Part 4 (1/2)
The principal figure of the picture is the Infant Jesus He is no longer the graceful _Bambino_ that we have so often seen in the ar to the eyes of in with the Fish_, leaned towards the young Tobit; it is the God himself, it is the God of Justice and of the Last Day In the most humble state of our flesh, beneath the veil of infancy, we see the terrifying splendour of infinite majesty in this picture The divine Infant leaves between himself and us a place for fear, and in his presence we experience so of the fear of God that Ada such heights of impression the means employed by Raphael are of an incomprehensible simplicity The Infant Jesus nestles fa on a fold of the white veil that the Virgin supports with her left hand, he leans against the Madonna's right ars are crossed one above the other; the whole of the left arm follows the bend of the body and the left hand rests upon the right leg; at the sa raised by Mary's hand, the right arin's veil
This attitude, so natural, so true, so unstudied, expresses grandeur and sovereignty Nothing can be ht rests calmly upon every part of this beautiful body and all its members in such fine repose Humanity was never seen under such radiance The Son of God, in transporting to Heaven the terrestrial form of his infancy, has made it divine for all eternity Raphael doubtless owed to antiquity so of the power that enabled him spontaneously to create such a masterpiece; but in this case he has far surpassed his models, and we should search vainly in antique art for a ure than that of this marvellous infant However, hitherto we have only exaive a true idea of it? In fact, that is perhaps the most extraordinary and most indescribable part of the whole picture The Infant Jesus seely presses against the Virgin's breast, softly rests his forehead against his Mother's cheek, and darts towards the world one of those fla in heaven, on earth, and in hell treht and quivers as in the breath of the tempest, and sombre clouds pass across the widely , the pupils dilate and the flame is ready to dart forth; the eyes, profound and terrible, are preparing to flash with lightning; they still withhold it, but we feel that it lance is truly splendid; it fascinates you, attracts you, and, at the sa, and, froreat mystery, I think; the upper lip, visibly lifted on the left side, assunation This deviation of a single feature is materially a small matter, and yet it suffices to stamp the whole countenance with irresistible action The Infant Jesus assun Judge; his power is infinite and one act of his will be sufficient to condeiven us a presentiin of St Sixtus_ shows it to us in 1518, in its eternal grandeur and sublime reality But the Word of God would scarcely leave rooin did not immediately come to shed hope in the soul terrified at the idea of justice
In fact, the Virgin reed son, and reassures our heart also with her confidence If she presents the Son of God to the world under a terrifying aspect, at the saainst her breast, and her features, under the splendour of the divine radiance, shi+ne with such purity that we feel the flain appears here like the dawning light She advances froht as the cloud that bears her Her gait, or rather her flight through the air, is staht hand, raised as high as the shoulder, holds the body of Jesus under his right arht arm, while Mary's left arm is placed under the Infant's body to support and carry hiin of St Sixtus, like every Madonna, wears a red robe and a white s with drapery with such simple elements The mantle falls with a beautiful movement over the lower part of the body and floats in wide folds, which, while sharply defining the form and movement of the lower limbs, reveals the bare feet which are of admirable forold embroidery on the sleeve, is of a purple tint in the shadows and becoirdled below the breast like the antique statues, and reveals the neck as well as the top of the shoulders, which are surrounded by a veil of white gauze A long scarf of the same colour as the veil but tinted with bistre, is placed on the crown of the head, and, distending like a sail above the left shoulder, returns to the left hand to serve as a support for the Infant, and runs along the body of Jesus, who grasps it with his right hand The Virgin's head appears in full illulows solely with its own beauty It is three quarters left, indeed almost full face, in a similar position but in opposition to the Saviour's head, which, as we have seen, is three quarters right and aled sihtly waved above the brow, leaving the ears, cheeks, and te in any ith the outlines of the face
The forehead, of a ht, presents a widely developed surface, in the centre of which glows a light that is continued down the bridge of the nose The eyes, of irreproachable shape, are full of brilliance, and their gaze sheds over all it illuled with an indefinable exaltation The mouth trembles with divine emotion and seems to quiver with celestial bliss
Another reenius is that in the Virgin and the Infant, of such different, we ht almost say such opposite expressions, the same features are noticeably repeated
Raphael has been faithful to the last to the system he adopted in almost his earliest pictures, and to make this intentional resemblance ether, and shown the ele them in different ways so that they may complement each other and be reflected in one another as in a lory surrounds both Mother and Son at the same time, so the same character of beauty is found faithfully reproduced in each The skulls of both have the saence shi+nes upon the two brows, although the Saviour's is dark and in's remains radiant and clear; the eyes have also the salance of the one is terrible and of the other, reassuring; the mouth has the same lines, the same nobility, and the sa terror and tranquillity; and the cleft in the chin is identical The colour also helps to ures--we have the sa and delicate; the same warm and always luminous shadows Indeed, Jesus is confounded with Mary, so to speak, so that the two forether make one and the saet rid of his majestic nakedness beneath the veil and in the in, in which Raphael has surpassed hienius It was not laboriously conceived; it was born of itself, spontaneously complete, like the antique Minerva, with its perfect form and beauty, and it was the recompense for an entire life consecrated without intermission to the search after nature and truth, to the study of the masters and all the traditions, to the cult of the ideal and especially of the Virgin
After having produced so many rare masterpieces, his love and faith were carried to such a pitch of power and enthusiasm that he see into a sphere superior to all he had hitherto visited, he painted a Virgin incoins he had painted before Not a single design, nor preparatory study, puts us on the trace of any bringing forth of any of the parts of this picture
However, if the iin was traced on the canvas by a hand suddenly inspired, I think that at the same time Raphael confronted his inspiration with nature, and that, whilst resolutely springing towards the infinite, he yet set himself face to face with reality Perhaps, strictly, he would have had no need of that; he had amassed so much, his memory placed such numerous, varied, and exact documents at the service of his will, that he had only to remember in order almost immediately to produce an accomplished whole Moreover, he had theit; and without losing sight of his ideal, it was to this model that he applied hiin of St Sixtus, we recognize, not the ie None of her features are left and yet it is she, but so purified that no trouble nor shadow cohtness of the picture In every huer is only in the skies; this is the flowering, the splendour of which is shown in the Virgin of St Sixtus We care very little about Raphael's private life; we only affirm in the presence of his work that as a painter he did not love for this life only, and that fro to the end of his career he had the respect and the taste for eternal love Since the day when the Virgin appeared transfigured to the seer of the Apocalypse, she had never revealed herself in such effulgence Before this picture, we lose everybut the Queen of Heaven and of the angels, the creature elect and blessed above all creatures In thus painting the Virgin, Raphael has al in this picture is food for admiration, even the atmosphere that envelops it and those innuravitate around the Virgin and the Word of God The aureole that encircles the divine group shows nothing at first but dazzling and golden light; then, as it recedes froes froold into the purest blue, and is filled with those heads, chaste, innocent, and fervent, that spring beneath the brush of Raphael like the flowers at the breath of Spring These aerial creatures throng to contein, and their forms recall those radiances in the shape of crowns that fill the Dantesque Paradise,the name of Mary resound with their praises Our eyes and mind lose themselves in the immense multitude of these happy spirits ”Number if you can the sands of the sea or the stars in the sky, those that are visible and invisible, and still believe that you have not attained the nu to s, and it is the al” We cannot keep our eyes away froaze at it and love to dazzle and weary our eyes with it
On either side of the Virgin, kneel St Sixtus and St Barbara Placed also amid the clouds, but below the Madonna, they are near the sovereign mediatrix, as e
St Sixtus is seen on the right in profile, his head is raised towards the Infant Jesus, his left hand is placed devoutly on his breast while his right is foreshortened and points towards the spectator He wears a white rochet tied by a girdle with golden tassels, a white aold falling to his feet, and a long chasuble e his shoulders and arms, the wide folds of which are lost amid the clouds
His head is bare, and his white tiara, adorned with the triple crown, is placed on the balustrade that runs horizontally across the base of the picture It is inty of greater fervour, grandeur, and truth His craniu His emaciated face is full of ardour and power: his eyes penetrate straight into the splendour of God; and his rey beard that covers the lower part of his face, is praying with extraordinary fervour His gesture, so resolute and respectful, is in itself an act of love and charity, and his very hands, so true in drawing and so bold in action, have their special eloquence It seems impossible that the divine justice will not allow itself to be swayed by such intercession
St Barbara is opposite St Sixtus Her body is in left profile, towards the Virgin, while her head, turned over her left shoulder towards the spectator, appears almost in full face Only her left arainst her breast Her left knee, directly resting upon the cloud, sustains the weight of her body; her right leg, which is raised, only touches the clouds with the foot Her head is as beautiful, youthful, and fresh as the action of her whole figure is easy, elegant, and noble Then where did Raphael find this serenity if not in hi towards the earth, seems to want to receive our hopes and vows to bear theins who are created in the iin par excellence
Nevertheless, here she affects certain worldly appearances which, beside the severe simplicity of the Mother of the Word, establish a hierarchy between the two figures and a sort of line of deher we soar the
St Barbara's hair is arranged with a certain elegance; it is very abundant, of an ash blonde, and forathered off the temples and are crossed by thite fillets, one of which crosses the top of the forehead like a diadem Her eyes, lowered towards the earth, are perfectly beautiful; her mouth is calm and sweet; and purity shi+nes in all her features Her shoulders are bare, only covered with a veil of white gauze which falls down her back, passes under her arm and returns to her breast where her left hand holds it
Her robe of violet shading into a neutral tint, is only visible where it covers her leg; for a greenthe arm, the sleeve of which is blue on the upper arhtly puffed at the shoulder, and yellow also on the forearrand air and in exquisite taste Thus draped, the figure has a charious idea, leaves room also for a ht that the figures of the Virgin, the Infant Jesus, St Sixtus, and St Barbara would alone be sufficient for his picture; but the e beneath the feet of the Madonna was too considerable to be filled up siid and horizontal supporting bar on which two angels lean upon their elbows, contein with such rapture In fact, these angels seeht brush, they scarcely cover the clouds, but allow the underlying pigs of vivid tint co around Raphael and always ready to coh held to nature by the h perhaps too familiar in attitude and manner, they are yet supernatural by the clearness of their intelligence and by the power of their admiration We are enchanted with their candour and beauty They are full of zeal and enthusiased into Christian innocence and chastity Their faith is as beautiful as the sky, and in loving them it is almost for God himself that we feel the love
Such are the various parts of this work; their union fors a divine note to this celestial concert By what process was this picture produced? We can scarcely say, so greatly does the inspiration predominate over the technique
Raphael aiiven to him as increase
The colour is just what it should be in such a subject; whilst keeping to a sweet, calht, and we ask ourselves whether it is not the hand of an angel rather than that of a man that has been able to realize such a in of St Sixtus_ is the in is to attempt the impossible Study it a hundred times and a hundred times it will reveal itself under a new aspect It was before this picture, it is said, that Correggio cried: ”And I also, I ain of St Sixtus_ was immediately placed where it was meant to be; it was present in triumph every day for two hundred and thirty-six years at the divine sacranal honour
In 1734 the degenerate old to their inestimable masterpiece, and for a miserable sum of a hundred and some thousands of francs (110,000 to 120,000), they sold their Virgin to Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland That day the barbarians were not those the Italians think
At Dresden, the Madonna was received with great poht in haste into the reception hall of his palace; as the place of honour was occupied by the throne, he, hi it to a less conspicuous station, he cried: ”Rooreat Raphael” If this is historic, it does honour to the prince; if legendary, it is to the glory of the people whose senties de Raphael_ (Paris, 1869)
THE DREAM OF ST URSULA