Fine Canvas Art Blog

Transfiguration of Christ, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, 1520

Inspirational prints / Italian / Paintings (Reproductions) / Raphael / Renaissance / Vatican - 1 year ago - troycapc

The future Pope Clement VII commissioned Raphael to create this masterpiece in 1516. It was not finished when the artist died in 1520 and was probably completed by his pupil Giulio Romano shortly thereafter. This is last work of the Italian High Renaissance and is housed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Rome.

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Silenus and Infant Dionysos, image by Troy Caperton, 2008

Greco-Roman / Statuary / Vatican - 1 year ago - troycapc

A reproduction of "Silenus with Infant Dionysus" in the Vatican Museums. This is a tender rendering of the Greek mythological protector and follower of the God of Wine.  This representation of the statue is from my photograph from my recent trip to Rome.
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Augusta Prima Porta, image by Troy Caperton, 2008

Caperton / Contemporary / Greco-Roman / Neoclassical / Vatican - 1 year ago - troycapc

This beautiful example of Classical statuary was discovered on April 20, 1863.  When it was transported to Rome, it became a symbol of the newly created Kingdom of Italy and was a prime exhibit of the Mostra Augustea della Romanita, a celebration of the emperor’s 2000th birthday on September 23, 1938.  This representation of the statue is from my photograph from my recent trip to Rome. The ancient masterpiece was one of the world’s first efforts at propaganda in art, an attempt at portraying the radical Octavian in the guise of a traditional conservative Roman.

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Raphael’s Transfiguration of Christ

Paintings (Reproductions) / Raphael / Vatican - 2 years ago - troycapc

Raphael’s Transfiguration of Christ, 1520

This “Transfiguration of Christ” of 1520 was the last work of the great master of the late Renaissance, Raphael.  Guilio de Medici, bishop of Noyon and future Pope Clement VII, commissioned Raphael to create this masterpiece in 1516.  It was not finished when the artist died in 1520 and was probably completed by his pupil Giulio Romano shortly thereafter.  It is housed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Rome.

Medici’s bishopric was in France when the painting was completed but instead of shipping it there, Guilio donated the painting to the church of San Pietro in Rome.  French troops took the painting to Paris in 1797 but it was brought to the Vatican in 1816 where it has remained.

This masterpiece is very important in the development of Mannerism and the Baroque period.  Mannerist stylists were sophisticated, restrained and balanced – qualities which can be seen here.  The Baroque period is foreshadowed in this work as Raphael depicts the very moment of transfiguration.  This is in contrast to the Renaissance preference of depicting scenes just prior to the action taking place.  The high drama of the scene is also a characteristic of Baroque art and a third characteristic of Baroque style is the use of Chiaroscuro, the close juxtaposition of light and dark areas for dramatic effect.

The ascension of Christ and the transfiguration are often confused: this scene is of the transfiguration, as recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew, in which Jesus was seen on a mountain in the company of Moses and Elijah.  The upper part of the painting is of the transfiguration itself, while the lower part depicts the efforts of the apostles to drive demons out of a possessed boy.

Most commentators have drawn attention to the dichotomy of the glory of Christ and the impotence of his Apostles.  Nietzsche referred to the painting in his “Birth of Tragedy” in which he saw a conflict between the Apollonian principles of Christ and the Dionysian principles of his Disciples.

About the artist:

Raphael was born in Urbino, to the north of Rome, where his father was count painter to the ruler.  Though orphaned at the age of eleven, he had probably helped in his father’s workshop.  Completing his training by 1501 when he was eighteen years old, Raphael was soon completing art for churches in Urbino and Perugia.  Within three years he was working in Florence, Sienna, Perugia, Urbino and appears to come under the influence of the work of Leonardo da Vinci.

By 1508 Raphael settled in Rome at the invitation of Pope Julius II and where he was disliked by Michelangelo, who probably viewed the younger man as a rival for Papal commissions.  Raphael began working on the Stanze which included the School of Athens, the Parnassus and the Disputation of the Eucharist.  Michelangelo ungraciously accused Raphael of plagiarism of his Sistine Chapel work, particularly after Raphael’s death.

Raphael created the largest workshop in Italy and many later masters apprenticed there.  In his personal life, he never married but was apparently closely attached to a mistress.  He fell into a mysterious illness at the age of thirty-seven and died after lingering for fifteen days.  His funeral was grand and he was buried by his own wish in the Pantheon.

We are pleased to offer a large framed canvas print of Raphael’s Transfiguration of Jesus Christ at our online store.

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The School of Athens by Raphael

Paintings (Reproductions) / Raphael / Vatican - 2 years ago - troycapc

Detail of our reproduction of Raphael's The School of Athens

On a tour through the Vatican museums, you walk through what feels like a maze of masterpieces, viewing myriad paintings by many famous artists.  This was my experience two years ago when I suddenly came into the Stanze della Segnatura (“Room of the Signatura”), one of the rooms containing the art of Raphael.  Entering the room, you are confronted on the far wall by the masterwork, Disputation of the Eucharist.  As you approach the work, a tickling on the back of your neck causes you to glance behind you.  And then you gasp, for there is The School of Athens in all its iconic glory.

The School of Athens was the second work completed by Raphael in the commission of Pope Julius II.  The Pope commissioned the young Raphael in either 1508 or 1509, possibly attempting to outshine the Borgia Apartment created under the watch of his predecessor.

The School of Athens is one of four walls each of which concentrates on a realm of knowledge: philosophy, poetry, theology and law.  The School of Athens meant to symbolize philosophy, as evinced by the scroll that extols the viewer to “Causarum Cognito” – i.e. “Seek Knowledge through Causes.”  Raphael never intended for the work to be called The School of Athens; the title is rather an acknowledgement of the wisdom brought to the world by the ancient Greek philosophers.

Interestingly, most of the philosophers portrayed were not contemporary with each other and the architecture is Roman, not Greek.  Twenty-one figures of philosophy have been identified in the work.  Two Greek gods are also depicted in the painting: a statue of Apollo and one of Athena.  There are five hand-painted reproductions of the work in existence: in Victoria and Albert Museum in London; Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia; Konigsberg Cathedral in Kaliningrad, Russia; the Student Union at the University of North Carolina; and Brooks College at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

THE LIFE OF RAPHAEL:

Raphael was born in Urbino in 1483, the son of the local court painter.  Though orphaned at an early age, Raphael showed promise as an artist as a teenager.  By the time he was eighteen, Raphael is described as a master painter which meant that he was fully trained and no longer an apprentice.  The next year he was painting in Siena and from 1504 onward was often in Florence.  By 1509 Raphael arrived in Rome at the invitation of Julius II and began work on the decoration of the Stanzi de Raffaeli.

While Raphael and his workshop were working on the Stanzi commission, he also undertook portraits.  He continued to paint oils and frescoes among which the most important were Triumph of Galatea, the Raphael cartoons, the loggia in the Vatican, and altarpieces including The Ecstasy of St. Cecilia and the Sistine Madonna.  He was working on the large Transfiguration when he died in 1520 at the age of thirty-seven.

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