Monday, November 4, 2013

An Introduction to Raphael

Raphael is set apart from his rivals. He competes with “graceful admiration for his rivals" and does not carry anxiety from their influence. Perhaps this is due to the very different lifestyle Raphael lived compared to Michelangelo and Leonardo. Raphael grew up in a loving household that nurtured his artistic interests. His father Giovanni Santi was a painter and was Raphael’s first instructor. Raphael excelled very quickly and learned about Michelangelo and Perugino through his father’s book, Disputation. Rivalry between Raphael and Michelangelo was avoidable; however, it was Michelangelo who carried the resentment for jealousy towards Raphael’s upbringing. “The disparity between them was perhaps even greater than that between Michelangelo and Leonardo” (Goffen 173).


Raphael’s rivalry became more evident between him and Perugino by “imitating Perugino so closely” (Goffen 173). Ironically, Raphael and Perugino were both given the Sposalizio commission (Betrothal of the Virgin). Raphael was not meant to make a copy of Perugino’s work, but asked by their patrons to complete the same subject to fit alongside Perugino’s, finished with a signature. Raphael’s signatures are very rare and yet more are those with dates. “Only eight works are both signed and dated, beginning with the Sposalizio in 1504. The majority of these signatures are inconspicuously placed somewhere within the painting. “The Sposalizio signature similarly signifies professional self-awareness and the recognition – shared by contemporaries – that the work signaled a new chapter in his life, a seminal work for Raphael” (Goffen 178).

Raphael's Sposalizio

Raphael's signature in Fornarina

1 comment:

  1. Learning about the types of homes these artists came from and the lives they had as young children is very interesting. We spend so much time learning about their art and later adult lives that I think we, as art historians, often overlook these artists' childhoods and this can be a very formative period.

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