Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 4:43am

PopeWatch: Raphael

The Vatican is unveiling the two last paintings of Raphael, lost for almost 500 years:

The allegories of Justice (Latin: Iustitia) and Friendship (Comitas) likely represent the last work of Raphael before his death in 1520.

These two figures were painted in oil alongside the frescos in the Hall of Constantine in the Vatican.

The exceptional discovery is the result of a careful restoration begun in March 2015. Restoration work has so far been executed on three of walls of the great Hall, which measures 18 by 12 meters with a height of about 13 meters. The Hall of Constantine was destined by Pope Leo X (Medici) for meetings with representatives and diplomats.

Go here to read the rest.  He was born on a Good Friday and died on Good Friday in 1520.  It is a shame that there were only 37 years between the Good Fridays.

 

Update:

 

Nice scene from the film The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) between Raphael (Tomas Milian)  and Michelangelo (Charlton Heston):

 

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Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Monday, June 1, AD 2020 4:13am

This is the best news coming from the Vatican since the election of Pope Benedict XVI.

Pinky
Pinky
Monday, June 1, AD 2020 8:09am

Thanks for posting this. I usually don’t like Raphael. There’s a softness to his people that looks unhealthy to me. His teacher Perugino had the same style. But when Raphael was working in the Vatican, just down the hall from Michelangelo, he picked up some of the masculine clarity of the latter. I love his School of Athens. The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament has my favorite depiction of the Holy Spirit, but there’s that softness in his Christ that doesn’t appeal to me.

I’d love to see these recently unveiled works some day.

CAM
CAM
Monday, June 1, AD 2020 9:58am

Thank for this post. Beauty amidst the news of looting, burning and corruption.
Pinky, I agree with you on effeminate portrayals of the adult Jesus Christ by any artist.

Pinky
Pinky
Monday, June 1, AD 2020 10:50am

Cam – Those very rooms were looted seven years after Raphael’s passing. And 500 years from now, there will be looting. Nothing makes sense without an understanding of sin and grace.

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