Raphael and La Belle Jardiniere
...rst large-scale project of his career. The decoration in the first room gave Raphael the reputation of the foremost painter in Rome. After the death of Julius II, Raphael’s responsibilities increased. He was made chief architect for Saint Peter’s Basilica, and a year later was appointed director of excavations of antiquities in and near Rome. Because of his many new responsibilities, the last few rooms of the Papal Apartments were only partially painted by Raphael, but he created the designs. Raphael, after living a well and most successful life, died on his 37th birthday in Rome. Raphael was best known for his paintings of the Virgin and Child, but also painted many other religious scenes, as well as portraits, and other more modern styles of the time. His trademark of the Virgin in his paintings is the sweet grace and modesty of Mary shown by the lowering of her eyelids. Leonardo da Vinci had a large impact on Raphael’s paintings. From him he learned that emotions must not only be expressed by the face, but by the entire body. He also absorbed the softening of outlines, and the Madonna’s of the time of Leonardo’s influence show the ability to have many different movements. Contemporaries admired Raphael’s methodical approach to his paintings, and they were impressed with the naturalness and the spontaneity of his works. One of Raphael’s best-known paintings is that of Madonna of the Chair. It is believed that it was painted for either Pope Leo X or one of the Medici. Raphael’s Madonna’s were greatly influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. This particular painting shows Madonna in a chair with the child in her lap and another child praying to the side of them. This was painted in a circular design, and the interlocking arms and legs of the subjects, and the different directional gazes help to emphasize the circular design. This painting uses color contrast to show the important figures in the piece. The dark background and brightly colored subjects emphasize the center of the painting. Perspective is also used, shown by the fading of the color, with the child praying being painted in much blander colors than the main figures, Madonna and the child. La Belle Jardinere is one of Raphael’s most famous portraits of Madonna. This painting shows Madonna and child with St. John the Baptist in a landscape scene. The vertical line is used to show the strength of love in the painting. The use of perspective shows the evident subject of the painting by portraying the background in less detail, giving a more natural feeling to the painting. The value of the painting is not very intense, with a soothing feeling given off when the attention is drawn to the gentle touch of the Virgin Mary on her child, and the subtle and serene, lightly colored background. The contrast of light and dark colors is magnificent in the La Belle Jardiniere. This is a concept that Raphael developed when in Florence and studying the works and styles of Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was also the influence who helped Raphael develop and portray Mary in a relaxed and informal pose. The colors Raphael used goes from warm to cool as the eye is moved from the foreground to the background. The dark color in the foreground, and the brightly colored figures, draws the attention to the subjects. The background directly behind the figures gives a cool, soothing effect. The fact that the lighter colors seem to envelope the head of the Virgin Mary, seems to point to the heavenly nature of her being. It is almost as if a halo has been added around her head. This is a very interesting concept, that Raphael painted such heavenly and angelic paintings. In fact, the majority of his paintings were of religious nature although it has been noted by historian Giorgio Vasari, that Raphael was an atheist. Raphael painted what would be acceptable in the time, and not necessarily what he thought to be true. The colors used also give the feeling that Raphael tried to show the religious effect to be accepted by his audience. Mary’s clothing being a red dress, shows the love toward all she is faced with, and a “true blue” cloak around her givs her an even greater heavenly effect. The touch of this would be a smooth, and fairly even touch, as the portrait is on a wood medium, being what was available at the time. The portrait has very soft outlines, but the shading gives it a very solid feeling. The shadows cast around arms and legs, and even in the most intricate creases, help to show the subtle means of showing the facial as well as body expressions. The idea of showing not only facial expressions on his figures was an achievement that Raphael also learned from Leonardo when he was studying in Florence. There is a large degree of perspective evident in La Belle J...