and canon law.
Similarly, on the same ceiling in the angles of the pendentives he did four scenes meticulously drawn and coloured, but with figures of no great size. Near the picture of Theology, in a delicately executed scene he depicted Adam sinning by eating the apple. In the second scene, near the Astrology, he showed the figure of Astrology setting the fixed stars and the planets in their places. Then, near Mount Parnassus, he showed Marsyas bound to a tree and flayed at the command of Apollo. And near the scene showing the promulgation of the decretals he depicted the Judgement of Solomon, who is proposing that the child be cut in two. The four scenes are full of expression and feeling, executed with excellent draughtsmanship and in charming and graceful colours.
But now, having finished with the vaulting, or rather the ceiling of the apartment, it remains for me to describe wall by wall what Raphael painted below.
Surrounding the mountain on the wall towards the Belvedere, where he showed Mount Parnassus and the fountain of Helicon, Raphael depicted a laurel wood of deep shadows in whose verdure one can almost see the leaves trembling before the gentle zephyrs, while in the air a host of naked cupids, with charming features and expressions, are gathering branches of laurel to make garlands to scatter here and there about the mountain. The whole scene seems to be imbued with the supernatural, so beautiful are the figures and so noble is the composition. No one can study it carefully without being amazed at the way in which a human intelligence, through the imperfect medium of colours, brought painted objects to life. Thus, extremely lifelike are the poets dispersed about the mountain, some standing, some seated, some writing, others discoursing and yet others singing and talking together, in groups of four or six, as Raphael chose to arrange them. Portrayed from life are all the most celebrated poets of modern and ancient times, including several still alive in Raphael’s time. Some were copied from statues or medals, many others from old paintings, or if still living directly from life by Raphael himself. Starting from one side, we can see Ovid, Virgil, Ennius, Tibullus, Catullus, Propertius, and the blind Homer, who with his head raised up is reciting verses which are being written down by a boy sitting at his feet. Then there are the nine Muses in one group, together with Apollo; and these figures are so incredibly beautiful that they seem to breathe with grace and life. Then again, we see the learned Sappho and the inspired Dante, the gracious Petrarch and the amorous Boccaccio, all vivaciously depicted; there also is Tebaldi with innumerable other modern poets. And this scene was executed with wonderful grace and diligence.
On another wall Raphael painted a heaven with Christ and Our Lady, St John the Baptist, the apostles, and the evangelists and martyrs, all enthroned above the clouds, with God-the-Father sending down the Holy Ghost, notably to a great crowd of saints who are settling the form of the Mass and disputing on the nature of the Host which lies on the altar. Among the figures are the four Doctors of the Church who are surrounded by innumerable saints including Dominic, Francis, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventura, Scotus, Nicholas of Lyra, Dante, Fra Girolamo Savonarola of Ferrara, and all the Christian theologians, great numbers of whom are portrayed from life. Hovering in the air are four children holding open the four gospels. And no painter could create figures more graceful or more perfect than these. The saints seated in a circle in the air are coloured so beautifully as to appear alive, and are shown receding and foreshortened in such a way as to seem in relief. Moreover, they wear many different kinds of vestments, the draperies are depicted with the most beautiful folds, and the expressions of the figures are truly celestial. In the head of Christ, for example, can be seen all the divine mercy and holiness that it is possible for painting to convey to mortal men. Raphael, indeed, was endowed by nature with the ability to paint heads with wonderfully sweet and gracious expressions. This is shown again by the figure of Our Lady who, with her hands on her breast, contemp
lates her son and clearly cannot refuse any favour asked of her. Moreover, this work powerfully demonstrated Raphael’s fine sense of decorum; for he showed old age in the expressions of the holy patriarchs, simplicity in the apostles and faith in the martyrs. He displayed even more skill and talent in the way he depicted the Doctors of the Church, who are standing here and there, occupied in disputation, in groups of six or three or two. Their expressions reveal their intellectual curiosity and their anxiety to establish the truth of what is in question: they are gesticulating with their hands, making various movements with their bodies, inclining their ears to listen, knitting their brows and expressing astonishment in many different ways, all of which are truly varied and appropriate. Standing apart are the four Doctors of the Church who, enlightened by the Holy Ghost, are unravelling and expounding by means of the holy scriptures all the problems of the gospels, which are held in the hands of the boys hovering in the air.
Lives of the Artists Page 31