1509–11 FRESCO
500 × 770 CM (16½ × 25 ft)
APOSTOLIC PALACE, VATICAN CITY
Assembling within a classical architectural background are the greatest ancient Greek philosophers. The two men in the center, on the top of the steps, are Plato and his student Aristotle. Plato is said to be a portrait of Leonardo. Seated on the steps, leaning on his hand, is a portrait of Michelangelo as Heraclites and looking out of the group on the right is a self-portrait of Raphael himself.
Although he lived for just 37 years, Raphael is recognized as one of the three most revered Italian Renaissance masters. Although he was not a great inventor like Leonardo and Michelangelo, he is known for the grace, beauty, emotional depth and sensitive expression that permeate his art.
Raphael was born Raffaello Sanzio. His father worked as a painter at the court of the Duke of Urbino, so he was aptly placed to give his son his first lessons in painting. By the time he was 11, however, both Raphael’s parents had died and he had to rely on his precocious artistic talents to survive. His early life and apprenticeships are uncertain, but it is accepted that he worked in Perugia as an assistant to the master Perugino (c.1445–1523) from around 1500.
By 1501, Raphael was a master in his own right and soon settled in Florence, where Leonardo and Michelangelo were dominating the art world. He remained in Florence for four years, becoming known for his paintings of serene and natural-looking young Madonnas in idealized landscape backgrounds. As well as his outstanding drawing and painting skills, he became recognized for his handsome appearance, good manners and courteous behavior. Leonardo and Michelangelo complained that he copied them, but Raphael denied this. However, he admitted that he had learned from the artists’ understanding of anatomy, perspective, composition and softly blended shadows. From this he developed his own unique and sophisticated understanding of color, line and subtle textures.
In 1508, Pope Julius II summoned Raphael to Rome to paint some large frescoes in four rooms in the Vatican Palace. It was an extremely momentous commission for the 26-year-old artist, who had no experience of painting figures on such a large scale. Secretly, next door, the illustrious Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling and Raphael had the chance to see the work before it was completed. Enthused, he produced hundreds of detailed preliminary drawings and then painted imposing scenes personifying Theology, Philosophy, Poetry and Justice—one on each wall. Each work demonstrated Raphael’s versatility, subtlety and understanding of color and composition and earned him the reputation of being able to replicate textures, natural poses and sensuous flesh. Apart from these monumental works, he also executed easel paintings, including religious works and portraits. His reputation lived on unsurpassed and his style set a precedent for Western art for the next 400 years.
Key Works
The Sistine Madonna 1513, GEMÄLDEGALERIE, DRESDEN, GERMANY
Madonna of the Pinks c.1506–7, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Galatea 1513, VILLA FARNESINA, ITALY
Portrait of Pope Leo X 1518–19, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
TITIAN
1488–1576 • (VENETIAN) HIGH RENAISSANCE
Bacchus and Ariadne
1520–3 OIL ON CANVAS
176.5 × 191 CM (69½ × 75 IN)
NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Lavishly painted with an animated composition, Bacchus, the god of wine, is gamboling along with his followers when he sees Ariadne. He instantly falls in love with Ariadne and leaps from his chariot to speak to her. Ariadne, abandoned by her former lover, Theseus (seen on the ship in the distance), is initially afraid of Bacchus. She succumbs to his advances when he offers to raise her to heaven, which is indicated by the constellation in the sky.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Venice was one of the wealthiest and most powerful city-states in Europe. The supreme Venetian artist of this period was Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian. His work integrated all the Renaissance ideals, infusing them with new life, and the eminence he achieved during his own lifetime has endured for over 400 years.
For a little over 20 years, from 1538 to 1562, Florence was ruled by Cosimo de’ Medici and his Spanish wife, Eleonora di Toledo. A pious woman, Eleonora discouraged art that seemed overtly sexual. In contrast, the young Titian, growing up in Venice, had none of these restrictions. The early 16th century was a time of abundant experimentation in Venetian painting and Titian, without Leonardo’s fascination with science or Michelangelo’s interest in religion and poetry, was simply an artist who developed innovative painting methods.
Titian was born in the Italian Alps and from the age of about ten, was sent with his elder brother to Venice to train with the mosaicist Sebastiano Zuccato. He soon moved to the painting workshop of the brothers Gentile and Giovanni Bellini and later joined the studio of Giorgione (c.1477–1510) as painter’s assistant. The two became close friends and remained so until Giorgione’s untimely death in his early 30s. The following year, Titian received a commission for three frescoes in Padua. Further commissions followed for the Italian courts of Ferrara, Mantua and Urbino and his fame spread internationally.
In 1516, Giovanni Bellini died and Titian was appointed official painter of the Venetian Republic. His first public commission was the Assumption of the Virgin for the high altarpiece of the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. An outstanding example of his mastery with color, this established him securely as the greatest living Venetian artist. From then on, he gained many patrons, including François I of France, Philip II of Spain, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Pope Paul III.
For the rest of his life, Titian continued painting, displaying his versatility and imagination. His works feature dramatic expression, unconventional dynamic compositions, tonal drama and sumptuous colors. He helped to establish oil paints as the most accepted medium, realizing that their fluid, slow-drying properties made them perfect for depicting textures, capturing the effects of light and atmosphere and blending gleaming colors inspired by the Venetian light itself.
Titian also realized that canvas was better suited to his painting techniques. Using freer brushstrokes than many Renaissance artists, and sometimes smoothing on paint with his fingers, he applied his rich and glowing colors rapidly and confidently. His reinterpretation of traditional themes, sometimes with asymmetrical compositions and often with figures interacting with each other, was entirely new. He strongly influenced his Venetian contemporaries and many later painters, including Poussin, Rubens, van Dyck, Velazquez and Delacroix. For over five centuries, he has been classed as the greatest colourist of them all.
Key Works
Assumption of the Virgin 1516–18, SANTA MARIA GLORIOSA DEI FRARI, VENICE, ITALY
Venus of Urbino 1538, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
Emperor Charles V at Muhlberg 1548, MUSEO DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN
Diana and Actaeon 1556–9, NATIONAL GALLERY OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH, UK
Annunciation c.1559–64, SAN SALVADOR, VENICE, ITALY
HOLBEIN
1497–1543 • (NORTHERN) HIGH RENAISSANCE
The Ambassadors
1533 OIL ON OAK
207 × 209.5 CM (81 × 82 IN)
NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK