Raphael

Jill Dwyer reminded me that Raphael Santi (1483 -1520), one of the greatest Italian Renaissance painters, died 500 years ago on Good Friday at the age of 37 years.  In 1520 Good Friday (which was apparently also Raphael’s birthday) was April 6.  Despite his early death, Raphael produced a large body of work and was extremely influential in his lifetime – although after his death his reputation was eclipsed by his rival, Michelangelo.

Raphael’s life and times were comprehensively documented by the great art historian Giorgio Vasari who described the artist’s career as having three distinct phases and styles.  These include an early period in Umbria as an apprentice in the workshop of Pietro Perugino, followed by time absorbing the artistic traditions in Florence, and concluding with twelve years in Rome under the patronage of two Popes. There is considerable literature on the life and art of Raphael online and one of the most comprehensive sites, which also includes images of his complete works, is: https://www.raphaelsanzio.org/biography.html

Vasari describes Raphael as: “a very amorous person, delighting much in women, and ever ready to serve them” and cites Raphael’s ‘carnal pleasures’ as the cause of his premature death: “pursuing his amours in secret, Raffaello continued to divert himself beyond measure with the pleasures of love; whence it happened that, having on one occasion indulged in more than his usual excess, he returned to his house in a violent fever. The physicians, therefore, believing that he had overheated himself, and receiving from him no confession of the excess of which he had been guilty, imprudently bled him, insomuch that he was weakened and felt himself sinking; for he was in need rather of restoratives. Thereupon he made his will: and first, like a good Christian, he sent his mistress out of the house, leaving her the means to live honourably”.

Rafael’s final illness lasted fifteen days and he was fortunate enough to be able to confess his sins, receive the last rites and put his affairs in order. In his will – apart from leaving funds for his mistress – he organized the distribution of his studio contents to his artist disciples, Giulio Romano and Giovanni Francesco, and left money for the restoration of part of the church, Santa Maria Ritonda.  At his request, Rafael was buried in the Pantheon and his marble sarcophagus bears an inscription by Pietro Bembo whose English translation is: “Here lies that famous Raphael by whom Nature feared to be conquered while he lived; and when he was dying, feared herself to die”.

Jill also directed me to an article in MutualArt  – ‘Raphael: The Consolation of Beauty in the Face of Fear’. In the final years of the 15^th century, Tuscany was in chaos. It had experienced waves of the ‘Black Death’ and the zealotry of the Dominican monk, Girolamo Savonarola. With the plague recurring in 1499, Citta di Castello (which is close to Florence) sought out Rafael to paint his first commissioned work – a double-sided banner for the confraternity church of Santa Trinita. On one side of the banner there is the image of the Christian trinity with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian. These saints were called upon for protection against the plague. As the article notes: ‘Raphael’s banner paintings were a talisman of protection against such anxiety, calming and reassuring symbols of beauty and faith that taught the people that this, too, would pass, and that their tribulations were horrible but temporary… The confraternity hired young Raphael recognizing that the beauty he was capable of making was the consolation of the people”: https://www.mutualart.com/Article/Raphael–The-Consolation-of-Beauty-in-th/E50B3C131E534A66?utm_source=MutualArt+Subscribers&utm_campaign=5e84903c59-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0a9ce6ca24-5e84903c59-444725541

With so much confusion, distress and sadness in the world today, the consolation of beauty in art is something that can help sustain us.