It is known about this picture that it definitely belongs to the brush of the great Raphael. And besides, he wrote it alone, without assistants. It was commissioned for the church of St. Sixtus. And of course, the picture reflects the biblical story - the appearance of Christ to the people. The size of the picture is impressive. Three by two meters is about the size of a floor in a large room in an ordinary apartment.
The storyline is simple. In the center of the picture is a woman with a child in her arms. This child is Jesus Christ. A woman steps barefoot on white swirling clouds. To the right of her is a crouching girl. And on the left is a bearded old man in clothes. He points with his right hand to the right. At the bottom of the picture are two little angels. That's all the actors.
A woman holds a child in a strange way. He does not press him to himself, as all mothers do, but with his back to himself. She is ready to give her child away. Adults in the picture are in clothes, and children are naked. Why doesn't she hide the baby? He's probably cold, after all.
The baby is not a baby, he is about a year old. And he certainly knows how to walk. Look how plump he is, which means he is healthy and has a good appetite. But still, why no clothes? The child presses its head against the mother's cheek.
No one smiles, everyone is in a state of deep thought. Apparently, there is nothing to rejoice at and everyone understands this. Even the little angels propped up their little faces with their hands and were thinking about something.
The woman is the holy virgin Mary, the boy is Jesus Christ. There is no floor, no walls, no ceiling in the picture. She seems to be floating in the air. Madonna seems to be walking towards people. Only dark green curtains "hint" that everything will end soon, and they will be closed. And behind them something will be hidden from human eyes.
Maria is dressed in a beautiful red and blue long dress, her head is covered with a long mustard-colored shawl. On the left, seated Saint Barbara, with her head uncovered, is dressed in bright clothes. The long skirt is also dark blue. She pressed her hands to her chest, her eyes downcast. She doesn't want to look Mary in the eyes. As a woman a woman, she understands and sympathizes with her. Her image expresses humility and reverence.
On the other side of Mary, Saint Sixtus fell to his knees. His face is turned to Mary, his hand shows the direction where she needs to go. And little children with wings put their little hands as if on the edge, not to understand what. Since there is a curtain, then this is the edge of the stage. Both angels have their eyes turned upward. I wonder what they saw there?
It seems that all the actors know and understand everything. But there is no other choice. Only that person could paint this picture, and it is clear that this is a man who never parted with his child.
Description of the painting by Raphael Sistine Madonna
500 years have passed since the great Italian painter Raphael Santi created his best work, The Sistine Madonna, and there is probably no person on earth who would not be familiar with this picture. Written for the monastery of St. Sixtus, it is currently kept in the Dresden Gallery.
From a canvas of rather impressive size, the Mother of God with the Child in her arms looks at the viewer with hope, sadness and anxiety. She wears simple clothes, with her bare feet she easily steps on the clouds. The young Mother of God carries her son to the people, trustingly hoping that the world will be kind to him, will not harm him. But at the same time, the Virgin Mary is full of humility and understanding that she must fulfill the will of the one she holds in her arms.
The artist draws the Infant Savior as a large and strong child. His gaze is not childishly serious. Unlike his mother, he knows for sure about his great destiny: to fulfill the will of God the Father and become a saving sacrifice for humanity.
Reverently looking at the Mother of God and Christ, the kneeling Pope Sixtus IV. His image is placed on the left side of the picture. To the right at the feet of the Virgin, the artist placed Saint Barbara. Her gaze is turned down to the Earth, where Christ is awaiting the crucifixion. The clothes of these saints are incomparably richer and brighter than the simple red and blue robes of the Virgin. But this simplicity does not deceive the viewer. He sees the Queen descending from heaven, giving up her child in the name of saving people on Earth.
Behind the Virgin Mary, the artist drew the barely noticeable faces of angels, which at first glance seem to be light clouds. Some art historians claim that these are the souls of unborn people. Below are two small angels, very reminiscent of ordinary street brats. One of them even lost his wing somewhere. But they too, captured by the importance and solemnity of the moment, attentively and thoughtfully observe the ongoing miracle of God's descent to Earth.
Raphael repeatedly depicted the Virgin Mary in his paintings. It is not exactly the "Sistine Madonna" that has become such an alloy of beautiful composition, harmony, meaning, which for five centuries has delighted and captivated the viewer.
Some interesting essays
- Composition based on the picture Rest after the battle Neprintsev Grade 8
The canvas "Rest after the battle" was based on the poem "Vasily Terkin". Actually, after the artist read this poem, he came to the conclusion that he would write a wonderful canvas on a military theme.
Anna Nikolaevna is one of the secondary characters of the work, the sister of the main character of the novel, Vera Nikolaevna Sheina.
This may indicate that the canvas was planned to be used as a banner (unless the choice of material is explained by the large dimensions of the work).
In the 18th century, a legend spread (not confirmed by historical documents) that Julius II ordered a painting from Raphael for his tomb, and that the model for the Madonna was Raphael's beloved Fornarina, for Saint Sixtus - Pope Julius himself (nephew of Sixtus IV), and for Saint Barbara - his niece Giulia Orsini. Supporters of the theory that the canvas was created for the papal tomb emphasize that the acorns on the robe of Sixtus II clearly refer to these two popes from the della Rovere family ( rover means "oak").
At the same time, the creation of the image specifically for the church in Piacenza is indicated by the fact that its patrons have always been considered the saints Sixtus and Barbara, depicted on this canvas. The image successfully fit into the central part of the apse of the church in Piacenza, where it served as a kind of replacement for the missing window.
worldwide fame
The painting, lost in one of the temples of provincial Piacenza, remained little known until the middle of the 18th century, when the Saxon Elector Augustus III, after two years of negotiations, received permission from Benedict XIV to take it to Dresden. Prior to this, Augustus' agents had tried to negotiate the purchase of Raphael's more famous works, which were located in Rome itself. A copy of the Sistine Madonna by Giuseppe Nogari remains in the San Sisto temple. A few decades later, after the publication of rave reviews by Goethe and Winckelmann, the new acquisition eclipsed Correggio's Holy Night as the main masterpiece of the Dresden collection.
Since Russian travelers started the grand tour from Dresden, the "Sistine Madonna" became their first meeting with the heights of Italian art and therefore received deafening fame in Russia in the 19th century, surpassing all other Madonnas by Raphael. Almost all artistically oriented Russian travelers in Europe wrote about her - N. M. Karamzin, V. A. Zhukovsky (“celestial passing maiden”), V. Kuchelbeker (“divine creation”), A. A. Bestuzhev (“this is not Madonna, this is the faith of Raphael"), K. Bryullov, V. Belinsky ("the figure is strictly classical and not at all romantic"), A. I. Herzen, A. Fet, L. N. Tolstoy, I. Goncharov, I. Repin , F. M. Dostoevsky. A. S. Pushkin, who did not see it with his own eyes, mentions this work several times.
World War II and storage in the USSR
After the war, the painting was kept in the storerooms of the Pushkin Museum until it was returned, together with the entire Dresden collection, to the authorities of the GDR in 1955. Before that, "Madonna" was presented to the Moscow public. Grossman responded to the farewell to the Sistine Madonna with a story of the same name, where he connected the famous image with his own memories of Treblinka:
Looking after the Sistine Madonna, we keep the faith that life and freedom are one, that there is nothing higher than the human in man.
Description
The two angels depicted in the painting have become the motif of numerous postcards and posters. Some art historians claim that these little angels are leaning on a coffin lid. The left angel at the bottom of the picture has only one wing visible.
Disappointment
In philately
Reproduced on a 1955 GDR postage stamp.
Notes
- http://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/de/contents/show?id=372144
- https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Details/Index/372144
- The art historian Hubert Grimme insists that the painting was intended specifically for the funeral ceremony. He was prompted to research by the question: where did the wooden plank in the foreground of the picture come from, on which two angels lean? The next question was: how did it happen that an artist like Raphael came up with the idea to frame the sky with curtains? The researcher is convinced that the order for the "Sistine Madonna" was received in connection with the establishment of a coffin for a solemn farewell to Pope Sixtus II. The body of the pope was exhibited for farewell in the side aisle of St. Peter's Basilica. Raphael's painting was installed on the coffin in the niche of this chapel. Raphael depicted how, from the depths of this niche framed with green curtains, the Madonna in the clouds approaches the coffin of the pope. During the mourning celebrations, the outstanding exhibition value of Raphael's painting was realized. Some time later, the picture was on the main altar of the monastery church in Piacenza. The basis of this exile was a Catholic ritual. It prohibits the use of images displayed at mourning ceremonies for religious purposes on the main altar. The creation of Raphael, because of this ban, to some extent lost its value. In order to receive the appropriate price for the painting, the curia had no choice but to give their tacit consent to placing the painting on the main altar. In order not to draw attention to this violation, the picture was sent to the brotherhood of a distant provincial town.
- Ъ-Weekend - Main Madonna
- Kommersant-Gazeta - Gala picture
- Pushkin and Raphael (indefinite) (unavailable link). Retrieved June 15, 2012. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012.
- Sistine Madonna and Rabinovich
- The epic of saving Dresden (indefinite) (unavailable link). Retrieved November 15, 2018.
"Sistine Madonna" - the most famous of the paintings by Raphael Santi, which has no creative analogues. About the history of the creation of the "Sistine Madonna", the first mention of the "Sistine Madonna", about the original name of the masterpiece of artistic classics, read in our article.
“This is a whole world, a magnificent, colorful world of art. This picture alone would be more than enough to make the name of the author, if he had not created anything else, immortal.
Goethe on the "Sistine Madonna"
The highest creative rise of Raphael continued until the middle of 1510, and during this period the creation of the "Sistine Madonna" - the most famous of the artist's paintings - falls.
"Sistine Madonna", Raphael Santi
At one time, this painting was considered the most famous in the world, not only because of its beauty, but also because the Polish-Saxon king Frederick AugustIIISaxony bought it in 1574 from the church of St. Sixtus in Piacenza for a huge amount of money. From the name of the church, the picture got its new, now known to everyone, name - “Sistine Madonna”, and initially it was called “Madonna and Child, with St. Sixtus and St. Barbara”. The church of St. Sixtus kept relics associated with these saints. Relics are extremely important to the church because they produce the desired effect. Pope JuliusII, while still a cardinal, he collected donations for the construction of a chapel in the church for the relics of St. Sixtus and St. Barbara.
Church of St. Sixtus, Piacenza
There is no documentary evidence of the creation of the "Sistine Madonna" and why she ended up in the monastery of St. Sixtus in Piacenza. For the first time the picture is mentioned in the "Biographies of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects" by Vasari only in 1550. According to Vasari: “He (Raphael) performed for the black monks (monastery) of St. Sixtus the board (image) of the main altar with the appearance of Our Lady to St. Sixtus and St. Barbara; creation is unique and unique. Vasari's statement that the altarpiece was executed on a board indicates that he himself did not see the "Sistine Madonna", because the picture was painted on canvas. Vasari's error has a simple explanation: at the beginningXVIcenturies, altar images were usually performed on the board. The huge Sistine Madonna (256x196 cm) is painted on canvas. It is quite possible that the choice of material depended on the large dimensions of the painting. But this can also be interpreted as a hint that the picture was conceived as an element of the banner.
The banner is a religious banner in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches. It is a panel on a staff with the image of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God or saints. Church banners were intended for religious processions.
The dating of the creation of the painting is stretched in time - from 1512 to 1519, and is still controversial. Most researchers consider the most probable date for its execution to be 1512-1514.
All Italian culture originates from the monasteries. A monastery is a religious community of monks or nuns, which has a single charter and a single complex of liturgical, residential and outbuildings. The birthplace of monasticism is Egypt, famous for its desert fathers.IV- Vcenturies. The Monk Pachomius the Great founded the first cenobitic monastery and wrote the first monastic charter in 318. Monasteries were not only engaged in religion, they were centers of knowledge since the dark Middle Ages. Each monastery had a library and a place where the scriptorium books were copied, and their joint activities launched a chain of events favorable for the development of culture. Some monasteries, such as the first Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino (founded in 529), were true medieval centers of learning. The monks were engaged in research in various fields of philosophy, medicine and music. The first schools were opened at monasteries. Novices of monasteries often became popes: Pope Leo X, the patron of Raphael, was a novice of the monastery of Monte Cassino, 100 km from Rome. The monasteries gave shelter to the infirm old people and the sick and were a place where one could hide from the worldly environment, from the chaos and violence reigning in the world. Influenced by the teachings of Savonarolla, Leonardo da Vinci in 1491 went to a Dominican monastery near Pisa for some time. The elder brother Michelangelo, who was tonsured a monk in Viterbo, and the artist della Porta, who received the name of Fra Bartolomeo after becoming a monk, became adherents of the ideas of Savonarola's "demagogue on religious grounds".
St. Sixtus Monastery, one of the oldest monasteries, was founded by Queen Engilberga in 874. And like any monastery, he lived autonomously, strictly guarding his secrets. We must not forget that these were difficult times: Italy lived in a state of incessant wars that destroyed people and the very spirit of civilization. The terrible reality of these wars was not just catastrophic, sometimes simply irreparable losses: during the Italian campaign of Napoleon, the archive of the monastery of St. Sixtus burned down. Unfortunately, no preparatory drawings or sketches of the Sistine Madonna have survived. And since there is no source of historical information, the name of the customer of the beautiful painting is still not known.
The German researcher M. Putcher and his followers are convinced that Raphael painted the "Sistine Madonna" for the church of St. Sixtus, and the painting remained in this church until it was taken to Dresden. According to his version, Pope Julius donated the "Sistine Madonna" to the church of St. Sixtus in gratitude for the contribution made by Piacenza (the monks of the monastery actively campaigned for joining Rome), during the war with France. At the beginningXVIcentury, the northern lands of Italy became the subject and place of the clash of the selfish interests of Rome and France. The papal armies coped so well with the bloody task of conquering the northern regions that one by one the northern Italian cities went over to the side of the Roman pontiff. On June 24, 1512, Piacenza also voluntarily joined Rome, entering the state of the pope and receiving the status of the Papal States.
JuliaII, whose political ambitions went hand in hand with religious zeal, had a special relationship with Piacenza. This small town, 60 km from Milan, reminded Pope Julius of his relationship with Pope SixtusIV, his uncle. In addition, in the city there was the Cathedral of St. Sixtus - the patron saint of the della Rovere family, to which Pope Julius belonged. During his stay in Piacenza in June 1500, while still a cardinal, Pope JuliusIIgranted the monks of the monastery the remission of sins for the charitable work of building a church. The Church of St. Sixtus, badly damaged during the war and restored by the famous architect Alessio Tramallo in 1499-1511, was reopened after reconstruction with a new image behind the altar - Raphael's masterpiece "The Sistine Madonna".
Interior of the Church of St. Sixtus
“I remember a wonderful moment:
1:569You appeared before me
1:615Like a fleeting vision
1:662Like a genius of pure beauty…”
1:726 1:736We all remember these lines from school years. At school we were told that Pushkin dedicated this poem to Anna Kern. But it's not. According to Pushkin scholars, Anna Petrovna Kern was not a "genius of pure beauty", but was known as a woman of very "free" behavior. She stole a famous poem from Pushkin, literally tearing it out of his hands. Who did Pushkin write about then, whom did he call “the genius of pure beauty”?
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Now it is known that the words "genius of pure beauty" belong to the Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky , who in 1821 in the Dresden Gallery admired the painting by Raphael Santi "The Sistine Madonna".
1:394 1:404Here is how Zhukovsky conveyed his impressions: “The hour that I spent in front of this Madonna belongs to the happy hours of life ... Everything was quiet around me; first, with some effort, he entered himself; then he clearly began to feel that the soul was expanding; some touching feeling of grandeur entered into her; the indescribable was depicted for her, and she was where only in the best moments of her life could be. The genius of pure beauty was with her.”
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The painting "Sistine Madonna" was painted by Raphael in 1512-1513, commissioned by Pope Julius II for the altar of the church of the monastery of Saint Sixtus in Piacenza, where the relics of Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara were kept.
2:391 2:401In the picture, Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred in 258 AD. and numbered among the saints, asks Mary for intercession for all who pray to her in front of the altar. The posture of Saint Barbara, her face and downcast eyes express humility and reverence.
2:856 2:866According to ancient legends, Pope Julius II had a vision of the Mother of God with the Child. Through the efforts of Raphael, it turned into the appearance of the Virgin Mary to people. The main question is: is this work a painting? Or is it an icon? Raphael sought to transform the human into the divine, and the earthly into the eternal.
2:1417 2:1427Raphael wrote the “Sistine Madonna” at a time when he himself was experiencing severe grief. And so he put all his sadness into the divine face of his Madonna. He created the most beautiful image of the Mother of God, combining in it the features of humanity with the highest religious ideality. The image of a woman with a baby captured by Raphael entered the history of painting forever as something tender, virginal and pure.
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However, in real life, the woman depicted as the Madonna was far from an angel. Moreover, she was considered one of the most depraved women of her era. If the priests knew that Raphael painted the Madonna from his mistress, then it is unlikely that she could stand behind the altar image in the monastery of St. Sixtus, for which this work was commissioned to the artist.
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This picture is not just a figment of fantasy or fiction of the painter. Each detail has a special meaning and history, which was explored only recently. Not so long ago, scientists took a closer look and saw that Raphael, in the main characters of the picture, the Madonna with little Jesus, encoded the first letter of his name.
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Many masters did this both during the time of the painter and after him. But in addition, interesting stories are hidden in the details. According to the researchers of the famous painting, the main characters, of which there are 9, form a hexagon and these details deserve special attention.
4:1004 4:1014The painter was a Gnostic - an adherent of the late antique religious movement, based on the Old Testament, Eastern mythology and a number of early Christian teachings.
4:1323 4:1333Of all the magic numbers, the Gnostics especially revered the six (It was on the sixth day, according to their teaching, that God created Jesus), and Sixtus is translated as “sixth.” Raphael decided to play with this coincidence. Therefore, compositionally, the picture, according to the Italian art critic Matteo Fizzi, encrypts a six in itself: it is made up of six figures that together form a hexagon.
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1. MADONNA
Some researchers believe that Raphael wrote the image of the Blessed Virgin from his mistress Margherita Luti. Whether this is really so is difficult to say now, but many artists depict the faces of their women on canvases. They were a kind of models, who were always at hand and, moreover, inspired the master. According to the Russian art historian Sergei Stam, “in the eyes of the Sistine Madonna, immediate openness and gullibility, ardent love and tenderness, and at the same time alertness and anxiety, indignation and horror at human sins froze; indecision and at the same time willingness to perform a feat (to give his son to death).
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2. CHILD CHRIST
It is difficult to say whether the prototype of the son of the Lord was a real child, but if you look closely, you will see that his eyes are quite adult, moreover, in the eyes of a baby, Rafael portrayed the child’s understanding, even at that age, of his fate and her role for all of humanity . According to Stam, “His forehead is not childishly high, and his eyes are completely unchildishly serious. However, in their eyes we do not see any edification, or forgiveness, or reconciling consolation ... His eyes look at the world that has opened before them intently, intensely, with bewilderment and fear. And at the same time, in the look of Christ one can read the determination to follow the will of God the Father, the determination to sacrifice oneself for the salvation of mankind.
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3. SIXT II
Very little is known about the Roman pontiff. He did not stay on the holy throne for long - from 257 to 258 - and was executed under the emperor Valerian by beheading. Saint Sixtus was the patron of the Italian papal family Rovere (Italian "oak"). Therefore, acorns and oak leaves are embroidered on his golden robe.
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4. HANDS OF SIXSTA
Raphael wrote the holy pope pointing with his right hand at the throne crucifix (recall that the "Sistine Madonna" hung behind the altar and, accordingly, behind the altar cross). It is curious that the artist depicted six fingers on the pontiff's hand - another six, encrypted in the picture.
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Although other researchers refute this theory: what many take for the sixth finger, in their opinion, is the inner part of the palm. When you look at a reproduction in low resolution, you may get such an impression. The high priest's left hand is pressed to his chest - as a sign of devotion to the Virgin Mary.
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5. PAPA TIARA
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The tiara is taken from the head of the pontiff as a sign of reverence for the Madonna. The tiara consists of three crowns, symbolizing the realm of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is crowned with an acorn - the heraldic symbol of the Rovere family.
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6. SAINT BARBARA
Saint Barbara was the patroness of Piacenza. This 3rd-century saint, secretly from her pagan father, converted to faith in Jesus. The father tortured and beheaded the apostate daughter.
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7. CLOUDS
Some believe that Raphael depicted the clouds as singing angels. In fact, according to the teachings of the Gnostics, these are not angels, but unborn souls who are in heaven and glorify the Almighty.
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8. ANGELS
The two angels at the bottom of the picture look impassively into the distance. Their apparent indifference is a symbol of acceptance of the inevitability of divine providence: the cross is destined for Christ, and he cannot change his fate.
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9. OPEN CURTAIN
The curtain symbolizes the open skies. Its green color indicates the mercy of God the Father, who sent his son to death in order to save people.
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Work on the "Madonna" was completed in 1513, and until 1754 the painting was in the monastery of St. Sixtus, until it was bought by the Saxon Elector August III for 20,000 sequins (almost 70 kilograms of gold).
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Before the start of World War II, the Sistine Madonna was in a gallery in Dresden.
8:169 8:179But in 1943, the Nazis hid the painting in an adit, where, after a long search it was discovered by Soviet soldiers . So the creation of Raphael came to the USSR.
8:445 8:455In 1955, the Sistine Madonna, along with many other paintings taken from Germany, was returned to the authorities of the GDR and is now in the Dresden Gallery.
8:774ARTIST Rafael Santi 8:838
1483 - Born in Urbino in the family of an artist.
1500 - Began training in the art workshop of Pietro Perugino. Signed the first contract - for the creation of the altar image "Coronation of St. Nicholas of Tolentino.
1504-1508 - Lived in Florence, where he met Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. He created the first Madonnas - "Madonna of Granduk" and "Madonna with a Goldfinch".
1508-1514 - Worked on the murals of the papal palace (frescoes "The School of Athens", "Bringing the Apostle Peter out of the dungeon", etc.), painted a portrait of Pope Julius II. Received the position of scribe of papal decrees.
1512-1514 - He painted the "Sistine Madonna" and "Madonna di Foligno".
1515 - Appointed chief curator of antiquities of the Vatican. Wrote Madonna in the Chair.
1520 - Died in Rome.
Plot
This is a monumental work. Almost two by two meters. Just think what impression this picture made on the people of the 16th century. It seemed that the Madonna was descending from heaven. Her eyes are not half closed, do not look away or at the baby. She is looking at us. Now try to imagine what it looked like in a church setting. People just entered the temple and immediately met their gaze with the Mother of God - her image was visible in the distant future, long before a person approached the altar.
The Madonna is watched by Pope Sixtus II and Saint Barbara. They were real historical characters who were canonized by the church for their torment.
Martyrdom of Saint Sixtus II, XIV century. (wikimedia.org)
Pope Sixtus II did not stay long on the throne - from 257 to 258. He was beheaded under the emperor Valerian. Saint Sixtus was the patron of the Italian papal family Rovere, whose name translates as "oak", so acorns and leaves of this tree are embroidered on the golden mantle. The same symbol is present on the papal tiara, whose three crowns symbolize the kingdom of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Saint Barbara is not accidentally chosen for this canvas. She was the patroness of Piacenza - for the church it was in this city that Raphael painted his Madonna. The story of this woman is extremely tragic. She lived in the III century, her father was a pagan, and the girl converted to Christianity. Naturally, the father was against it - he tortured his daughter for a long time, and then completely beheaded.
The figures form a triangle. This emphasizes the open curtain. It also makes the viewer an accomplice in the action, and also symbolizes the open skies.
The background is not clouds at all, as it might seem, but the heads of babies. These are unborn souls who are still in heaven and praise God. The angels below, with their impassive look, speak of the inevitability of divine providence. This is a symbol of acceptance.
Context
Raphael received an order to paint the canvas from Pope Julius II. Thus, the pontiff wanted to celebrate the inclusion of Piacenza (a town 60 km southeast of Milan) in the Papal States. The territory was reclaimed from the French in the course of the struggle for northern Italian lands. In Piacenza there was a monastery of St. Sixtus, the patron saint of the Rovere family, to which the pontiff belonged. The monks actively campaigned for joining Rome, for which Julius II decided to thank them and ordered from Raphael an altarpiece on which the Mother of God appears to Saint Sixtus.
We do not know who exactly posed for Raphael for Madonna. According to one version, it was Fornarina - not only a model, but also the artist's lover. History has not even preserved her real name, not to mention the details of her life. Fornarina (literally, a baker) is a nickname she owed to her father's job as a baker.
"Raphael and Fornarina", Jean Ingres, 1813. (wikimedia.org)
Legend has it that Fornarina and Raphael met by chance in Rome. The painter was struck by the beauty of the girl, paid her father 3000 gold and took her to him. For the next 12 years - until the death of the artist - Fornarina was his muse and model. What happened to the woman after the death of Raphael is unknown. According to one version, she became a courtesan in Rome, according to another, she took her hair as a nun and died soon after.
But back to the Sistine Madonna. I must say that fame came to her much later after writing. For two centuries it was gathering dust in Piacenza, until Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, bought it in the middle of the 18th century and took it to Dresden. Despite the fact that at that time the painting was not considered a masterpiece of Raphael, the monks bargained for two years and broke the price. It was not important for Augustus to buy this painting or another, the main thing - the brushes of Raphael. It was his paintings that were missing in the Elector's collection.
August III. (wikimedia.org)
When the "Sistine Madonna" was brought to Dresden, Augustus III allegedly personally pushed back his throne with the words: "Make way for the great Raphael!" When the porters hesitated, carrying the masterpiece through the halls of his palace.
Another half century passed, and the "Sistine Madonna" became a hit. Its copies appeared first in palaces, then in bourgeois mansions, and then in the form of prints and in the homes of ordinary people.
The canvas miraculously survived during the Second World War. Dresden itself was destroyed to the ground. But the "Sistine Madonna", like other paintings of the Dresden Gallery, was hidden in a freight car that stood on rails in an abandoned quarry 30 km south of the city. In May 1945, Soviet troops found the paintings and brought them to the USSR. Raphael's masterpiece was kept in the storerooms of the Pushkin Museum for 10 years, until it was returned, along with the entire Dresden collection, to the authorities of the GDR in 1955.
The fate of the artist
Raphael worked at a time when the Renaissance reached its culmination of development. He was a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Rafael carefully studied their technique, it was the right tool for the execution of artistic ideas.
During his life, Raphael created several dozen "Madonnas". Not only because they were often ordered. The artist was close to the theme of love and self-denial, it was one of the most important in his work.
Self-portrait of Raphael. (wikimedia.org)
Raphael began his career in Florence. In the second half of 1508 he moved to Rome, which at that time became the center of the arts. And Julius II, who ascended the papal throne, contributed a lot to this. He was an extremely ambitious and enterprising man. He attracted the best artists of Italy to his court. Including Raphael, who, with the assistance of the architect Bramante, became the official artist of the papal court.
He was commissioned to fresco the Stanza della Senyatura. Among them was the famous "School of Athens" - a multi-figure (about 50 characters) composition, which represents ancient philosophers. In some faces, the features of Raphael's contemporaries are guessed: Plato is written in the image of da Vinci, Heraclitus is Michelangelo, Ptolemy is very similar to the author of the fresco.
And now a minute for the rubric "few people know." Rafael was also an architect. After the death of Bramante, he completed the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In addition, he built a church, a chapel, several palazzos in Rome.
The School of Athens by Raphael. (wikimedia.org)
Raphael had many students, however, the most famous of them gained fame thanks to pornographic drawings. Raphael could not tell anyone his secrets. In the future, his paintings inspired Rubens, Rembrandt, Manet, Modigliani.
Rafael lived for 37 years. It is impossible to pinpoint the exact cause of death. Under one version, due to fever. According to another, because of intemperance, which has become a lifestyle. On his tomb in the Pantheon there is an epitaph: "Here lies the great Raphael, during whose life nature was afraid to be defeated, and after his death she was afraid to die."
