Stlukesguild

As Raphael was making a name for himself in Rome painting the great frescoes for the Vatican, he was also adding to his fame (and fortune) through the creation of designs for prints and tapestries, and the creation of any number of "lesser" paintings. Among the finest of these he was especially known for his paintings of the Madonna and Child. His manner of painting... soft and sensual... was especially suited to such a theme. Among some of the finest are the Alba Madonna:



the Madonna da Foligno:



the Cowper Madonna:



and the Sistine Madonna...



...in which the artist places a likeness of Pope Julius II as the kneeling St. Peter... once more making clear the notion of the continuity from ancient Rome to the new Rome... which owed much to the ambition and drive of this "warrior-pope". All of these paintings are rendered with oil paint which was only beginning to be fully appreciated by the Italians at this time. His mastery of the medium suggests more than a passing knowledge of the paintings of the Venetians (Bellini, Mantegna, Giorgione, and Titian) who were leading the way in the development of oil painting. The paintings also reveal an elegance of design... of interweaving lines and forms... as well as an idealized beauty of the figures that suggest the artist was still enamored of the work of Leonardo DaVinci.

Raphael's work for the Pope did not stop with The School of Athens; rather Julius commissioned the artist to decorate several other rooms in the Papal apartments. Among the resulting paintings there are several masterful works to rival his greatest achievements.

In the painting Heliodoros Driven from the Temple...



...the narrative taken from the Book of Maccabees, in which a Syrian usurper is flogged and beaten in response to the fervent prayers of the Priests is turned into a symbolic image of Pope Julius driving Avarice from the Church. Julius is born upon his litter by several figures who are almost certainly portraits. The nearest among these includes a possible a self-portrait (the figure nearest to us and to the far left), while the the bearded guard looks uncannily like the great German artist, Albrecht Durer.



Perhaps the greatest painting in this series is the Deliverance of St. Peter which again may be read as having a symbolic meaning. Peter, being the first Pope, is almost certainly representative of Julius. His miraculous rescue from prison by the angels can surely be read as symbolic of Julius deliverance from his enemies (and those of the Rome) especially the French. The multiple narrative and the stunning drama of the glow of the angels are brilliant inventions, and Raphael's use of light will be especially influential upon a wide array of artists... from Titian to Tintoretto to Caravaggio to Rembrandt.



The Miraculous Mass at Bolsena again interweaves the past and present.



The narrative concerns a miracle in which a German priest praying to be relieved of his doubts is witness to blood issuing forth from the communion wafers during mass. The stained relic was kept on the high altar of the Cathedral of Orvietto (near Bolsena) and veneration of the relic had helped to fund the building of the Cathedral. Julius had stopped at Orvietto on his military march to Bologna and taken mass.

The painting shows Julius without any covering for his head... as he might have appeared only during the most solemn events. Raphael has brilliantly dealt with the off-center door frame by creating a stage or dais upon which the mass takes place and extending this to the right of the door to create a symmetrical composition. Again, this painting shows the artist's increasing mastery of portraiture in the figures of the four prelates who accompany Julius... and the members of the Papal Swiss Guard. The guard who turns and looks in our direction is a stunning touch... adding not merely a sense of motion but also drawing us into the picture.



Next: Raphael the Portraitist