Leseprobe

128 The Sistine Madonna Raphael Urbino 1483–1520 Rom 1512/13 Oil on canvas · 269×201 cm Acquired from the monastery church of San Sisto, Piacenza, in 1754 Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, gal. no. 93 T H E S I S T I N E M A DON N A is one of the most iconic masterworks of the Renaissance, known around the globe. Raphael came up with an impressive and remarkably innova- tive composition for this painting: the curtains part to reveal a celestial vision that has lost none of its power to transport viewers today. Mary strides across the clouds, the Christ Child on her arm. She is carrying him down from the expanse of the heavens – intimated by the countless little faces in the blue sky – to his existence on earth. The painting thus refers to the Incarnation of God the Son. The great solemnity shared in the eyes of mother and child shows their cognizance of the eventual suffering in the Passion. Mary, depicted in a self-confident, upright pose, is placed approximately along the central axis. Two saints kneel at either side of her, and together the figural group forms a triangle, an imposing compositional form, common in images for veneration. The two saints are martyrs from the 3rd century, who were venerated at the altar for which this painting was originally intended, which explains their presence in this picture now removed from its original eccle- siastical context. On the left, Pope Sixtus II points out to- wards the world of the viewer. Meanwhile, Saint Barbara, humbly kneeling on the right, is seen lost in contemplation. The two little cherubs, charmingly perched on the lower bal- ustrade, were added by Raphael as enigmatic finishing touches. Whenever our eye wanders down the canvas, the direction of their gazes returns ours to the main protago- nists. They are clearly waiting for the completion of some act, either within the pictorial space (Christ’s Incarnation, for instance), or outside it, in the viewers’ space (perhaps the Mass celebrated before this divine scene). The Sistine Madonna was created for the high altar of the monastery of San Sisto in Piacenza, a small town in northern Italy. Historical evidence strongly suggests that it was commissioned by Pope Julius II, who was closely asso- ciated with this church through family ties and political links. In July 1512, Piacenza’s accession to the Papal States was announced at the Vatican, and this may have been the reason for the commission. By the time the church was con- secrated in 1514, the Sistine Madonna would have hung in place above the high altar. Raphael’s altarpiece remained in its original display context for nearly 250 years and was little known outside the region. This all changed when it was purchased by the Saxon court. In the contest between the European princely courts, it was vital that Dresden possess a painting by Raphael’s own hand, for Raphael, much celebrated during his lifetime, was the only Renaissance artist whose fame had endured undi- minished. After lengthy negotiations that stalled on several occasions, Friedrich August II, Elector of Saxony, successfully had the Sistine Madonna brought to Dresden in 1754. Some 50 years later, at the turn of the next century, German Neo- classicists and Romantics discovered the picture for them- selves. It was around that time, too, that the two cherubs were first copied separately. They have since become much-adored icons of art in their own right.  |  ah