Raphael

The renewed study of nature and the secular spirit of the Renaissance led to the overthrow of the old arbitrary rules, to a wonderful development of individuality, to the introduction of new methods, as well as to the study of anatomy and the discovery of the laws of perspective, to the introduction of oil colors and all kinds of technical improvements.

The great pioneer of Renaissance painting was the Florentine Masaccio, fourteen oh two to circa twenty-nine, whose frescoes on the walls of the Brancacci Chapel in his native city were inspirations to all the succeeding generations of artists, and particularly to Raphael.

Other great fifteenth-century artists were Fra Filippi Lippi, fourteen oh six to sixty-nine.

Fra Angelico, thirteen eighty-seven to fourteen fifty-five, whose loving nature caused him to decorate the cells of the monks in San Marco at Florence with beautiful frescoes.

Botticelli, fourteen forty-six to fifteen ten, specially famous for his treatment of classical myths.

Ghirlandaio, fourteen forty-nine to ninety-eight.

Pietro Perugino, who died in fifteen twenty-four, the master of Raphael; Mantegna, fourteen thirty to fifteen oh six, the inventor of engravings; the Bellini and Carpaccio, who died in fifteen nineteen.

But it is the very end of the fifteenth century and the first thirty years of the sixteenth that give us the greatest names in Renaissance paintings, the names of Leonardo da Vinci, fourteen fifty-two to fifteen nineteen, painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist, and musician; Michelangelo; Raphael, fourteen eighty-five to fifteen twenty, whose work, particularly in the Vatican frescoes, was so perfect that when he died inspiration seemed to pass from his followers as color fades from clouds at sunset; Andrea del Sarto, who died in fifteen thirty-one; and the four great painters of the Venetian school, Giorgione, fourteen seventy-eight to fifteen eleven; Titian, fourteen seventy-seven to fifteen seventy-six; Tintoretto, who died in fifteen ninety-four; and Veronese, who died in fifteen eighty-eight.

They indicate the sharpest, most unlimited sight that reaches beyond the ends of the ocean.

It has been a part of our object to unite in this place what has been made of this same subject by Raphael, the Carracci, and others.

A comparison of this sort will develop both the ancient and modern idea, each in its whole value.

Melis and Crithais.

Thus whole nations have been entertained and hoodwinked for long periods of time until at last one or another artist has found the way back to nature and a higher feeling of art.

We may perceive by the Herculanean antiquities how the ancients also fell into this kind of manner, only their models were too great, too present, fresh, and well preserved for their circle of artists to be able to lose themselves entirely in insignificance.

Let us now assume a higher and more agreeable point of view and consider the talent with which Raphael was so singularly gifted.

Born with the happiest natural gifts at a time when art combined the most conscientious labor, attention, industry, and truth, the young man was already led by excellent masters to the threshold and had only to raise his foot to enter the temple.

Truly, across the newly expanded Reich, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of artworks, and big ones too.

The Nazis took things like Rembrandts, Vermeers, Michelangelo, Raphael.

Honestly, they probably got all of the Ninja Turtles now that I think about it.

The Amber Room in Russia's Catherine Palace, the Nazis stole it.

Well, that's how I

feel about Raphael and Baldassare Castiglione, which is by far his greatest painting and one that rises to the level of the greatest paintings ever made.

But he never reached that again with any other work.

I think you're probably right.

But yes, worth standing up close to or as close as the glass will let you.

After that, there's not a lot of great Renaissance art in the Met.

There is a very impressive Raphael, which is actually one of my favorite of his religious paintings, which is Madonna and Child.

And the reason this painting is interesting is, well, Raphael is famous for his composition, but it really is coloristic here.

And Anastasia became the first artist, man or f- female, to sign her name to her, uh, her illuminations.

And so the first artist to ever sign her work, which, in going forward, artists started, uh, like Raphael and Michelangelo and all those people, started signing their works to their paintings, and it had never done, been done before, and it's because Christine said to her friend Anastasia, "You're too good And people should know that you're the one who, uh, is making these beautiful illuminations for my book so that you can be hired by everyone." And she did.

She became one of the most famous illuminate, uh, illumination artists of her time.

Amazing.

Okay, that's fine.

Raphael spent years and years working with da Vinci and Michelangelo, copying their paintings.

Nothing's wrong in that.

He was...