Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/300

Rh 282 RAPHAEL animal was dead. 1 This elephant is also introduced among the stucco reliefs of the Vatican loggie, with the poetaster Barrabal sitting in mock triumph on its back. Though Raphael himself does not appear to have practised the art of engraving, yet this formed one of the many branches of art which were carried on under his supervision. A large number of his designs were engraved by his pupils Marcantonio Raimondi (see vol. xv. p. 530) and Agostino Veneziano. These valuable engrav- ings are from Raphael's sketches, not from his finished pictures, and in some cases they show important alterations made in the execution of the picture. Raimondi's engraving of the S. Cecilia of Bologna in design is very inferior to that of the actual painting. Several of Raphael's most important compositions are known to us only by these early engravings, e.g., the Massacre of the Innocents (engraved by Raimondi), which is one of his finest works, both for skilful composition and for masterly drawing of the nude. Another magnificent design is the Judgment of Paris, containing a large number of figures ; the nude figure of Minerva is a work of especial force and beauty. A standing figure of Lucretia 2 about to stab herself is also one of his most lovely figures. Many of Raphael's studies for Marcantonio's engravings still exist. Archaeology. As an antiquary Raphael deserves to take the highest rank. His report 3 to Leo X. in 1518 is an eloquent plea for the preservation of ancient buildings. In 1515 he had been appointed by Leo X. inspector of all excavations in Rome and within 10 miles round. His careful study of the antique, both statues and modes of decoration, is clearly shown in many of his frescos, and especially in the graceful stucco reliefs and painted grotteschi, of which he and his pupils made such skilful use in the decorations of the Vatican loggie, the Villa Madama, and elsewhere. 4 Raphael's Fame. When we consider the immense field over which his labours were spread and the strong personal individuality which appears in all these varied branches of art, together with the almost incredible number of paint- ings that issued from his studio, it will be seen that he must have laboured with an amount of unflagging industry which has perhaps never been surpassed, and that too in a time and in a city of which the social habits and luxurious splendour certainly threw every possible temptation in the way of steady application and regular work. Among all the painters of the world none has been so universally popular as Raphael, or has so steadily main- tained his pre-eminent reputation throughout the many changes in taste which have taken place in the last three and a half centuries. Apart from his combined merits as a draughtsman, colourist, and master of graceful composi- tion, he owes the constancy of admiration which has been felt for him partly to the wide range of his subjects, but still more to the wonderful varieties of his style. If the authorship of his paintings were unknown, who would guess that the Sposalizio of the Brera, the Madonna del Baidacchino of the Pitti, and the Transfiguration could possibly be the work of one painter ? In his earliest pic- tures he touches the highly spiritual and sacred art of the Perugian Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, while in his latest Roman work he is fully embarked in the pagan spirit of the last development of the Renaissance, already on the brink of the most rapid decline. In the seventeen or eighteen years which composed his short working life he passed through stages of development for which a century would not have seemed too long, while other painters lived through the same changeful time with but little alteration in their manner of work. Perugino, who outlived his wonderful pupil, completed in 1521 Raphael's San Severe fresco in a style differing but little from his paintings executed in the previous century. In versatility of power Raphael (as a painter) remains almost without a rival ; whether painting an altar-piece 1 Under it was inscribed " Raphael Urbinas quod natura abstu- lerat arte restituit." 2 On a pedestal is inscribed in Greek "Better to die than live basely." 8 Published by Visconti, Lettera di Ra/aeUo a Leone X., Rome, 1840 ; see also Miintz, " Raphael Archeologue," &c., Oaz. dcs B. Arts, October and November 1 880. for a church, a large historical fresco, a portrait, or decor- ative scenes from classical mythology, he seems to excel equally in each; and the widely different methods of painting in tempera, oil, or fresco are employed by him with apparently equal facility. His range of scale is no less remarkable, varying from a miniature, finished like an illuminated MS., to colossal figures in fresco dashed in with inimitable breadth and vigour. An additional glory is thrown round his memory by the personal beauty, charm of manner, and deep kindliness of heart which endeared him to all who knew him. 5 His sincere modesty was not diminished by his admission as an equal by the princes of the church, the distinguished scholars, and the world -famed men of every class who formed the courts of Julius II. and Leo X. In accordance with the spirit of the age he lived with considerable dis- play and luxury, and was approached with the utmost deference by the ambassadors of foreign princes, whether their master desired a picture, or, as the duke of Ferrara did, sent to consult him on the best cure for smoky chimneys. To his pupils he was as a father, and they were all, as Vasari says, " vinti dalla sua cortesia " ; they formed round him a sort of royal retinue, numbering about fifty youths, each talented in some branch of the arts. 6 Giulio Romano and Gianfrancesco Penni, his two favourite pupils, lived with him in the Palazzo di Bramante, a house near St Peter's, where he resided during the greater part of his life in Rome. This fine palace, designed by Bra- mante, was destroyed in the 17th century at the same time as Raphael's Palazzo dell' Aquila. It is difficult to realize the furor of grief and enthusiasm excited by the master's death on Good Friday 1520, at the age of thirty-seven exactly, after an attack of fever which lasted only ten days. His body was laid out in state in his studio, by the side of the unfinished Transfiguration, and all Rome flocked to the place for a last sight of the " divino pittore." His property amounted to about 30,000 ; his drawings and MSS. he left to Giulio Romano and Gianfrancesco Penni ; his newly bought land to Cardinal Bibbiena, the uncle of the lady to whom he had been betrothed ; there were liberal bequests to his servants; and the rest was mostly divided among his relatives at Urbino. He desired to be buried in the Pan- theon, under the noble dome which he and Bramante had dreamed of rivalling. His body is laid beside an altar, which he endowed with an annual chantry, and on the wall over it is a plain slab, with an inscription written by his friend Cardinal Bembo. Happily his grave has as yet escaped the disfigurement of a pretentious monument such as those erected to Michelangelo, Dante, and other great Italians ; it has not, however, remained undisturbed : in 1833 it was opened and the bones examined. 7 In March 1883 a festival was held at Urbino, on the occasion of the 4th centenary of his birth, and on this occasion many interesting articles on Raphael were published, especially one by Geymiiller, " Le IV me Centenaire de la Naissance de Raphael," 1483-1883, in the Gaz. de Lausanne, March 1883. Literature. Comolli, Vita incdita di Raffaello, 1790 ; Duppa, Life of Raphael, London, 1816 ; Braun, Raphael. . . Lebcn und IVerke, Wiesbaden, 1819 ; Fea, Raffaello. . . ed alcune di lui Opere, Rome, 1822 ; Rehberg, Rafael Sanzio aus Urbino, Munich, 1824 ; Quatremere de Quincy, Vita ed Opere di Raffaello, trans, by Longhena, Milan, 1829 (a work marred by many inaccuracies) ; Rumohr, Ueber Raphael und sein Verhaltniss, Berlin, 1831 ; Rio, Michelange et Raphael, Paris, 1863 ; Gruyer, Raphael et I'Antiquite 5 See the eloquent eulogy of his character at the end of Vaaari's Life. 8 See Minghetti, "Gli Scolari di Raffaello," Nuova Antologia, June 1880. 7 See " Ritrovamento delle ossa di Raffaello," Soc. Virtuosi al l'n- teone, Rome, 1833 ; other pamphlets on this were published in the same year by Fea, Falconieri, and Odescalchi.
 * See Grayer, Raphael el F AntiquiU, Paris, 1864.