Great Artists, Vol 1. | Page 8

and
by sorrow, you will ever see more and more in this divine picture and
feel more than you see. Two green curtains are drawn aside and there,
floating on the clouds, is the Virgin full length, presenting the Holy
Child to the world. It is far more than a mother and child, for one sees
in the Madonna a look suggesting that she sees vaguely the darkness of
Calvary and the glory of the resurrection. This is no ordinary child,
either, that she holds, for He sees beyond this world into eternity and
that His is no common destiny;--at least, one feels these things as we
gaze at the lovely apparition on its background of clouds and
innumerable angel heads. St. Sixtus on one side would know more of
this mystery, while St. Barbara on the other is dazzled by the vision and
turns aside her lovely face. Below are the two cherubs, the final touch
of love, as it were, to this marvellous picture.
It is said that the picture was completed at first without these cherubs
and that they were afterwards added when Raphael found two little
boys resting their arms on a balustrade, gazing intently up at his
picture.

This painting has a room to itself in the Dresden Gallery, where the
most frivolous forget to chat and the thoughtful sit for hours in quiet
meditation under its magic spell. One man says, "I could spend an hour
every day for years looking at this picture and on the last day of the last
year discover some new beauty and a new joy."
There was now great division of opinion in Rome as to whether Angelo
or Raphael were the greater painter. Cardinal de Medici ordered two
pictures for the Cathedral of Narbonne, in France, one by Raphael and
one by Sebastian Piombo, a favorite pupil of Angelo's. People knew
that Angelo would never openly compete with Raphael, but they also
felt sure that he would assist his pupil. The subject chosen by Raphael
was "The Transfiguration." But suddenly, even before this latest
commission was completed, that magic hand had been stopped by
death. The picture, though finished by Raphael's pupils, is a great work.
The ascending Lord is the point of greatest interest in the upper, or
celestial part, while the father with his demoniac child, holds our
attention in the lower, or terrestrial portion. At his funeral this
unfinished picture hung above the dead painter, and his sorrowing
friends must have felt, as Longfellow wrote of Hawthorne when he lay
dead with an unfinished story on his bier,--
"Ah, who shall lift that wand of magic power, And the lost clew regain?
The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower Unfinished must remain."
[Illustration: TRANSFIGURATION. Raphael.]
Raphael died suddenly on his birthday in 1520, from a fever contracted
while searching for remains among the ruins of Rome. He realized
from the first that his sickness was fatal, and he immediately set about
disposing of his property. His works of art he gave to his pupils, his
palace to Cardinal Bibbiena, and his other property was distributed
among his relatives, and to his sweetheart, Margherita. He was buried
with honors in the Pantheon at Rome, beside Maria Bibbiena.
For many years there was exhibited at St. Luke's Academy, in Rome, a
so-called skull of Raphael. In 1833 some scholars declared that they did
not believe this to be the skull of the artist. They urged the authorities

to open the grave to prove their position. After five days of careful
digging the coffin was reached and there lay the artist's skeleton
complete. For many days it was exposed to view in a glass case. A cast
was taken of the right hand and of the skull, and then, with splendid
ceremonies, they buried the artist a second time.
Mention has often been made of Raphael's personal beauty. Only
thirty-seven when he died, his seraphic beauty was never marred by
age.
In his palace he lived the life of a prince, and when he walked abroad,
he had a retinue of devoted followers. He had for friends princes and
prelates, artists and poets, while the common people loved him for the
fine spirit they knew him to be.
Judged by the moral standard of his time, he was absolutely spotless.
Seldom, in any man, have all good qualities joined with a versatile
genius to the extent that they did in Raphael. No wonder that his friends
caused to be inscribed on his tomb these words--"This is that Raphael
by whom Nature feared to be conquered while he lived, and to die when
he died."
REFERENCES FOR RAPHAEL.
Life of Raphael by Bell.
Life of Raphael by Sweetster.
Life of Raphael by Vasari.
Schools and Masters of Painting by Radcliffe.
History