Three Raphael's seen at the Vatican Museum and the Belvedere Courtyard

Raphael Sanzio was born in Urbino to a family of painters He was a prodigy and was sent to study with Perugino where, amongst other things, he assisted on Perugino’s Sacra Conversazione.  Raphael’s early work imitates Perugino’s style but changes and develops as he matures and comes into contact with other artists such as Michelangelo and, especially, Leonardo.  Although his life was short, he died when he was 37, he was quite prolific and achieved great status and acclaim while alive.  His body rests at the Pantheon.

Coronation of the Virgin-1503-Patron: Oddi family

This is an early work of Raphael and reflects the style of his teacher, Perugino.  The work is clearly divided into two sections by a very solid looking cloud on which Mary sits as Christ places a crown upon her head.  Below the apostles, and Raphael himself, look up in wonder.  The upper section is circular or hemispheric while earth is inside a square; these are standard depictions of heaven and earth dating back to antiquity-the heavenly sphere and the earthly plane.  The faces of the characters are very similar and the angels floating above Mary and Christ are depicted in a medieval manner.

Foligno Madonna-1512-Patron: Sigismondo dei Conti

This piece represents one of Raphael’s first works in Rome.  He was given the commission through the aid of Pope Julius II to whom he had been introduced by his friend Bramante.  Julius’ friend and private secretary was almost struck by a meteor and attributed his fortune at being missed to the Virgin Mary, hence the subject of the painting.  Sigismondo is being introduced to the Virgin by Saints John the Baptist, Jerome and Francis.  The space is still being dived in two with the spherical heaven above the earthly plane but the dividing line is not as clear as in the Coronation piece.  The clouds surrounding the Virgin Mary transform into angels as they ascend.  Mary is sitting on a throne but it is a throne of clouds and NOT an architectural setting.  Mary’s being framed by the sun is a reference to a vision at the top of the Campodoligo where a Sybil appeared to Augustus and informed him of Christ’s birth.

Transfiguration-1518-1520-Patron: Cardinal Giulio de Medici for the Cathedral of Narbonne in France (however it never made it to France-it was hung in San Pietro in Montorio until it was moved to the Pinacoteca-the painting gallery of the Vatican Museum).

This was Raphael’s last painting.  Sebastiano de Bombo was also given a commission by the Cardinal and when Raphael saw what Sebastiano was creating he altered his own style once again by becoming more Leonardesque.

Christ is revealing himself to Peter, John and James who are being pressed down into the earth of Mt. Tabor by Christ’s aura.  On either side of Christ are Moses and Elijah who are holding books referring to the Old Testament.  The painting is, again, divided into the two sections-heaven and earth, sphere and square-but the separation, while apparent, especially in the circular formation of Christ’s mandola, the delineating line is completely blurred at this point in Raphael’s career.

The scene below shows the remainder of the apostles helpless and confused as they try to help a possessed boy.  They are either looking desperately into a book for answers or pointing vaguely to Christ-whom they cannot actually see (but the boy actually appears to).  The book is a reference to the New Testament and the stream just below it represents the purity of water.  On the right the townspeople form a mirror image of the apostles and this set up is a reference to Leonardo’s Last Supper and the ripple effect produced from the center.  The enigmatic female figure at the center turns and points to the boy.  Her presence is most likely a device merely to show Rafael’s talent and is referred to as La Bella Pictura-she appears in other works of his.

The Belvedere Courtyard

The Villa

Originally commissioned to Donato Bramante by Pope Julius II, the Belvedere Complex began in 1504 and continued under various architects and popes.  The courtyard, inspired by courtyards of ancient Rome, was meant to connect the papal apartments and the Villa of Innocent VIII with a “covered and level” walkway of “two parallel porticoes diminishing in height from three to one stories in response to the rising terrain of Monte Sant’Egidio.”  The lower court included tiered seating and served as a “theater for such papal spectacles as dramas, jousts, and bull fights.  The lower court could also be flooded for mock battles at sea.  Between the upper court and the Villa was a small, open courtyard which housed the papal collection of sculpture, much of it from antiquity and recently unearthed.  In this courtyard the greatest artists of the day, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Bramante, would have walked and been inspired by the objects seen.

The Apollo Belvedere

This is a Roman copy of a Greek original by Leochares and has been in the Belvedere since 1511.  It is believed to be the inspiration for Christ in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment (although I personally don’t see it).  The Vatican Hill was once named Parnassus after the home of Apollo and it was on this hill the Apollo Belvedere was rediscovered.

Laocoön

Laocoön and his Sons

This is one of the most important discoveries in the development of art.  It was found by a gardener at the Villa in 1506.  Michelangelo and other artists were brought in to analyze the work and attempt to decipher it.  It actually wasn’t a problem; in the 1^st century CE Pliny the Elder described the sculpture and its location in the Palace of Titus, and even named the artists: Hagesander, Polydoros, and Athanadoros.  Laocoön was a Trojan priest who warned the Trojans of the Greeks plan to invade the city by way of the great wooden horse.  Unfortunately for them, the Trojans did not believe him.  But Athena did hear him and, being on the side of the Greeks, sent snakes to attack and devour Laocoön and his sons.  The rediscovery of this statue marks the beginning of modern archeology with multiple individuals working together, and consulting archaic sources to determine exactly a time, place and function of an object.  

Emotive Laocoön

Even more than that, Laocoön changed the way sculptors and painters looked at their art.  It had always been the goal of Renaissance sculptors to reach the level of and surpass that of antiquity.  Laocoön brought about the direct confrontation of one society with another from different eras and it changed the rules of art by adding new twists in form, defined musculature, as well as enhanced emotion.  Art changed forever at this point with artists placing their figures exaggerated twists and spirals, their bodies displaying dramatic tension, and giving the figures much greater depth of emotion.

Torso Belvedere

The Torso Belvedere was another ancient piece of sculpture that provided inspiration to artists.  It has an emphasis on muscles that was unseen in Renaissance art up to that point but the torso’s influence can be seen almost immediately.  One example is the Ignudi of Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling are based on the form of the Torso Belvedere.