Renaissance Art: Greatest Painter Essay

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Raphael: Artist of the Renaissance

Raphael was the son of Giovanni Santi, an educated man that was able to provide his young son with a remarkable life exposed to much art, many artistic geniuses, and the remarkable culture of the Umbrian court. Raphael was blessed during his childhood in terms of wealth and culture and would never have to know the life of a struggling artist nor the sense of begging for handouts or working in squalor. However, Raphael did suffer great tragedy: his mother died when he was eight years old and his father died three years later when Raphael was eleven years old. Thus, as a tender child, Raphael was no stranger to tragedy, something that no doubt instilled his life, making an imprint on him as an artist. One thing that Raphael's father did before his death that had a profound influence on the child and how he developed as an artist was by helping his son be placed within an apprenticeship with the workshop of Pietro Perugino. Perugino had a definitive impact on how Raphael constructed his paintings for his entire career. One could argue that Raphael's career had three distinct phases: the first phase of his career was the influenced largely by his father; the next phase was heavily influenced by the time he spent in Florence. The final leg of his career was influenced by 12 triumphant years in Rome.

Raphael's Time in Florence

Raphael moved to Florence in 1504 as a result of his intense desire to learn more from the greatest masterminds of Florentine Art. This was a time when Leonardo da Vinci was working at the top of his fame and Raphael was able in part to further develop his talent by mimicking some of the styles of developing human anatomy that were coined by Michelangelo and Da Vinci. When Raphael was a resident of Florence, he was able to create three magnificent items which were all notable altarpieces: the Ansidei Madonna, the Baglioni altarpiece and the Maddona del Baldacchino. These altarpieces still demonstrate the strong influence that Perugino had on the young artist: this influence is probably in part why these patrons commissioned Raphael to create the art in the first place. Consider for example, the Ansidei Madonna: this altarpiece depicts the Virgin Mary on the high throne, with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Nicholas of Bari on the right. There is an inherent sense of the pristine, placid and serene in this work, elements which recur throughout the work of Raphael. One of the more notable elements of this piece is the fact that the structural elements are not quite accurate, a deliberate detail meant to provoke greater and deeper meaning. "The internal architecture is not in fact entirely logical. The throne has no arms, and the steps are too steep to be practicable. They do, however, beautifully reflect the arches above and give the sense of a humble approach to the throne" (nationagallery.org). These altarpieces are able to demonstrate that while Raphael was still developing his own style, he was still at least being influenced by Florentine art.

One of the most remarkable pieces to emerge during Raphael's time in Florence was the notable piece, Madonna of the Goldfinch (1506). This painting demonstrates the balance and skill that was inherent in Raphael's work and how his talent was already maturing at such a young age. In this painting, "Raphael accepts the approach of the pyramidal composition, the gentle effects of the soft light and the emotional dialog between the characters, revealing the elements peculiar to the painting of Leonardo. Despite that is also plain what will be Raphael's own personal style: the extreme sweetness of the faces, particularly the Madonna's, the masterful use of colors, the realistic reproduction of the landscape and the profound intimacy between the figures" (Uffizi.org).

Raphael in Rome

Raphael's arrival in Rome was a remarkable time and in many ways it was the height of artistic fervor in Italy. When Raphael arrived in Rome it was 1508, the same year that Michelangelo began his work in the Sistine Chapel. When Raphael was 25 he was commissioned to decorate room of Pope Julius II. The Stanza are the rooms known to this day being decorated by Raphael and contain some of his most famous works, such as the School of Athens, Parnassus and the Disputation of the Sacrament.

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The second stanza room contained works like the Repulse of Attila, a groundbreaking example of the artist's use of light and composition (Finnan, 2014). There is a sense of movement and light in the piece, two dynamic qualities that work together with a sense of completion and movement that prior paintings didn't quite possess.

For a painter so young, Raphael developing in a rapid amount of time and was one who developed a fierce number of artwork: the young man was incredibly prolific. Raphael created a range of Madonna's, along with a range of altarpieces and portraits, all before his untimely death at the age of 37 (Finnan, 2014). During Raphael's time in Rome he also created his one and only mythological work entitled, Gatalea, which was painted for the Tiber villa of Agostino Chigi. This work has long been the subject of debate, as art critics often argue about what the representation is actually based upon. Regardless of Raphael's inspiration for the piece, it represents one of Raphael's most lively pieces with intensive amounts of action occurring throughout the fresco. "Bow wielding cherubim grace the sky aiming arrows in all directions while the surface of the sea below is characterized by several different interacting figures. On the right side of the painting, a triton abducts a sea nymph besides a rising horse while a satyr makes off with a girl on the opposite side of the painting. Galatea herself is depicted draped in a flowing red robe, standing on a giant conch shell chariot driven by two fanged dolphins, one of which wrestles a squid in its mouth. A winged cherubim races along below, while two separate tritons blow a conch shell horns" (fineartarchives.com). The entire representation is fantastical and highly dynamic, a piece which is able to demonstrate the highly imaginative mind that Raphael possessed, in addition to his tremendous artistic talent and vision. This was a piece that could be largely viewed as a masterpiece of creativity and something that is altogether different from anything else that Raphael had ever finished -- the work could be treated as a celebration of life. For all of these reasons, Raphael was treated as the quintessential Italian artist of the renaissance: for his skill, his attention to detail, his enormous talent, his subject matter and his grandiose execution.

The emergence of the new pope meant that Raphael continued his rise to fame and critical acclaim. The new pope was even more demanding of Raphael as an artist, but at this time Raphael had a virtual stable of students underneath him including a vast workload with his assistants helping him in the completion of his work (Finnan, 2014). In 1514, Raphael completed his work in the Stanza d'Eliodor and created his Fire in the Borgo (Finnan, 2014).

Given Raphael's solid work and honed personal and professional skills, Bramante recommended him for the chief post as architect under Julius II. Leo appointed him in this position, even despite Raphael's limited experience (Finnan, 2014).

1515-16 marked the time when Raphael created a series of cartoons for tapestries, which are today viewed as some of the most intensive treasures of the renaissance. The cartoons are referred to as the "acts of the apostles" as they showcase scenes from the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. One of the most remarkable qualities about these cartoons was that they had an intense degree of detail and finish that most other tapestries didn't possess. "Raphael also used an extremely subtle colour palette, one which the weavers would not have been able to reproduce exactly. This suggests that Raphael may have considered the cartoons to be works of art in their own right, rather than designs for another work. However, he may simply not have wanted the cartoons to leave his workshop in an unfinished state. In any case, centuries after their creation, the cartoons have come to be considered independent works" (vam.ac.uk). These works are still marveled at today, as they represent a culmination of Raphael's talent and expertise. Raphael's final works such as the Loggias represent grand designs and executions, which caused a great deal of sensation and which recreated a remarkable splendor of antiquity that was appreciated during the Renaissance and even today. Even after Raphael's untimely death, his work and techniques were referred to very heavily and his influence can be seen on Italian.....

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