Italian art of the 16th century. High Renaissance.
Rafael Santi's painting "The Sistine Madonna" was originally created by the great painter as an altarpiece for the church of San Sisto (St. Sixtus) in Piacenza. Painting size 270 x 201 cm, oil on canvas. In the painting, the artist depicts the Virgin Mary with the baby Christ, Pope Sixtus II and Saint Barbara. The painting "Sistine Madonna" is one of the most famous works of world art. In Renaissance painting, this is perhaps the deepest and most beautiful embodiment of the theme of motherhood. For Rafael Santi, it was also a kind of result and synthesis of many years of searching in the topic closest to him. Raphael wisely used the possibilities of a monumental altar composition here, the view of which opens in the distant perspective of the church interior immediately, from the moment the visitor enters the temple. From afar, the motif of an opening curtain, behind which, like a vision, appears the Madonna walking through the clouds with a baby in her arms, should give the impression of a breathtaking force. The gestures of Saints Sixtus and Barbara, the upward gaze of the angels, the general rhythm of the figures - everything serves to draw the viewer's attention to the Madonna herself.
Compared with the images of other Renaissance painters and with the previous works of Raphael, the painting "Sistine Madonna" reveals an important new quality - an increased spiritual contact with the Spectator. In his previous Madonnas, the images were distinguished by a kind of internal isolation - their gaze was never turned to anything outside the picture; they were either preoccupied with the child or immersed in themselves. Only in Raphael's painting "Madonna in the Chair" do the characters look at the viewer, and in their eyes there is a deep seriousness, but to a more certain extent, their experiences are not revealed by the artist. In the look of the Sistine Madonna, there is something that seems to allow us to look into her soul. It would be an exaggeration to talk here about the increased psychological expression of the image, about the emotional effect, but in the slightly raised eyebrows of the Madonna, in wide-open eyes - and her gaze itself is not fixed and difficult to catch, as if she is looking not at us, but past or through us, - there is a shade of anxiety and that expression that appears in a person when his fate is suddenly revealed to him. It is like a providence for the tragic fate of her son and at the same time a willingness to sacrifice him. The dramatic nature of the image of the mother is set off in its unity with the image of the infant Christ, whom the artist endowed with unchildish seriousness and insight.
It is important, however, to note that with such a deep expression of feeling, the image of the Madonna is devoid of a hint of exaggeration and exaltation - it retains its harmonic underpinnings, but, unlike the previous Raphael creations, it is more enriched with shades of innermost spiritual movements. And, as always with Raphael, the emotional content of his images is extraordinarily vividly embodied in the very plasticity of his figures. The painting "The Sistine Madonna" gives a clear example of the peculiar "ambiguity" inherent in Raphael's images of the simplest movements and gestures. Thus, the Madonna herself appears to us at the same time walking forward and standing still; her figure seems to be easily floating in the clouds and at the same time possessing the real weight of the human body. In the movement of her hands carrying the baby, one can guess the instinctive impulse of the mother, hugging the child to her, and at the same time, the feeling that her son does not belong only to her, that she is carrying him as a sacrifice to people. The high figurative content of such motifs distinguishes Raphael from many of his contemporaries and artists of other eras who considered themselves his followers, who often had nothing but an external effect behind the ideal appearance of their characters.
The composition of the "Sistine Madonna" at first glance is simple. In reality, this is an apparent simplicity, because the general construction of the picture is based on an unusually subtle and at the same time strictly verified ratios of volumetric, linear and spatial motifs that give the picture greatness and beauty. Her impeccable balance, devoid of artificiality and schematism, does not in the least hinder the freedom and naturalness of the movements of the figures. The figure of Sixtus, dressed in a wide mantle, for example, is heavier than the figure of Barbara and is somewhat lower than her, but the curtain over Varvara is heavier than over Sixtus, and thus the necessary balance of masses and silhouettes is restored. Such a seemingly insignificant motif as the papal tiara, placed in the corner of the picture on the parapet, is of great figurative and compositional significance, introducing into the picture that part of the feeling of the earthly firmament, which is required to give the heavenly vision the necessary reality. The contour of the figure of the Madonna, powerfully and freely delineating her silhouette, full of beauty and movement, speaks enough about the expressiveness of the melodious lines of Rafael Santi.
How was the image of the Madonna created? Was there a real prototype for it? In this regard, a number of ancient legends are associated with the Dresden painting. Researchers find in the facial features of the Madonna a resemblance to the model of one of Raphael's female portraits - the so-called "Lady in the Veil" ("La Donna Velata", 1516, Pitti Gallery). But in resolving this issue, first of all, one should take into account the well-known statement of Raphael himself from a letter to his friend Baldassara Castiglione that in creating the image of perfect female beauty, he is guided by a certain idea that arises on the basis of many impressions from the beauties seen by the artist in life. In other words, the basis of the creative method of the painter Raphael Santi is the selection and synthesis of observations of reality.
"The genius of pure beauty" - this is what Vasily Zhukovsky said about the "Sistine Madonna". Later, Pushkin borrowed this image and dedicated it to an earthly woman - Anna Kern. Raphael also painted the Madonna from a real person, probably from his own mistress
1. Madonna. Some researchers believe that Raphael wrote the image of the Blessed Virgin from his mistress Margherita Luti. 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; indecisiveness and at the same time readiness to accomplish a feat (to give a son to death. - Note. "Around the world")».
2. Christ Child. 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.
3. Sixtus 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.
4. Hands of Sixtus. 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. The high priest's left hand is pressed to his chest - as a sign of devotion to the Virgin Mary.
5. Papal tiara removed from the head of the pontiff as a sign of respect 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.
6. 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.
7. Clouds. Some believe that Raphael depicted the clouds in the form of 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.
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.
9. Open 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.
Pushkin borrowed a poetic formula from an older contemporary and turned it to an earthly woman - Anna Kern. However, this transfer is relatively natural: Raphael may have painted the Madonna from a real character - his own mistress.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Rome waged a difficult war with France for possession of the northern lands of Italy. In general, luck was on the side of the papal troops, and one after another the northern Italian cities went over to the side of the Roman pontiff. In 1512, Piacenza, a town 60 kilometers southeast of Milan, did the same. For Pope Julius II, Piacenza was something more than just a new territory: here was the monastery of St. Sixtus, the patron saint of the Rovere family, to which the pontiff belonged. To celebrate, Julius II decided to thank the monks (who actively campaigned for joining Rome) and ordered from Raphael Santi (by that time already a recognized master) an altar image on which the Virgin Mary appears to St. Sixtus.
Raphael liked the order: it allowed to saturate the picture with symbols that are important for the artist. The 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. Of all the magic numbers, the Gnostics especially honored the six (it was on the sixth day, according to their teaching, that God created Jesus), and Sixt is just translated as “sixth”. Rafael decided to beat this coincidence. Therefore, compositionally, the picture, according to the Italian art historian Matteo Fizzi, encrypts a six in itself: it is made up of six figures that together form a hexagon.
Work on the "Madonna" was completed in 1513, 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). Before the start of World War II, the Sistine Madonna was in a gallery in Dresden. But in 1943, the Nazis hid the painting in an adit, where, after a long search, Soviet soldiers discovered it. So the creation of Raphael came to the USSR. In 1955, the Sistine Madonna, along with many other paintings taken from Germany, was returned to the GDR authorities and is now in the Dresden Gallery.
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1483 - Born in Urbino in the family of an artist. |
ARTIST Photo: BRIDGEMAN/FOTODOM.RU, DIOMEDIA
"Sistine Madonna" - the most famous of the paintings by Raphael Santi, which has no creative analogues. The history of the creation of the masterpiece causes controversy among historians and art critics. Read about the hypotheses and theories of the creation of the "Sistine Madonna", the history of the existence of the "Sistine Madonna" and the modern life of the painting in our article.
The truth about the creation of Raphael's masterpiece "The Sistine Madonna" was lost in history. Even at the level of few documents, there are different versions that can neither be confirmed nor refuted. This does not make it possible to put an end to the dispute of historians about the customer of the picture. The opponent for the Church of St. Sixtus in honor of the victory over the French was the German art critic Hubert Grimme. He put forward the theory that the painting was intended for the funeral ceremony of solemn farewell to Pope Julius.II, who died of a fever on February 21, 1513 and became the first pope to have his body embalmed. The body of the pope was put up for parting in the right side aisle (part of the temple to accommodate an additional altar for worship) of St. Peter's Cathedral. The painting was placed over the coffin of Pope Julius. Grimme insists that it was the location of the picture that determined its composition: Raphael depicted how, from the depths of a niche framed by a green curtain, the Mother of God approaches the tomb of the pontiff. According to Grimme, the angels at the bottom of the picture are leaning on the wooden lid of the coffin of Pope Julius. And the papal tiara with the heraldic symbol of della Rovere - an acorn - indicates that the deceased belongs to this ancient family. But the Catholic ritual forbids the use for religious purposes on the main altar of images that were used in mourning ceremonies. The Vatican wielded unprecedented power. And everything happened in the usual way: with the tacit consent of the curia (the main administrative body of the Holy See and the Vatican), the "Sistine Madonna" was sold to a Benedictine monastery in distant Piacenza. Thus avoiding unwanted attention to this violation, the picture was placed on the main altar of the church of St. Sixtus.
"Sistine Madonna" in the interior of the Church of St. Sixtus
Raphael's masterpiece, lost in the provinces, remained unknown until 1754, when the Elector of Saxony (prince, endowed with the right to choose the king) AugustusIIItook the painting to Dresden. A copy of the Sistine Madonna, made by the artist Giuseppe Nogari, remains in the church of St. Sixtus.
"The Sistine Madonna", one of the most famous paintings in the world, received recognition only in the middleXVIIIcentury, when it was acquired by the ruler of Saxony, AugustusIII. AugustIIIinherited a passion for collecting paintings from his father AugustusIIStrong, who was known as a connoisseur of the arts and was the first to collect works of old masters. Like father, AugustIIIhe never denied himself the pleasure, sparing no expense, to acquire some kind of masterpiece in Venice, Bologna or Prague. He allowed himself these expensive purchases at the expense of proceeds from the treasury of the huge Polish-Lithuanian state, whose elective throne AugustIIIoccupied. Only masterpieces were purchased, in the choice of which AugustIIIrelied on the advice of Francesco Algarotti, the greatest authority in the field of artXVIIIcentury, who picked up a collection of paintings of exceptional quality for the Saxon electors. But in Rome, the agents of AugustusIII to acquire the work of Raphael were unsuccessful. Through the mediation of the Bolognese artist Giovannini AugustIIIspent two years in difficult negotiations for the purchase of the Sistine Madonna. The situation was often put on pause: the stumbling block was the cost of the painting. It took a year of negotiations to set a price of 25,000 Roman scuds. This amount was huge (almost 70 kg of gold), and it was 25 times higher than what the elector of Saxony usually paid for a work of art. Another year was spent waiting for Pope Benedict's permissionIVfor sale by the monastery of a beautiful altarpiece. The "Sistine Madonna" was the pinnacle of August's successful acquisitionsIIIof that period. The painting was so valued that they deviated from the usual practice (in those days they usually traveled from Italy to Saxony via Venice and Vienna) and sent the “Sistine Madonna” through Tyrol and Autsburg, avoiding customs nit-picking in Venice.
A new chapter has begun in the history of the painting. March 1, 1754 "Sistine Madonna" was first exhibited in the audience hall of the castle - the residence of the elector in Dresden. The painting, almost forgotten in Piacenza, again gained fame, however, in the ranks of a small select public. As early as 1846, the construction of a building for the museum began in Dresden, which was completed in 1855. The Sistine Madonna and other masterpiece paintings were moved to the Dresden Gallery, which is now open to the public. Foreign visitors were allowed to view the gallery for a large fee. The composition of the gallery reflected the tastes of the European aristocracy of the Enlightenment. Raphael was considered an indisputable authority at that time, and his best easel work was the Sistine Madonna. In the new gallery, Raphael's painting received its own separate room, a new frame and worldwide recognition, more than 300 years after its creation. In his article, published in 1755, the art historian Winckelmann called the "Sistine Madonna" the best and most precious of the entire collection of the gallery.
War - the dark shadow of civilization, almost deprived the world of Raphael's masterpiece. At the end of 1939, the "Sistine Madonna" was sent by the Nazis from Dresden to the fortress of the city of Meissen Albrechtsburg, which did not save her from the horror of devastating bombing. Therefore, the canvas was again transported, and its location was classified. On the night of February 13-14, 1945, American bombers made an unjustifiably brutal raid on Dresden, in which there was no military necessity, because the Dresden garrison was small. Within 90 minutes, not only high-explosive, but also bombs filled with phosphorus and rubber were dropped on the city, which burned everything to the ground. As a result of the bombing, about 30,000 civilians were killed, more than 85% of the buildings lay in ruins, countless historical and cultural monuments were mercilessly destroyed, including the Albertinum, the famous German Museum of Ancient Art, one of the largest sculpture museums in Europe. And on the site of the Dresden Art Gallery, only the charred skeletons of the walls rose. But by the time of the bombing, the artistic treasures were no longer there. Immediately after the liberation of the city by Soviet troops, the search for exhibits of Dresden museums began. In the adit of an abandoned quarry beyond the Elbe, a German plan for the placement of treasures from the Dresden museums was found. There were many caches - 53 (later it turned out that the vast majority of them were mined). The “repositories” of the masterpieces of the Dresden Gallery turned out to be the tunnel in Gross-Kotta and the lime quarry in Pokuu - Lengefeld.
The war years became tragic for the cultural life of Dresden. Most of the exhibits recovered from the hiding places needed immediate help, many of them were on the verge of destruction, more than 300 paintings were damaged by the bombing. But the devastation of post-war Germany did not even allow creating proper conditions for storing paintings, not to mention their restoration. Raphael's canvas and found masterpieces were sent for restoration to Kyiv and Moscow. For technological reasons, the restoration process turned out to be lengthy. Only 10 years later, the "Sistine Madonna" and another 1240 paintings returned to the collection of the Dresden Gallery. The Sistine Madonna was restored several times: in 1826, in 1856 and in 1931. Now the Dresden Museum, fearing for the safety of the masterpiece, is in no hurry with its restoration.
In September 2011 to the Dresden Gallery for an exhibition dedicated to the visit of Pope BenedictXVIin Germany, they brought the prototype of the famous "Sistine Madonna" - "Madonna di Foligno", which for this exhibition for the first time in history left the Vatican Pinacoteca. An interesting fact: now no one would doubt the superiority of the "Sistine Madonna", but inXVIIIcentury "Madonna di Foligno" was valued higher. After all, it was her, and not the "Sistine Madonna" AugustIIIwanted to purchase for his Dresden collection, but for various reasons could not do it.
The Sistine Madonna on display at the Dresden Gallery
The muted palette of the "Sistine Madonna" gives way to the intensity of the colors of the "Madonna di Foligno", the colorful color of which was cleaned up by Italian restorers. But since the artist used the same colors to create both paintings, one can only imagine how beautiful the Sistine Madonna was once.
A gold coin issued by the Vatican. Release theme - "Sistine Madonna" by Raphael
Italy immortalized Raphael's masterpiece. Another €100 gold coin from the Raphael Stanzas series was issued by the Vatican City State in September 2013. The theme of this issue was the "Sistine Madonna" by Raphael.
Artist: Rafael Santi
Canvas, oil.
Size: 265 × 196 cm
Description of the painting "Sistine Madonna" by Raphael Santi
Artist: Rafael Santi
Name of the painting: "Sistine Madonna"
The picture was painted: 1513-1514
Canvas, oil.
Size: 265 × 196 cm
Raphael Santi is one of the few artists who was happy, had many orders at a young age, fame and honor. His father supported him in everything and even gave painting lessons, and Rafael listened to all the subtleties of art. For some time the young artist spent in Florence, where he perfected his talent. On the examples of the great Da Vinci, he learned to depict movement, and in the works of Michelangelo he was looking for plastic calmness. In addition, he liked to paint Madonnas - about 15 images of saints are known to have been painted by Santi.
The most famous of them, the Sistine Madonna, according to various assumptions, was painted from 1512 to 1513, and since the middle of the 18th century the painting has been in Dresden.
The canvas, huge in size, was innovative in the art of the High Renaissance, since the material for it was not wood, but canvas. There are many rumors and conjectures associated with this Raphael Madonna. They begin with the fact that Pope Julius II ordered this canvas for his tomb, and Sixtus was painted from it, and the niece of the head of the Catholic Church posed for the image of Saint Barbara. People who have read the Da Vinci Code to the holes prove that the acorns with which Sixtus's robe is decorated no longer directly allude to Pope Julius (della Rovere is the surname of a churchman and means "oak").
Another legend about the "Sistine Madonna" tells that the patrons of the church in Piacenza, where the painting was originally located, were Saints Sixtus and Barbara. When the canvas ended up in Dresden, a pilgrimage of Russian painters began to visit it, and they “promoted” the painting among the domestic secular society. The reviews of Karamzin, Zhukovsky, Belinsky, Repin, Dostoevsky, Fet and Pushkin alone are enough to consider this Madonna (and quite rightly) a masterpiece of Raphael's work.
Why is this picture so popular and so mysterious? The canvas presents the Madonna with a baby in her arms, at whose feet Pope Sixtus and the martyr Barbara bowed, looking at the ascension of God. The composition of the picture is thought out very carefully - the curtain, together with all the figures, forms a triangle. The image of the Madonna is emphatically simple, and the cherubs, who are thinking about their own, make you only touch. Such a compositional technique is called altar, and Raphael used it for a reason. The picture was previously located in the church, so that the view of it opened immediately when a person entered the temple.
Not a single Renaissance painter used psychological techniques in his works, in such quantities as Rafael Santi did. His Madonna has spiritual contact with the viewer - she seems to look into your soul and allows you to look into her own. The woman's eyebrows are slightly raised, and her eyes are wide open - she gives the impression of a person who has known all the truths of the world. The Madonna knows in advance the fate of her son, a rosy-cheeked baby, not like a child, seriously and shrewdly looking at the world from the hands of his mother. The main difference between the "Sistine Madonna" and the rest of Raphael's creations is that it is endowed with emotional experiences.
All movements and gestures on this canvas are ambiguous. The Madonna simultaneously moves forward, and at the same time you think that she is standing still, and her floating figure seems not incorporeal, but quite real and alive. The Christ Child is both a gift to people and an impulse of maternal instinct - this can be judged by the movement of her hands.
The picture strikes with a verified, linear and spatial volume. He gives it such grandeur that some consider this work of art an icon, all the figures of which are balanced. If you look closely at Sixtus, you will see that he is heavier than Barbara and is lower. But the curtain over the head of the martyr is more massive - this is how Raphael achieves balance.
Art critics say that Raphael's Madonna has no holiness. Her head is not framed by a nimbus, her clothes are simple, and her feet are bare, the baby is placed in her arms the way villagers hold him. The holiness of this Madonna is completely different - a barefoot woman is greeted as a queen: the powerful head of the Catholic Church has turned next to her from a wizened old man, and chubby cherubs - into ordinary children. Saint Barbara, dressed in luxurious clothes, looks like a simple girl against the background of the Madonna. Clouds also emphasize the holiness of a woman, as she soars over them.
This action is only a part of the movement that fills the whole picture of Raphael. The canvas is illuminated by a glow that pours from somewhere inside, and the light is in different angles. The dark background of the clouds creates the feeling of a thunderstorm.
The color scheme of the picture harmoniously intertwines various shades. The green curtain and green cape of Barbara, the papal clothes embroidered with gold, the blue-red outfit of the Madonna and the pastel shades of the bodies against the backdrop of dirty gray clouds create a premonition of something monumental.
Many researchers, as well as those who have ever seen the "Sistine Madonna", begin to worry about the question of who Santi wrote it from. There are several versions about the prototype of the Raphael saint. Some researchers believe that the artist loved her unrequitedly. Another hypothesis is more interesting, and tells about the passion of the 17-year-old daughter of a baker, Margherita Luti, who could not resist an interesting, rich and famous man. Moreover, in the fact that she gave herself to the master, there were also selfish motives - for the nightly joys with the artist, the girl received an expensive necklace.
Like it or not, we will never know. Only one thing is known: it is common for every man to look for an angel in a woman, and if it weren’t for Margaret, there would be no “Sistine Madonna”. History knows many examples of the fact that femme fatales were the muses of artists, and seductresses became models for geniuses. The sculpture of Venus de Milo was created from Phryne's hetaera, and Gioconda is DaVinci's mistress. What can we say about artists if the futurist Mayakovsky was satisfied with the "triple alliance" with the Brik family?
We have no right to judge geniuses, because God did not give most of the people even a small fraction of their talent. We can only enjoy works of art that are covered with many legends.
Raphael
Sistine Madonna. 1513-1514
Canvas, oil. 265×196 cm
Gallery of Old Masters, Dresden. Wikimedia Commons
Clickable - 3028px × 4151px
“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.” This is how Vasily Zhukovsky described his impressions of meeting Raphael's masterpiece. What is the secret of the "Sistine Madonna"?
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
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.
Raphael was the first to paint the Madonna, who looks the viewer in the eyes
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.
The Sistine Madonna was commissioned by Pope Julius II
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
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.
Portrait of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania August III (1696-1763)
1733. Wikimedia Commons
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.
Raphael's mistress may have posed for the "Sistine Madonna"
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.
Rafael Santi. self-portrait
1506, oil on wood, 45 × 33 cm. Wikimedia Commons
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.
The most famous student of Raphael became famous for pornographic drawings
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.
Rafael Santi. Athens school. 1511
Scuola di Atene
Fresco, 500 × 770 cm
Apostolic Palace, Vatican. Wikimedia Commons
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."
