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
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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