In fact, whereas pictures by others may be called simply pictures, those painted by Raphael are truth itself: for in his figures the flesh seems to be moving, they breathe, their pulses beat, and they are utterly true to life. Thus, having already won great praise Raphael became even more renowned, and many Latin verses were composed in his honour. I shall quote just two lines, to avoid making this Life even longer than it is:
Pingant sola alii referantque coloribus ora;
Caeciliae os Raphael atque anintum explicuit. 1
After the St Cecilia, Raphael painted a small picture with little figures, which is also to be found in Bologna in the house of Count Vincenzio Ercolano. This contained the figure of Christ in Glory, in the manner of Jove, surrounded by the four evangelists as they are described by Ezekiel: one in the form of a man, the other a lion, the third an eagle, and the fourth an ox. Below there is a miniature landscape, and the whole picture in its small proportions is as rare and beautiful as Raphael’s other works in their greatness.
Raphael sent to the counts of Canossa in Verona a large picture of comparable excellence which contained a very beautiful Nativity with a daybreak that is regarded very highly, as is the figure of St Anne and, indeed, the whole work, which can be best praised merely by saying that it is by Raphael. So those noblemen treat it with great reverence, and despite the vast sums offered them by many princes they have always refused to part with it. Raphael also painted a portrait of Bindo Altoviti as a young man, and he presented Bindo with a painting that is regarded as an astonishing work.
Another fine painting, of the Madonna, was sent by Raphael to Florence. Today it is in Duke Cosimo’s palace, in the chapel of the new apartments which were built and decorated by me, where it serves as an altarpiece. This picture contains a very old St Anne, seated and holding out to Our Lady her naked son whose body is so beautiful and whose face is so lovely that his smile lightens the heart of anyone who looks at him. And in the figure of Our Lady herself Raphael showed all the beauty that belongs to an image of the Virgin Mary: modesty in her eyes, honour in the brow, grace in the nose, and virtue in the mouth; not to mention that Our Lady’s garment reflects her infinite simplicity and purity. I do not believe any other painting of this kind could possibly be better. Moreover, the picture contains a nude St John, seated, and a female saint who is also beautifully depicted. For background there is a building in which Raphael painted a linen-covered window to give light to the room where he placed the figures.
While in Rome, Raphael painted a large picture in which he portrayed Pope Leo, Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, and Cardinal de’ Rossi. In this work the figures appear to be truly in the round rather than painted. One can see the pile of the velvet, with the Pope’s damask robes rustling and shining, the soft and natural fur of the linings, and the gold and silk imitated so skilfully that they seem to be real gold and silk rather than paint. Then there is an illuminated book of parchment which is utterly realistic and an inexpressibly beautiful little bell of wrought silver. Among the other details there is also, on the Pope’s throne, a ball of burnished gold which is so bright that like a mirror it reflects the light from the windows, the Pope’s shoulders, and the walls around the room. Indeed, everything in this picture is executed so diligently that no other painter could ever possibly surpass it. The Pope was moved to reward him very generously; and today, it may be seen in Florence, in the duke’s wardrobe.
Raphael also executed portraits of Duke Lorenzo and Duke Giuliano, which are coloured with incomparable grace; and these perfect works now belong to the heirs of Ottaviano de’ Medici and are also in Florence.
Raphael won greater rewards and glory than ever before, and he now decided that he should leave a memorial of him self. So in the Borgo Nuovo at Rome he built a palace with columns made of cast stucco under Bramante’s direction. This and his other work spread his fame as far as France and Flanders, and he influenced the work of Albrecht Dürer, the marvellous German painter and master of fine copper engravings, who sent his own self-portrait. This was a head executed in gouache on transparent cambric, so that the design appeared the same on both sides; he used water-colours for the ground and colours, and the white of the cloth to provide the lights. Raphael considered this a wonderful work, and in return he sent several of his own drawings which Dürer kept and treasured. (The head used to be among the belongings of Giulio Romano, Raphael’s heir, in Mantua.) Meanwhile, after he had seen Albrecht Dürer’s method of engraving, Raphael became anxious to discover what could be done for his own work with this craft, and so he caused Marcantonio of Bologna to undertake a very thorough study. Marcantonio became so proficient that Raphael commissioned him to make prints of his first works, namely, the drawing of the Holy Innocents, a Last Supper, the Neptune, and a St Cecilia being boiled alive in oil. Then Marcantonio made for him a series of engravings which he afterwards gave to Bavcrio, his boy-servant, who looked after one of his mistresses. Raphael made a beautifully lifelike portrait of this woman (whom he loved until he died) which is now in Florence in the possession of the distinguished Florentine merchant, Matteo Botti, the friend and intimate of all talented men and especially of painters. Matteo cherishes this portrait because of his love of art and above all his devotion to Raphael himself. His brother Simone Botti is no less fond of painting and painters; and as well as being regarded as one of the finest patrons of art he is especially esteemed by me as the best and closest friend I have ever known, not to mention his sound artistic knowledge and judgement. But to return to the subject of engravings: the favour Raphael showed to Baverio so encouraged Marco of Ravenna and countless others that from being rarely seen copper engravings became as common as they are today. And then Ugo da Carpi, an artist whose head was full of splendid and ingenious ideas and inventions, discovered the art of engraving on wood in three pieces for showing the half-tints, the lights, and the shadows, and giving the effect of shaded drawings. This was certainly a fine and ingenious discovery and today there are an abundance of these prints to be seen, as I shall describe more fully in the Life of Marcantonio of Bologna.
For the monastery of the monks of Monte Oliveto at Palermo, called Santa Maria dello Spasmo, Raphael then made a panel picture showing Christ carrying the cross. This is acknowledged as a marvellous work of art. It shows the brutal profanity of those who are about to crucify Our Lord as they lead him to death on Calvary, and the Passion of Christ, agonized by the approach of death, as after he has fallen to the ground under the weight of the cross, bathed in sweat and blood, he turns towards the Marys who are weeping bitterly. Raphael depicted also the figure of Veronica as with a gesture of tender love she extends her arm and offers him a cloth; not to mention that the painting is full of armed men on horseback and on foot, who in various most beautiful attitudes are pouring forth from the gate of Jerusalem with the standards of justice in their hands.
Before the finished picture was delivered it nearly came to grief because (the story goes) when it was being taken by sea to Palermo a violent tempest sprang up and drove the ship on to a rock. The vessel was smashed to pieces and its crew and cargo were lost, save for the altarpiece which, securely packed in its case, was washed by the sea on to the beach at Genoa. There it was fished out of the water on to dry land, where immediately it was seen to be a miraculous work and put in a safe place. It had remained undamaged, without any hurt or blemish, since even the fury of the wind and waves had respected its beauty. After the news of what had happened had spread abroad, the monks took steps to recover the painting; and after it had been secured for them, through the good offices of the Pope, they generously rewarded those who had salvaged it. It was put on ship once more and taken to Sicily, where they set it up in Palermo; and in that part of the world it enjoys more fame and reputation than Mount Etna itself.
While Raphael was doing these paintings (having to serve great and distinguished persons and also, because of his own needs, being unable to say no) he carried on, despite everything else, with the series of p
ictures that he had started in the papal apartments and halls. He kept in his service various assistants who continued the work from his designs while he supervised everything and gave this great project all the help he could. And after no long time he threw open the apartment of the Borgia Tower in which he had painted a scene on every wall, two above the windows and two others on the sides.
One of the scenes showed the burning of the Borgo Vecchio at Rome, when the fire was finally extinguished by the benediction of St Leo IV, given from the loggia of the Vatican. Various perils are represented in this work. In one part we see a number of women whose hair and clothes are blown about by the terrible fury of the wind as carrying vessels full of water on their heads and in their hands they hurry to put out the fire. There are others bewildered and blinded by the smoke as they try to throw water on the flames. On the other side is depicted an infirm old man, distraught by his weakness and the flames of the fire, being carried (as Virgil describes Anchises being carried by Aeneas) by a young man whose face expresses his strength and courage and whose body shows the strain of carrying the figure slumped on his back. He is followed by a dishevelled, bare-footed old woman fleeing from the fire, and going before them is a naked child. On the top of some ruins is another naked figure, a woman wholly distracted, who is throwing her child to one of her family who has escaped from the flames and is standing on tiptoe in the street, arms outstretched to receive the infant which is still in swaddling clothes. The anxiety of the woman to save the child shows in her face no less clearly than her panic as the raging fire draws near, just as in the face of the man receiving the child can be seen an expression of tenderness struggling with the fear of death. Again, it is almost impossible to describe in words the imaginative skill with which this great and ingenious artist depicted a mother bare-footed and dishevelled, who has thrust her children in front of her and, clutching a part of her clothing in her hands, is beating them to make them hurry away from the falling masonry and the devouring flames. There are also some women kneeling before the Pope and begging his holiness to stay the fire.
In the other scene, which also features St Leo, Raphael has depicted the port of Ostia attacked by an armada of the Turks who have come to take the Pope captive. We see the Christians engaging the enemy at sea. Meanwhile, a host of prisoners are already being taken back to the harbour; they are coming out of a boat, dragged by splendid-looking soldiers striking bold attitudes, and in their diverse galley-slave costumes they are being taken before St Leo, who is represented by a portrait of Pope Leo X, shown in his pontifical robes between Cardinal Santa Maria in Portico (namely, Bernardo Dovizi of Bibbiena) and Cardinal Giulio de’Medici (subsequently Pope Clement). It is impossible to convey adequately the brilliant ideas that Raphael expressed in the appearance of the prisoners, who silently convey the emotions of grief, fear, and death.
There are two other scenes: one shows Pope Leo X consecrating the Most Christian King, Francis I of France, singing Mass in his pontifical robes, and blessing the holy oils and the royal crown. Raphael included a throng of cardinals and bishops assisting in their vestments as well as the portraits of a number of ambassadors and other observers, some of whom are dressed in the contemporary French fashion.
In the other scene Raphael depicted the coronation of Francis I, with portraits of the Pope and Francis, the one wearing his pontifical robes and the other in armour. He also showed all the cardinals, bishops, chamberlains, squires, and grooms of the chamber, robed and seated in the accustomed way, according to their rank. These are all portraits from life, including, for example, Giannozzo Pandolfini, bishop of Troyes, who was a close friend of Raphael’s, and many other distinguished men of that time. Near the king there is a boy kneeling and holding the royal crown; and this is a portrait of Ippolito de’Medici, who later became a cardinal and vice-chancellor. This highly esteemed man was a patron of all the arts, and I am especially indebted to his memory since to him I owe, such as it was, the start of my own career. As for Raphael, I cannot possibly describe all the finer points of his work, whose very silence indeed is eloquent enough. Beneath the scenes I described are figures of the defenders and benefactors of the Church each surrounded by a different border and executed with great thought and feeling and subtlety and with a harmony of colours that could not be improved on. As the ceiling of this apartment had been painted by Pietro Perugino, Raphael left it untouched as a tribute to his master’s memory and because of the devotion he felt towards the man who had set him on the path of greatness.
Such was Raphael’s stature that he had draughtsmen working for him throughout all Italy, at Pozzuolo and even in Greece; and he was always looking for good designs which he could use in his work. He now decorated a hall in which there were some tabernacles containing clay figures of the apostles and other saints; here he had his pupil Giovanni da Udine (who is unrivalled as a painter of animals) depict all the animals owned by Pope Leo, namely the chameleon, the civet cats, the apes, the parrots, the lions, the elephants, and other even more exotic beasts.
Besides adorning the palace with many grotesques and variegated pavements, Raphael also made designs for the papal staircases and the loggias which Bramante had started but left unfinished because of his death. Their construction was continued with the new design and plan produced by Raphael, who made a wooden model which was more ornate and stylistically purer than Bramante’s work. The Pope was anxious to show the world further examples of his magnificence and generosity, and so he asked Raphael to make the designs for the stucco ornaments and the scenes that were to be painted there, and also for the various compartments. Raphael put Giovanni da Udine in charge of the stuccoes and the grotesques, and Giuliano Romano (although he worked there only a little) in charge of the figures. He also employed Giovanni Francesco, Bologna, Perin del Vaga, Pellegrino da Modena, Vincenzio da San Gimignano, Polidoro da Caravaggio, and many other painters who supplied various of the scenes and figures and other details that were wanted. Raphael went to such pains to finish this work perfectly that he even sent to Florence for pavements by Luca della Robbia. And certainly it is difficult to imagine anything finer than the paintings, the stucco ornaments, the general architecture, or the various inventions. This work was so beautiful that Raphael was then put in charge of all the works of painting and architecture being done in the Vatican.
As an example of Raphael’s generous nature, it is said that for the convenience of some of his friends he asked the masons not to build solid, blank walls but to leave various openings and spaces above the old rooms in the basement where they could store their casks, jars, and wood. However, this weakened the base of the walls and subsequently when cracks started to appear the openings had to be filled in. For all the charming and beautifully executed inlays of the doors and wainscots Raphael employed Giovanni Barile.
Raphael also provided architectural drawings for the Pope’s Villa Madama and for several houses in the Borgo, notably for the very fine palace belonging to Giovanni Battista dall’ Aquila. He designed another palace for the bishop of Troyes, who had it built in Florence in the Via di San Gallo.
For the Black Friars of San Sisto in Piacenza he painted for their high altar a panel showing the Madonna with St Sixtus and St Barbara, a rare and outstanding work.
Raphael also painted many pictures to be sent to France, notably, for the king, a painting of St Michael fighting the devil. In this remarkable picture, to represent the centre of the earth he depicted a rock scorched by fire with flames and sulphur pouring from its fissures. And in the figure of Lucifer, whose burned members are coloured with various flesh-tints, he reveals all the shades of anger that the devil’s swollen and venomous pride directs against the God who has cast him down, robbed him of any peaceful dominion, and condemned his to everlasting punishment. In contrast, St Michael, dressed in armour of iron and gold, although depicted as a supernatural being, conveys terrifying audacity and force as he stands erect, having hurled Lucifer down from heaven with his spear
. This painting more than deserved the great reward Raphael received from the king.
Raphael also painted portraits of Beatrice of Ferrara and very many other courtesans, including his own mistress. He was indeed a very amorous man with a great fondness for women whom he was always anxious to serve. He was always indulging his sexual appetites; and in this matter his friends were probably more indulgent and tolerant than they should have been. When his close friend Agostino Chigi commissioned him to decorate the first loggia in his palace, Raphael could not give his mind to the work because of his infatuation for his mistress. Agostino was almost in despair when with great difficulty he managed with the help of others to arrange for the woman to go and live with Raphael in the part of the house where he was working; and that was how the painting was finished.
Raphael made all the cartoons for this work and he himself also coloured many of the figures in fresco. In the vaulting he showed the Council of the Gods in heaven, and here he introduced many costumes and forms borrowed from the antique executed with lively draughtsmanship and grace. In the same way he depicted the marriage of Psyche, with the ministers of Jove and the Graces scattering flowers. In the pendentives he did various scenes, including Mercury with his flute, who seems to be cleaving the sky in his flight. He also showed Jove kissing Ganymede with celestial dignity, and below this the chariot of Venus and the Graces who, in company with Mercury, are taking Psyche to heaven. And he did many other beautiful scenes in the other pendentives. Between the pendentives and over the arches he painted several beautiful putti, foreshortened and hovering in the air with the various implements of the Gods: one carries the thunderbolts and arrows of Jove, another the helmet, sword, and target of Mars; there are the hammers of Vulcan, the club and lion’s skin of Hercules, the wand of Mercury, the pipes of Pan, and the rakes of Vertumnus. Each of the Gods is accompanied by an animal appropriate to his nature; and the whole composition forms a wonderfully beautiful poem and painting. Raphael asked Giovanni da Udine to make for these scenes a border of festoons of flowers, leaves, and fruits which proved incomparably beautiful.
Lives of the Artists Page 33