RAPHAEL
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RAPHAEL
"Cowper Madonna" (Panshanger), the two last-
named being contemporaries (1506 or 1507) and to a
certain extent twins. The third group, however,
shows a new stage, a superior tj-pe of composition and
style. Raphael was then obviously under the influence
of the great Dominican painter, Fra Bartolommeo,
one of those who did most in the sixteenth century to
organize the truly Florentine pictorial tradition. This
learned painter who was gifted to a high degree with a
sense of balance and beautiful composition, greatly
influenced the young Umbrian, the influence becoming
apparent as early as 1505, when Raphael executed at
San Severino, Perugia, a fresco of which he painted
only the upper part (it was completed in 1521 by the
aged Perugino). This fresco, which was important
inasmuch as it contained the germ of the "Disputa",
merely reproduces the arrangement of Fra Barto-
lommeo's "Last Judgment". To him Raphael owes
the methods by which he produced the Virgins of the
third group, in which the Madonna appears at full
length in a landscape with the Infant and the young
St. John. The sublime trio in such compositions as
"La Belle Jardiniere " (Louvre, 1507), the "Madonna
of the Meadow" (V'ienna), or the "Madonna of the
Goldfinch" (Uffizi, Florence) is an idea directly de-
rived from the teachings of the artist-monk. Here
Raphael detaches himself from the external symmetry
of Perugino's art, attaining a harmony at once more
complex, intimate, and li^^ng.
From this period date several more important works in which the young man practised painting in the "noble" style. He began to receive orders and to gain a reputation. On setting out for Rome he left unfinished the "Madonna of the Baldacchino" (Pitti Palace, 1508), and it is not known when it was completed, but it is without originality and might pass for a picture by Fra Bartolommeo. Preferable to it is his "Madonna Ansidei" (National Gallery, 1507), less "modem" and more "Peruginesque", but one of the loveliest things conceivable in this traditional style. From 1508 dates the "Entomb- ment" of the Casino Borghese. This work, ordered by Atalanta Baglioni for the chapel of her son Griffonetto at Perugia, is Raphael's first attempt in the historic manner. His client was important and he had an opportunity to gain distinction; it is evi- dent that he spared no pains. Prepared for by an extraordinary number of drawings, the work is never- theless one of the artist's least fortunate ventures. It is spoiled by excessive labour. Raphael wished to display all his knowledge and resources, uniting on the same canvas the qualities of the two masters of the "cartoons" of the Signory, the men whom he most admired and who tantalized him most, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Too many contradic- tory ambitions injured the result and the great at- tempt ended in failure. But his contemporaries judged otherwise, and the "Entombment" ranked Raphael among the foremost of the Florentine painters. Thenceforth all eyes were on him. The period of beginnings and attempts was over. In the summer of 1508 the young man went to Urbino. Julius II had just ascended the papal throne. Duke Guidobaldo recommended Raphael to the pope who was having the Vatican repainted and re- decorated. In October, 1508, Raphael reached Rome.
RoM.'VN Period (1508-20). — The twelve years of Raphael's life in Rome are unparalleled. In this short space of time the young master multiplied masterpieces and left behind him the most complete, serene, and harmonious expression of the Renais- sance. The painter of the Madonnas and of the little pictures of the Florentine period underwent the most surprising transformation, becoming all at once a most productive decorative painter on a vast scale. His genius set itself to the most exalted
as well as the most diverse tasks, his inexhaustible
resources permitting him to conceive of and complete
within a few years the Stanze or Chambers of the
Vatican, the "Acts of the Apostles", the Farnesina,
and the Loggie, not to mention other undertakings
as architect, archaeologist, and sculptor, and fifty
pictures or portraits, nearly all of which are master-
pieces. It is a metamorphosis without precedent or
explanation. When we consider that this vast and
immortal work was accomplished in less than twelve
years by a young man who was twenty-six when he
began and who died at thirt_y-seven, we must question
whether the world has twice beheld the wonder of
such a genius.
Julius II, the reigning pope, was one to whom modern speech willingly accords the title "superman" or "hero". He was one of the first to conceive of and pursue the policy of Italian unity. Beyond doubt this warrior pontiff, who entered the citadel of Mirandola through the breach, had a somewhat temporal idea of his power, but through art he en- dowed the Church with an intellectual importance which it seemed to have lost since the Great Schism. In his powerful hands Rome became what it only recently ceased to be, the capital of the civilized world. Space does not permit adequate treatment of this point; but when face to face with the chief problems of the sixteenth century; when the question arose as to whether the Church would absorb or reject and condemn progress, whether or not it would associate itself with the himianistic spirit, Julius II deserves the credit for having taken sides with the Renaissance and prepared the stage for the moral triumph of the Church. The great creations of Julius II, Bramante's St. Peter's and Raphael's Vatican, are inseparable from the great ideas of humanity and culture represented by the Catholic Church. Here art surpasses itself, becoming the language of something higher, the symbol of one of the noblest harmonies ever realized by human nature. At the will of this extraordinary man Rome became at the end of the sixteenth century- the meeting place and centre of all that was great in art and thought. With the infallible sense and discernment of great judges of men, the pope had immediately called to his service those who would do most honour to his reign. He did not make a mistake, and posterity can only ratify his choice. But his infallible divina- tion is best shown in his selection of Raphael. There was nothing in the young man's work to presage the wholly new genius he was to display nor the un- equalled powers of composition, nobility, and beauty which slumbered in that privileged soul. It is probable that Bramante who, like Raphael, was a native of Urbino, actively furthered his young towns- man's interest with the pope, and caused him to be received among the inner circle of artists whom Julius II had engaged for the works in his palace. It must have been chiefly to the great architect, whose magnificent frescoes were at the Castle of Milan, to the conversations, the example, and familiar inter- course with this powerful genius, that Raphael owed the sudden broadening of his ideas and the imfore- seen maturity of his style; the young Umbrian became worthy of the grandeur of Rome. But nothing completely explains this singular metamorphosis; it remains the miracle of Raphael's existence.
The pope, wearj' of dwelling in the apartments of his predecessor (the famous Appartamento Borgia, decorated by Pinturicchio), decided to remodel the lower chambers which had already been used by Nicholas V. A whole colony of painters, including the aged Signorelli and the aged Penigino, Sodoma and Bramantino, Peruzzi, Lotto and the Fleming Ruysch, in 1502 took up their residence in the Vatican and once more Raphael worked beside his former master. But his first attempts showed such mastery that the
