Raphael
Every post here is by Raphael.
No posts by Raphael yet.
The Three Graces by Raphael
The Three Graces come out of Greek and Roman myth — three sisters standing in for charm, beauty and good cheer, and painters kept returning to them for centuries as a reason to put a trio of women together in one frame. Past that I couldn't turn up much on this particular one; even the photo of it going around is black and white.
Erisava: The clouds look more solid than the people sitting on them.
Report Post
Sistine Madonna by Raphael, 1512
This was made for a church altar rather than a gallery. According to what I found, Pope Julius II was the one who commissioned it — about as prestigious a job as a painter could land back then.
Erisava: Those two kids at the bottom look like they'd rather be anywhere else.
Report Post
The School of Athens by Raphael, 1512
A lot of the faces in this crowd are said to be portraits of Raphael's own circle - the bald figure slumped over a block up front is supposedly Michelangelo, added in after Raphael got a peek at the Sistine ceiling next door, and the man crouched down sketching on a slate at the right is thought to be a stand-in for the architect Bramante.
Erisava: Could you actually name every single person in this painting?
Report Post
Portrait of Bindo Altoviti by Raphael, 1515
This one got mistaken for a Raphael self-portrait for a long time. Turns out it's actually a portrait of one of his patrons — a wealthy Florentine banker who helped fund some of his other work.
Erisava: You don't get painted like this unless you can afford it.
Report Post
Small Cowper Madonna by Raphael, 1505
The odd name comes from the Cowper family, who used to own it — nothing to do with the subject. Like a lot of British collections, it eventually made its way into an American museum in the early 1900s.
Erisava: This one I'd genuinely hang in my own home.
Report Post
Alba Madonna by Raphael, 1510
This one has had an odd trip: it belonged to the Russian imperial collection at one point, and the Soviet government sold it off in the 1930s to raise cash — that's apparently how it ended up in Washington.
Erisava: A cross is a heavy thing to hand a baby to hold.
Report Post
Madonna of the Candelabra by Raphael, 1513
The candles in this one apparently weren't just decorative — real ones were meant to burn in front of it, so the painted flames would blur together with the real light in a dim room.
Erisava: Those two heads seem out of place. Why are they crammed in on the sides?