The Marriage of the Virgin (Raphael)
The Marriage of the Virgin | |
---|---|
Artist | Raphael |
Year | 1504 |
Type | Oil on roundheaded panel |
Dimensions | 174 cm × 121 cm (69 in × 48 in) |
Location | Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan |
The Marriage of the Virgin, also known as Lo Sposalizio, is an
History
In the later years of the 15th century, patrons in
This particular piece was commissioned by one Filippo degli Albezzini to hang in a church dedicated to
Through these various relocations, the painting was damaged.[6] The panel had several cracks in the upper half, while there was rippling and bowing throughout. Italian artist Giuseppe Molteni, retained to repair it in November 1857, chose to preserve the panel rather than transfer the painting to canvas and spent months flattening the panel and hydrating it to overcome the damage of desiccation. This decision on the part of Molteni has permitted 20th-century art historians to use infrared reflectography to study the underdrawing beneath the completed art work.[8] Molteni also undertook to clean the surface of the painting, which had been subjected to restoration before.[6] He did not clean aggressively, as he wanted to be sure that elements of the original painting were preserved. The Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings indicates that the painting is "somewhat discoloured."[5]
Analysis and influence
There have been several historians who have disputed that Perugino's Marriage of the Virgin preceded Raphael's, and some who have suggested the painting was not Perugino's at all but instead produced after Raphael's by one of Perugino's followers. However, a 16th century documentary evidence supports the conclusion that Perugino had begun working on the painting in 1499, though it was not completed until some point after December 26, 1503.[9][10]
Although Raphael was heavily inspired by Perugino in painting the piece, differences of the two were remarked upon within decades of the painting's completion by 16th-century Italian artist and art biographer Giorgio Vasari, who said that in the piece "may be distinctly seen the progress of excellence of Raphael's style, which becomes much more subtle and refined, and surpasses the manner of Pietro. In this work," he continued, "there is a temple drawn in perspective with such evident care that it is marvellous to behold the difficulty of the problems which he has there set himself to solve."[11]
It is very likely that the domed building in the background of both Perugino's and Raphael's works, which represents the Temple of Jerusalem, portraits the Temples as a Renaissance version of the Dome of the Rock.[12]
Franz Liszt wrote a composition for solo piano based on Raphael's painting with the title "Sposalizio" in his Années de pèlerinage (Deuxième année: Italie).
See also
Notes
- ^ McCurdy (1917), p. 84.
- ^ a b Champlin and Perkins (1913), p. 380.
- ^ Champlin and Perkins (1913), p. 380-381.
- ^ a b c McCurdy (1917), p. 90.
- ^ a b c Champlin and Perkins (1913), p. 381.
- ^ a b c d Hoeniger (2005), 297.
- ^ Maccuchelli, et al.
- ^ Hoeniger (2005), 298.
- ^ a b McCurdy (1917), 89-90.
- ^ cf. Masters in Art, p. 31.
- ^ Quoted in McCurdy (1917), p. 84.
- ^ The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, Jacob Burckhardt, Peter Murray, James C. Palmes, University of Chicago Press, 1986, p. 81
References
- Raffaello e Brera, exh. cat. ed. by C. Bertelli and M. Olivari, (Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera), Milan 1984
- Raffaello. Lo Sposalizio della Vergine restaurato, exh. cat. ed. by E. Daffra and M. Ceriana, Milan 2009
- Champlin, John Denison; Charles Callahan Perkins (1913). Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. C. Scribner's sons. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
- Masters in Art: a series of illustrated monographs. Bates and Guild Co. 1900. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
- Mazzucchelli, Francesco; Luigi Mazzuchelli; Sergio Onger (1998). Caro figlio, stimato padre: famiglia, educazione e società nobiliare nel carteggio tra Francesco e Luigi Mazzuchelli (1784-1793). Grafo. ISBN 978-88-7385-405-0. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
- McCurdy, Edward (1917). Raphael Santi. Hodder and Stoughton. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
- Rogov, Mikhail (2016). Antique Numismatics In Raphael's Creativity: Marriage Of The Virgin. Articult —2016.—October(№23(3)).—pp.26-33.— ISSN 2227-6165. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
External links
- Media related to Marriage of the Virgin (Raphael) at Wikimedia Commons