“I wanted to be an eternal viewer of one picture”, - Pushkin said about "Sistine Madonna" brushes of the great Rafael Santi.
This Renaissance masterpiece was first painted by the artist without the help of his students and showed the Mother of God literally descending on the viewer, turning her soft gaze on him.
Raphael received the order to create the painting in 1512 and immediately moved from Rome to a remote province in order to quickly get down to business. The artist seemed to feel that the “Sistine Madonna” was destined to become the apogee of his creative talent. Many said that the painting was created at a time when Raphael was experiencing personal grief, so he put his sadness into the image of a beautiful maiden with sad eyes. In the mother's gaze, the viewer is able to read excitement and humility - feelings caused by the anticipation of the inevitable tragic fate own son. Madonna tenderly hugs the child to herself, as if sensing the moment when she will have to tear the tender baby away from her heart and introduce the Savior to humanity.
Initially, the “Sistine Madonna” was conceived as an altar image for the chapel of the monastery of St. Sixtus. At that time, for such work, craftsmen “trained their hands” on a wooden board, but Raphael Santi depicted the Mother of God on canvas, and soon her figure towered majestically above the semicircular choir of the church.
The artist depicted his Madonna barefoot, covered in a simple veil and devoid of an aura of holiness. In addition, many viewers noted that the woman was holding the child in her arms the way simple peasant women did. Despite the fact that the Virgin is deprived of the visible attributes of high origin, other characters in the picture greet her as a queen. Young Barbara expresses reverence for the Madonna with her gaze, and Saint Sixtus kneels before her and extends his hand, which marks the symbol of the appearance of the Mother of God to people. If you look closely, it seems as if Sixt’s outstretched hand “flaunts” six fingers. There were legends that by doing so Rafael wanted to beat original name bishop of Rome, which is translated from Latin as “sixth.” In fact, the presence of an extra finger is just an illusion, and the viewer sees inner side Sixtus's palms.
Various rumors circulated around the depicted image of the Mother of God. Some researchers note that the Madonna is a deity in human form, and her face is considered to be the embodiment of the ideal of ancient beauty. Karl Bryullov once said about her:
“The more you look, the more you feel the incomprehensibility of these beauties: every feature is considered, filled with an expression of grace, connected with in the strictest style»
Today it is impossible to establish for sure whether the Virgin was really as Raphael portrayed her, so many legends are formed around this issue. One of them says that the prototype of the legendary Madonna was Fornarina, the artist’s beloved woman and model. But in a friendly letter to Baldassare Castiglione, the master said that he did not create the image of perfect beauty with a certain girl, but synthesized his impressions of many beauties that Raphael was destined to meet.
Creating collective image, the great artist managed in the “Sistine Madonna” to combine the features of the highest religious ideal with the highest humanity, while maintaining the simplicity of the composition. Many noted that, as if knowing the secrets of the universe, he opened the curtain to an incomprehensible world for man, as Carlo Maratti said:
“If they showed me a painting by Raphael and I didn’t know anything about him, if they told me that this was the creation of an angel, I would believe it”
Raphael Sanzio was born in 1483 in the province of Umbria and received provincial training in the workshop of Pietro Perugino.
At the age of seventeen he turned out to be one of the most promising young artists, but was still heavily influenced by Perugino's work. This can be seen in his early painting The Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin and the Crucifixion are now in the National Gallery, London.
"Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin" (w)
« Moving with inspired conviction, Raphael's hand created the lines that shaped his desire for eloquent forms.".
Opening his "Portrait of Youth", a likely self-portrait taken in 1500, when he may have received the title Master's degree, we see the serene confidence and glowing potential of life imbued with simple black chalk on paper.
His ability to accurately convey vast fragments of subtle human emotion is a recurring theme in his drawings, and none of this is contained in any detail. Often expressions are only lightly suggested with simple signs, but throughout the composition he is able to convey imaginative impressions of subtle and complex aspects of human life.
« Raphael uses drawing as a means of observation, as a way of expression and as a way of reflecting human emotions and actions.".
In the sketch "Our Lady of the Pomegranate" the mother looks lovingly at the Christ child as he reaches the fruit, her expression radiating warmth divine love, but with a grim acceptance of the challenges the child will face.
There is a complex truth common to human experience in this image, mother's love, accompanied by the agony of learning the inevitable difficulties that come with life, and the need for all children to move on from the safety of their mothers.
Works of Raphael
Arriving in Florence, the young artist soon realized the limitations of his apprenticeship in Umbria. He was faced with the daunting task presented by the works of Leonardo and Michelangelo, and set out to learn from both his paintings and sculptures.
Raphael lacked the depth of Leonardo's knowledge and could not match the strength of Michelangelo, but he was an assertive artist, and the virtues that made him a favorite began to appear, and potential patrons began to appear.
His two great predecessors and rivals were at times difficult to cope with and proved unpredictable in carrying out their assignments, and so the young artist was able to compete despite the reputation of the two great masters.
"Madonna of the Meadows"(w)
During this time, Raphael was also influenced by the artist Fra Bortolomeo of Tuscany, and they remained friendly, but Leonardo's influence was evident in the 1506 Madonna of the Meadow.
Raphael arrived in Rome in 1508, and Pope Julius II soon found work for young artist. He was asked to decorate the Pope's private library in several rooms known as the Stanz. Paintings include The School of Athens, The Disputation of the Sacrament, and Parnassus, in which he refined his concepts of philosophy and theology while trying to find ways to portray compelling visual narratives. They remain among the most famous images created by the artist.
"School of Athens" Signed, Vatican, Rome.(and)
IN " Athens school“Each philosopher is given a special character, as Raphael demonstrates.
Probably reflecting deeply on the ideas of the philosophers themselves, as well as his expert portrayal, he strives to display inner balance through outer gesture. Raphael was very familiar with the culture of oratory in Rome and the importance of facial expression and hand gesture.
In one study of the figure of Christ from La Disputa, the weight of the cloth covering the lower half of Christ appears almost status-like and permanent, like marble, while the upper body dissolves and is enveloped in an ethereal divine light, reached through the gap of space left by Raphael and barely traceable white ink that draws out further luminosity.
The term used by Raphael and others during the Renaissance is Disegno, which means both design and art: the artist does not describe ideas, but develops the most perfect expression for them.
« The eloquence of Raphael's drawing is based on the deep reflection and intelligence of his hands »
Raphael shows us something about human nature and human potential: a reflection of the natural complexities of life that elude expression in words.
Pope Leo X prospered in his affairs after the death of Julius II, he was a member of the Medici family and continued to act as a patron of the artist who painted the Pope's portrait in 1518.
Pope Leo X. Oil on wood, 154 x 119 cm, Uffizi, Florence(s)
Triumph of Galatea1512 . (s)
Galatea was painted for the merchant and banker Agosto Chiga, who was possibly the richest man in Rome at the time the painting was commissioned. The work was placed at Villa Chigi on the banks of the Tiber (now called Villa Farnesina) and was intended to highlight Chigi's position as the main patron of the arts.
In 1514 the artist was named architect of St. Peter's and for some time was the most important architect in Rome. He designed several buildings, including the Chiga Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, but his work on St. Peters was not successful, as Michelangelo's design was adopted.
Vision of Ezekiel 1518.
Oil on panel, Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
Sistine Madonna by Raphael
The Sistine Madonna is one of the most famous works Raphael. The painting takes its name from the Church of San Sisto in Piacenza, and Raphael painted it as an altarpiece for this church in 1513-1514. This painting was purchased in 1754 by King Augustus III of Saxony for his collection in Dresden. In Germany, the painting was very influential, sparking debate on issues of art and religion.
Sistine Madonna.
1513-1514. Oil on canvas. 104 x 77in (265x196cm)
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. (s)
The Madonna holds her child as she floats through swirling carpets of clouds, surrounded by Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara. At the foot of the picture there are two angels (cherubs) who look into contemplation. There has been much speculation about sadness or even petrified expressions on the face of the Virgin and baby Jesus. Why are they so sad and afraid? Why does Saint Sixtus point to the painting for us, the viewers?
The answer becomes clear when we consider the original intended location of the job. Placed behind the screen of a choir that no longer survives, the Sistine Madonna would have collided with a crucifix attached to the screen. So, the mystery is solved, the Virgin and baby Jesus look at the crucifix. The frightened expressions are understandable, Jesus sees his own death, and his mother witnesses the torture and death of her child. This is the site of the crucifixion, which Saint Sixtus also points out, not to the viewer.
St Sixtus (detail)(s)
Saint Sixtus points to a painting at the site of the crucifixion. Notice how wonderfully painted the hands are .
St. Barbara (detail)(s)
This may indicate that the canvas was planned to be used as a banner (unless the choice of material is explained by the large dimensions of the work).
In the 18th century, a legend spread (not confirmed by historical documents) that Julius II ordered a painting from Raphael for his tomb, and that the model for the Madonna was Raphael's beloved Fornarina, for Saint Sixtus - Pope Julius himself (nephew of Sixtus IV), and for Saint Barbara - his niece Giulia Orsini. Supporters of the theory that the painting was created for the papal tomb emphasize that the acorns on the robe of Sixtus II clearly refer to these two popes from the della Rovere family ( rovere means "oak").
At the same time, the creation of the image specifically for the church in Piacenza is indicated by the fact that Saints Sixtus and Barbara, depicted on this canvas, have always been considered its patrons. The image successfully fit into the central part of the apse of the church in Piacenza, where it served as a kind of replacement for the missing window.
Worldwide fame
The painting, lost in one of the churches of provincial Piacenza, remained little known until mid-18th century century, when the Saxon Elector Augustus III, after two years of negotiations, received permission from Benedict XIV to take it to Dresden. Prior to this, Augustus' agents tried to negotiate the purchase of more famous works Raphael, who were in Rome itself. A copy of the Sistine Madonna by Giuseppe Nogari remains in the Temple of San Sisto. A few decades later, after the publication of rave reviews by Goethe and Winckelmann, the new acquisition eclipsed Correggio's Holy Night as the main masterpiece of the Dresden collection.
Since Russian travelers began their grand tour precisely from Dresden, “The Sistine Madonna” became for them their first meeting with the heights of Italian art and therefore received Russia XIX century, resounding fame, surpassing all other Madonnas of Raphael. Almost all artistically oriented Russian travelers to Europe wrote about her - N. M. Karamzin, V. A. Zhukovsky (“heavenly passing maiden”), V. Kuchelbecker (“divine creation”), A. A. Bestuzhev (“this is not Madonna, this is Raphael’s faith”), K. Bryullov, V. Belinsky (“the figure is strictly classical and not at all romantic”), A. I. Herzen, A. Fet, L. N. Tolstoy, I. Goncharov, I. Repin , F. M. Dostoevsky. A. S. Pushkin, who had not seen it with his own eyes, mentions this work several times.
World War II and storage in the USSR
After the war, the painting was kept in the storerooms of the Pushkin Museum until it was returned along with the entire Dresden collection to the authorities of the GDR in 1955. Before this, “Madonna” was presented to the Moscow public. V. S. Grossman responded to the farewell of “The Sistine Madonna” story of the same name, where he connected the famous image with his own memories of Treblinka:
Looking after the Sistine Madonna, we maintain the belief that life and freedom are one, that there is nothing higher than the human in man.
Description
The two angels depicted in the painting became the motif of numerous postcards and posters. Some art historians claim that these angels are leaning on the lid of the coffin. The left angel at the bottom of the picture has only one wing visible.
Disappointment
In philately
Reproduced on postage stamp GDR 1955.
Notes
- http://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/de/contents/show?id=372144
- https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Details/Index/372144
- Art critic Hubert Grimme insists that the painting was intended specifically for a funeral ceremony. He was prompted to research by a question: where did the wooden plank in the foreground of the picture on which the two angels rest come from? The next question was: how did it happen that an artist like Raphael had the idea to frame the sky with curtains? The researcher is convinced that the order for the “Sistine Madonna” was received in connection with the installation of a coffin for the solemn farewell to Pope Sixtus II. The pope's body was displayed for farewell in a side aisle of St. Peter's Basilica. Raphael's painting was installed on the coffin in a niche in this chapel. Raphael depicted how, from the depths of this niche framed by green curtains, the Madonna in the clouds approaches the pope’s coffin. During the funeral celebrations, the outstanding exhibition value of Raphael's painting was realized. Some time later, the painting ended up on the main altar of the monastery church in Piacenza. The basis of this exile was Catholic ritual. It prohibits the use of images displayed at funeral ceremonies for religious purposes on the main altar. Because of this ban, Raphael's creation to some extent lost its value. To get the appropriate price for the painting, the curia had no choice but to give its silent agreement to place the painting on the main altar. In order not to draw attention to this violation, the painting was sent to a fraternity in a distant provincial town.
- Kommersant-Weekend - Home Madonna
- Kommersant-Gazeta - Gala picture
- Pushkin and Raphael (undefined) (unavailable link). Retrieved June 15, 2012. Archived March 7, 2012.
- Sistine Madonna and Rabinovich
- The epic of the rescue of Dresden (undefined) (unavailable link). Retrieved November 15, 2018.
The Sistine Madonna is the most famous of Raphael Santi's paintings, which has no creative analogues. About the history of the creation of the “Sistine Madonna”, the first mentions of the “Sistine Madonna”, about the original name of the masterpiece artistic classics read our article.
"This the whole world, the magnificent, colorful world of art. This picture alone would be more than enough to make the author’s name, if he had not created anything else, immortal.”
Goethe on the Sistine Madonna
Raphael's highest creative rise lasted until the mid-1510s, and during this period the creation of the Sistine Madonna, the most famous of the artist's paintings, occurred.
"Sistine Madonna", Raphael Santi
At one time, this painting was considered the most famous in the world, not only because of its beauty, but also because the Polish-Saxon king Frederick AugustusIIIThe Saxon bought it in 1574 from the Church of St. Sixtus in Piacenza for a lot of money. From the name of the church, the painting received its new, now known to everyone, name - “Sistine Madonna”, and initially it was called “Madonna and Child, with St. Sixtus and St. Barbara”. Relics associated with these saints were kept in the Church of St. Sixtus. Relics are extremely important to the church because they produce the desired effect. Papa JuliusII, while still a cardinal, he collected donations for the construction of a chapel in the church for the relics of St. Sixtus and St. Barbara.
Church of St. Sixtus, Piacenza
There is no documentary evidence of the creation of the “Sistine Madonna” and why it ended up in the monastery of St. Sixtus in Piacenza. The painting was first mentioned in Vasari’s “Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects” only in 1550. According to Vasari: “He (Raphael) made for the black monks (monastery) St. Sixtus a board (image) of the main altar with the appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sixtus and St. Barbara; a unique and original creation.” Vasari's statement that the altar image was executed on a board indicates that he himself did not see the Sistine Madonna, because the picture was painted on canvas. Vasari's mistake has a simple explanation: at the beginningXVIcenturies, altar images were usually executed on boards. The huge Sistine Madonna (256x196 cm) is painted on canvas. It is quite possible that the choice of material depended on the large dimensions of the painting. But this can also be interpreted as a hint that the painting was intended as an element of a banner.
The banner is a religious banner in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches. It is a cloth on a shaft with the image of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary or saints. Church banners were intended for religious processions.
The dating of the creation of the painting is extended in time - from 1512 to 1519, and is still controversial. Most researchers consider the most likely date of its execution to be 1512 - 1514.
All Italian culture originates from monasteries. A monastery is a religious community of monks or nuns that has a single charter and a single complex of liturgical, residential and economic buildings. The birthplace of monasticism is Egypt, famous for its desert fathersIV- Vcenturies. The Monk Pachomius the Great founded the first communal monastery and wrote the first monastic charter in 318. Monasteries were not only about religion, they were centers of knowledge since the Dark Middle Ages. Each monastery had a library and a place where scriptorium books were copied, and their Team work launched a chain of events favorable for the development of culture. Some monasteries, such as the first Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino (founded in 529), were true medieval centers of learning. The monks engaged in research in various fields of philosophy, medicine and music. The first schools were opened at monasteries. Novices of monasteries often became popes: Pope Leo X, the patron of Raphael, was a novice of the monastery of Monte Cassino, 100 km from Rome. Monasteries provided shelter frail old people and the sick and were a place where one could hide from the worldly environment, from the chaos and violence reigning in the world. Under the influence of Savonarolla's teachings, Leonardo da Vinci in 1491 went to a Dominican monastery near Pisa for some time. Adherents of the ideas of the “demagogue on religious grounds” Savonarola were the elder brother Michelangelo, who became a monk in Viterbo, and the artist della Porta, who after taking monastic orders received the name Fra Bartolomeo.
The Monastery of St. Sixtus, one of the most ancient monasteries, was founded by Queen Engilberga in 874. And like any monastery, it lived autonomously, strictly guarding its secrets. We must not forget that these were difficult times: Italy lived in a state of incessant wars that destroyed people and the very spirit of civilization. The terrible reality of these wars was not just catastrophic, sometimes simply irreparable losses: during Napoleon’s Italian campaign, the archives of the monastery of St. Sixtus burned down. Unfortunately, no preparatory drawings or sketches of the Sistine Madonna. And since there is no source of historical information, the name of the customer beautiful picture still not known.
The German researcher M. Putcher and his followers are convinced that Raphael painted the “Sistine Madonna” for the Church of St. Sixtus, and in this church the painting remained until it was taken to Dresden. According to his version, Pope Julius donated the “Sistine Madonna” to the Church of St. Sixtus in gratitude for the contribution that Piacenza made (the monks of the monastery actively campaigned for annexation to Rome) during the war with France. At firstXVIcentury, the northern lands of Italy became the subject and place of conflict between the selfish interests of Rome and France. The papal troops coped so well with the bloody task of conquering the northern regions that the northern Italian cities, one after another, went over to the side of the Roman pontiff. On June 24, 1512, Piacenza also voluntarily joined Rome, entering the state of the pope and receiving the status of the Papal States.
YuliyaII, whose political ambitions went hand in hand with religious zeal, had a special relationship with Piacenza. This small town 60 km from Milan reminded Pope Julius of his relationship with Pope SixtusIV, his uncle. In addition, in the city there was the Cathedral of St. Sixtus, the patron saint of the della Rovere family, to which Pope Julius belonged. While staying in Piacenza in June 1500, while still a cardinal, Pope JuliusIIgranted the monks of the monastery absolution for the charitable work of building a church. The Church of St. Sixtus, heavily damaged during the war and restored by the famous architect Alessio Tramallo in 1499-1511, was reopened after reconstruction with a new altar image - Raphael's masterpiece "Sistine Madonna".
Interior of the Church of St. Sixtus
"I remember wonderful moment:
You appeared before me,
Like a fleeting vision
Like a genius of pure beauty..."
We are all with school years remember these lines. At school we were told that Pushkin dedicated this poem to Anna Kern. But that's not true.
According to Pushkin scholars, Anna Petrovna Kern was not a “genius of pure beauty,” but was known as a woman of very “free” behavior. She stole from Pushkin famous poem, literally snatching it from his hands.
Who did Pushkin write about then, whom did he call “the genius of pure beauty”?
It is now known that the words “genius of pure beauty” belong to the Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky, who in 1821 admired Raphael Santi’s painting “The Sistine Madonna” in the Dresden Gallery.
This is how Zhukovsky conveyed his impressions: “The hour that I spent in front of this Madonna belongs to the happy hours of life... Everything around me was quiet; first, with some effort, he entered into himself; then he clearly began to feel that the soul was spreading; some kind of touching feeling greatness was included in it; the indescribable was depicted for her, and she was where only life can be in the best moments. The genius of pure beauty was with her.”
Anyone who has been to the German city of Dresden strives to visit the Zwinger art gallery to admire the paintings of Italian painters.
I, too, have always dreamed of seeing Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” with my own eyes.
Dresden is a city of art and culture; sister city of St. Petersburg. The city is home to world-famous art collections. Dresden is one of the most visited cities in Germany by tourists.
Dresden was first mentioned as a city in 1216. The name "Dresden" has Slavic roots. Since 1485, Dresden has been the capital of Saxony.
Dresden has many monuments and attractions. There is also a monument to Richard Wagner, whose music from the opera “Lohengrin” is heard in my video. Wagner's first opera was staged in Dresden. The future is there great composer distinguished himself as a revolutionary, participating in the May uprising of the 1848 revolution.
Vladimir Putin's career began in Dresden, where he served for five years.
On February 13 and 14, 1945, Dresden was subjected to large-scale bombing by British and American aircraft, as a result of which the city was completely destroyed. The number of victims ranged from 25 to 40 thousand people. Dresden Art Gallery The Zwinger and the Semper Opera were almost completely destroyed.
After the war, the ruins of palaces, churches, and historical buildings were carefully dismantled, all fragments were described and taken out of the city. The restoration of the center took almost forty years. The surviving fragments were supplemented with new ones, which is why stone blocks buildings have dark and light shades.
At the end of World War II, the Nazis hid the paintings of the famous Dresden Gallery in damp limestone mines and were ready to completely blow up and destroy priceless treasures so that they would not fall into the hands of the Russians. But by order of the Soviet command, soldiers of the First Ukrainian Front searched for the greatest masterpieces of the Gallery for two months, and finally found them. The Sistine Madonna was sent to Moscow for restoration, and in 1955 it was returned along with other paintings to Dresden.
However, today the story is told differently. In the booklet that we received at the Dresden Gallery, in particular, it is written: “During the Second World War, the main fund of the gallery was evacuated and remained unharmed. After the end of the war, the paintings were transported to Moscow and Kyiv. Welcome to the return of artistic treasures from 1955\56. restoration of the significantly damaged gallery building began, reopening to visitors on June 3, 1956.”
SISTINE MADONNA
The painting “The Sistine Madonna” was painted by Raphael in 1512-1513, commissioned by Pope Julius II for the altar of the church of the monastery of St. Sixtus in Piacenza, where the relics of St. Sixtus and St. Barbara were kept. The painting shows Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred in 258 AD. and canonized, asks Mary for intercession for all who pray to her before the altar. The pose of Saint Barbara, her face and downcast gaze express humility and reverence.
In 1754, the painting was acquired by King Augustus III of Saxony and brought to his Dresden residence. The court of the Saxon electors paid 20,000 sequins for it - a considerable sum for those times.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Russian writers and artists traveled to Dresden to see the Sistine Madonna. They saw in her not only a perfect work of art, but also the highest measure of human nobility.
The artist Karl Bryullov wrote: “The more you look, the more you feel the incomprehensibility of these beauties: every feature is thought out, filled with an expression of grace, combined with the strictest style.”
Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky had a reproduction of the Sistine Madonna in their offices. The wife of F. M. Dostoevsky wrote in her diary: “Fyodor Mikhailovich ranked the works of Raphael above all in painting and recognized the Sistine Madonna as his highest work.”
This picture serves as a kind of litmus test in assessing the character of Dostoevsky's heroes. So in spiritual development Arkady (“Teenager”) leaves a deep impression on the engraving he saw depicting the Madonna. Svidrigailov (“Crime and Punishment”) recalls the face of the Madonna, whom he calls the “mournful holy fool,” and this statement allows us to see the depth of his moral decline.
Perhaps not everyone likes this picture. But, as they say, over many centuries so many great people have liked it that now it chooses who it likes.
The Dresden Gallery banned photography and filming two years ago. But I still managed to capture the moment of contact with the masterpiece.
Since childhood, I have admired the reproduction of this painting, and always dreamed of seeing it with my own eyes. And when my dream came true, I was convinced: no reproduction can compare with the effect that happens in your soul when you stand near this canvas!
The artist Kramskoy admitted in a letter to his wife that only in the original he noticed many things that were not noticeable in any of the copies. “Raphael’s Madonna is truly a great work and truly eternal, even when humanity stops believing, when scientific research... really reveals historical features both of these persons ... and then the painting will not lose its value, but only its role will change.”
"Once human soul there was such a revelation, it cannot happen twice,” wrote an admiring Vasily Zhukovsky.
As ancient legends tell, Pope Julius II had a vision of the Mother of God and Child. Through the efforts of Raphael, it turned into the appearance of the Virgin Mary to people.
Raphael created the Sistine Madonna around 1516. By this time, he had already painted many paintings depicting the Mother of God. Very young Raphael became famous as amazing master and the incomparable poet of the image of the Madonna. The St. Petersburg Hermitage houses the “Conestabile Madonna,” which was created by a seventeen-year-old artist!
Raphael borrowed the idea and composition of the Sistine Madonna from Leonardo, but this is also a generalization of his own life experience, images and reflections on Madonnas, the place of religion in people's lives.
“He always created what others only dreamed of creating,” wrote about Raphael Goethe.
When I looked at this picture, not yet knowing the history of its creation, the woman with a child in her arms was not the Mother of God for me, but a simple woman, like everyone else, giving her child to the cruel world.
It is striking that Maria looks like a simple woman, and that she is holding the baby, as peasant women usually hold them. Her face is mournful, she can barely hold back her tears, as if anticipating the bitter fate of her son.
In the background of the picture, if you look closely, the outlines of angels can be seen in the clouds. These are souls who are waiting for their turn to incarnate in order to bring the light of love to people.
At the bottom of the picture, two guardian angels with bored faces watch the ascension of a new soul. Judging by the expressions on their faces, it seems that they already know in advance what will happen to Mary’s baby, and are patiently waiting for the destined to happen.
Can the new baby save the world?
And what can a soul embodied in a human body manage to do during the short period of its stay on this sinful earth?
Main question: Is this work a painting? or is it an icon?
Raphael sought to transform the human into the divine, and the earthly into the eternal.
Raphael wrote The Sistine Madonna at a time when he himself was experiencing severe grief. And therefore he put all his sadness into the divine face of his Madonna. He created the most beautiful image Mother of God, combining in him the traits of humanity with the highest religious ideality.
By a strange coincidence, immediately after visiting the Dresden Gallery, I read an article about the history of the creation of the Sistine Madonna. The content of the article shocked me! The image of a woman with a baby captured by Raphael has forever gone down in the history of painting as something tender, virgin and pure. However, in real life the woman depicted as the Madonna was far from an angel. Moreover, she was considered one of the most depraved women of her era.
There are several versions of this legendary love. Some talk about the sublime and pure relationship between the artist and his muse, others about the base, vicious passion of a celebrity and a girl from the bottom.
Rafael Santi first met his future muse in 1514, when he was working in Rome on an order from the noble banker Agostino Chiga. The banker invited Raphael to paint main gallery his Farnesino palace. Soon the gallery walls were decorated famous frescoes"The Three Graces" and "Galatea". The next one was supposed to be the image of "Cupid and Psyche". However, Rafael could not find suitable model for the image of Psyche.
One day, while walking along the banks of the Tiber, Raphael saw a lovely girl who managed to win his heart. At the time of meeting Rafael, Margarita Luti was only seventeen years old. The girl was the daughter of a baker, for which the master nicknamed her Fornarina (from Italian word"bread baker")
Rafael decided to offer the girl to work as a model and invited her to his studio. Rafael was 31 years old, he was a very interesting man. And the girl could not resist. She surrendered herself to the great master. Perhaps not only because of love, but also for selfish reasons.
In gratitude for the visit, the artist gave Margarita a gold necklace.
For 50 gold coins, Raphael received the consent of Fornarina's father to paint as many portraits as he wanted of his daughter.
But Fornarina also had a fiancé - the shepherd Tomaso Cinelli. Every night they locked themselves in Margarita’s room, indulging in lovemaking.
Fornarina persuaded her fiancé to let a great artist fall in love with her, who would give money for their wedding. Tomaso agreed, but demanded that the bride take an oath in the church that she would marry him. Fornarina took an oath, and a few days later, in the same place, she swore to Raphael that she would never belong to anyone but him.
Raphael fell so in love with his muse that he abandoned his work and classes with his students. Then the banker Agostino Chigi invited Raphael to move his charming lover to his villa Farnesino, and live with her in one of the rooms of the palace, which was being painted by the artist at that time.
When Fornarina began to live with Rafael in the palace of the banker Agostino Chiga, the groom Tomaso began to threaten his bride's father.
And then Fornarina came up with an idea that only a woman could come up with. She seduced the owner of the Farnesino villa, banker Agostino Chigi, and after that asked to rid her of her annoying groom. The banker hired bandits who kidnapped Tomaso and took him to the monastery of Santo Cosimo. The abbot of the monastery was the banker's cousin, and promised to keep the shepherd in prison as long as necessary. By the grace of his bride, the shepherd Tomaso remained in captivity for five years.
Lasted for six years great love Raphael. Fornarina remained his lover and model until the artist’s death. Beginning in 1514, Raphael created a dozen madonnas and the same number of saints from it.
The artist, with the power of his love, deified an ordinary courtesan, who destroyed him. He began painting the Sistine Madonna in 1515, a year after meeting Fornarina, and finished it in 1519, a year before his death.
When Raphael was busy with work, Margarita had fun with his students, who came to the great master from all over Italy. This “innocent child with an angelic face” flirted with every newly arrived young man without a twinge of conscience and almost openly offered herself to them. And they could not even think that their teacher’s muse was quite accessible.
When young artist from Bologna, Carlo Tirabocchi became friends with Fornarina, this became known to everyone except Raphael (or he turned a blind eye to it). One of the Master's students challenged Carlo to a duel and killed him. Fornarina was not sad and quickly found another. One of the students put it this way: “If I had found her in my bed, I would have driven her away and then turned over the mattress.”
Fornarina's sexual needs were so great that no man could satisfy them. By that time, Rafael began to complain more and more often about his health and, in the end, fell ill. Doctors explained the general malaise of the body as a cold, although in fact the reason was Margarita’s excessive sexual insatiability and creative overload, which undermined the master’s health.
Great Raphael Santi died on Good Friday, April 6, 1520, the day he turned 37 years old. The legend about Raphael's death says: at night, seriously ill Raphael woke up in alarm - Fornarina was not around! He got up and went to look for her. Finding his beloved in his student’s room, he pulled her out of bed and dragged her into the bedroom. But suddenly his anger gave way to a passionate desire to possess her immediately. Fornarina did not resist. As a result, the artist died during a stormy erotic action.
In his will, Rafael left his mistress enough money so that she could lead an honest life. However, Fornarina remained the mistress of the banker Agostino Chiga for a long time. But he also died suddenly from the same (!) disease as Raphael. After his death, Margherita Luti became one of the most luxurious courtesans in Rome.
In the Middle Ages, such women were declared witches and burned at the stake.
Margarita Luti ended her life in the monastery, but when is unknown.
However, whatever the fate of this voluptuous woman, for posterity she will always remain an innocent creature with heavenly features, captured in the image of the world famous Sistine Madonna.
I wonder if Pushkin would have written his “wonderful moment” if he had known the truth about the “genius of pure beauty”?
“If only you knew from what rubbish Flowers grow without knowing shame,” wrote Anna Akhmatova.
Men often fall in love with whores. And all because a man loves not a woman, but an angel in a woman. They need an angel to whom they would like to worship and dedicate their creativity.
If there weren't whores, we wouldn't have outstanding works art. Because decent women didn't pose naked. This was considered a sin.
The model for the creation of the Venus de Milo (Aphrodite) was the hetaera Phryne.
The mysterious smile of Mona Lisa, it has already been proven, is nothing more than the smile of someone else’s wife seduced by the artist.
By what miraculous effort of an artist are angels turned from witches and whores?!
“An artist becomes more talented when he loves or is loved. Love doubles genius! - said Rafael.
“You see, I need a woman like I need Madonna. I need to idolize her, admire her. You just have to see it somewhere beautiful girl, I want to throw myself at her feet, pray, admire her, but without touching, without touching, but only admire and cry. ... I know, the woman is not the one I imagined her to be, she will crush me, and most importantly, she will not understand my need for creation...” (from my true-life novel “The Wanderer” (mystery) on the New Russian Literature website)
The need for a woman was the desire to touch an angel!
Men invented women for themselves! They invented stupid purity and stubborn loyalty. Hermine, Hari, Margarita - all a dream come true. When the soul is forgotten in anguish, you enter dreams with love. After all, in life you do not exist, you are completely alien to reality. But if you want, you will wake up from the vanity of oblivion. You are all the creation of my dreams, autumn sadness and melancholy. I hear your command to believe in the eternity of Love. May there be no Margarita in the world who found the Master in Moscow. When hopes are all dashed, death may be better than melancholy. After all, the image of sweet Margarita is only the fruit of Bulgakov’s dream. In reality, we were killed by the betrayal of our own wife.” (from my novel “Stranger Strange Incomprehensible Extraordinary Stranger” on the New Russian Literature website)
LOVE CREATES NECESSITY!
P.S. Read my other articles on this topic: “Muses are angels and whores”, How to become Venus”, “Whom does Mona Lisa smile at”, “Women are witches and angels”, “What is allowed to a genius”.
