Madonna of Foligno
Madonna of Foligno | |
---|---|
Artist | Raphael |
Year | c. 1511–1512 |
Medium | Oil on wood, transferred to canvas |
Dimensions | 320 cm × 194 cm (130 in × 76 in) |
Location | Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City |
The Madonna of Foligno is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, executed c. 1511–1512. First painted on wood panel, it was later transferred to canvas.
History
The painting was executed for Sigismondo de' Conti, chamberlain to Pope Julius II. It was placed on the high altar of Santa Maria in Aracoeli on the Capitoline Hill in Rome,[1][2] the church in which Sigismondo was buried in 1512.
It was moved by Anna Conti, a descendant of Sigismondi de' Conti, to the monastery of St. Anne in Foligno in 1565, and remained there for more than two centuries, hence the name.[1][2]
In 1799 it was one of many paintings which Napoleon ordered moved to Paris. There, in 1802, the painting was transferred from panel to canvas by François-Toussaint Hacquin [3] and restored by Mathias Barthélémy Röser of Heidelberg.[1][2] A note was made by the restorer: "Rapporto dei cittadini Guijon Vincent Tannay e Berthollet sul ristauro dei quadri di Raffaello conosciuto sotto il nome di Madonna di Foligno."[4]
In 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, the painting was returned to the Papal States where it was allocated to the Pinacoteca Vaticana of the Vatican Museum.[1][2] It was hung in the same room as Raphael's Transfiguration.[1][2]
Description
The painting is a sacra conversazione, where holy figures seem to be in conversation and draw the audience into their discussion.[5] Rather than sitting under a canopy, of the Umbrian or Florentine style,[2] the Virgin is seated on clouds, embracing Jesus, while surrounded by angels. They look down upon Sigismondo de' Conti, kneeling in a red, fur-lined cape. Conti is presented by St. Jerome on the right with his lion, appealing for the Virgin's protection. On the left are the kneeling St. Francis of Assisi and St. John the Baptist, who is standing and wearing a tunic of skins. As St. John points to Jesus, he clearly looks out to us, pulling us in, while St. Francis points to us and looks at the Christ Child. Between the men is an angel, linking the saints of earth to the Heavenly host. Behind them are the towers of Foligno.[1][2][4][5][6]
Painted during Raphael's Roman period, it is a testament to his artistic maturity, evidenced in the painting's composition, coloring and form.[4]
Conti commissioned the painting to commemorate his survival of a shell that exploded near him during the Siege of Foligno, his hometown. He credited his safety to heavenly intervention.[2][4][5][6] According to the historian Massimo Polidoro, this painting has been used by UFO websites as evidence of a flying saucer crash. Polidoro states that the house of Sigismondo Conti and a fireball are visible in the painting, and that painters at this time used "symbolic meanings that were anything but random". The angel is holding a sign with nothing written on it; according to Polidoro this was because Sigismondo died before he could tell Raphael what "thank you" to the Virgin he wanted written on the sign. Polidoro describes the UFO explanation as "reinterpreting with the eyes of twenty-first-century Europeans the product of other cultures".[7]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f Champlin, J.; Perkins, C., eds. (1913). Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 138.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Masters in Art: A Series of Illustrated Monographs. Vol. 1. Boston: Bates & Guild Company. 1900. p. 38.
- ^ Massing, Ann, 'Painting Restoration Before ‘La Restauration’: The Origins of the Profession in France', Harvey Miller Publishers/Brepols 2012, pp. 177-180.
- ^ a b c d Ricci, C. (2003) [1914]. Vatican: Its History Its Treasures. Kessinger Publishing. p. 216. ISBN 0-7661-3941-7.
- ^ a b c Hersey, G. (1993). High Renaissance art in St. Peter's and the Vatican: An Interpretive Guide. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 124. ISBN 0-226-32781-7.
- ^ a b Potter, M. (1912). The Vatican: Being a Brief History of the Palace, and an account of the Principal Art Treasures within its Walls. Boston: The Botolph Society. p. 308.
- ^ Polidoro, Massimo (2018). "Does the Vatican Hold a Painting of a UFO?". Skeptical Inquirer. 42 (3). Committee for Skeptical Inquiry: 19.
External links
- Media related to Foligno Madonna by Raphael at Wikimedia Commons
- v
- t
- e
- Baronci Altarpiece (1500–1501)
- Saint Sebastian (1501–1502)
- Resurrection of Christ (1499–1502)
- Mond Crucifixion (1502–1503)
- Madonna and Child with the Book (c. 1503)
- Solly Madonna (c. 1500–1504)
- Oddi Altar (1502–1504)
- Conestabile Madonna (c. 1502–1504)
- Portrait of a Man (c. 1503–1504)
- Vision of a Knight (1503–1504)
- The Marriage of the Virgin (1504)
- Diotallevi Madonna (c. 1504)
- Portrait of Perugino 1 (c. 1504)
- Colonna Altarpiece (c. 1503–1505)
- Saint George (c. 1503–1505)
- Three Graces (c. 1503–1505)
- Saint Michael (c. 1504–1505)
- Christ Blessing (c. 1502–1504)
- Portrait of Pietro Bembo (c. 1504)
- Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga 2 (c. 1504–1505)
- Portrait of Emilia Pia da Montefeltro 2 (c. 1504–1505)
- Small Cowper Madonna (c. 1504–1505)
- Terranuova Madonna (c. 1504–1505)
- Madonna del Granduca (c. 1505)
- Saint George and the Dragon (c. 1505)
- Young Man with an Apple (c. 1505)
- Self-portrait (1504–1506)
- La donna gravida (1505–1506)
- Madonna del Cardellino (c. 1505–1506)
- Young Woman with Unicorn (c. 1505–1506)
- Madonna del Prato (1506)
- Madonna with Beardless Saint Joseph (c. 1506)
- Portrait of Agnolo Doni (c. 1506)
- Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro (c. 1506)
- Portrait of Maddalena Doni (c. 1506)
- Ansidei Madonna (1505–1507)
- Madonna of the Pinks (c. 1506–1507)
- Bridgewater Madonna (c. 1507–1508)
- The Deposition (1507)
- Madonna of the Baldacchino (c. 1506–1508)
- La belle jardinière (1507–1508) (completed by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio)
- Canigiani Holy Family (c. 1507–1508)
- Colonna Madonna (c. 1507–1508)
- Portrait of a Young Woman (La Muta) (c. 1507–1508)
- Esterhazy Madonna (c. 1508)
- Niccolini-Cowper Madonna (1508)
- Tempi Madonna (1508)
- Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1507–1509)
- Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami (c. 1509)
- Garvagh Madonna (c. 1509–1510)
- Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (c. 1509–1511)
- Portrait of a Cardinal (c. 1510–1511)
- Alba Madonna (c. 1511)
- Madonna of Loreto (c. 1511)
- The Prophet Isaiah (1511–1512)
- Madonna of Foligno (c. 1511–1512)
- Portrait of Pope Julius II (1511, 1512)
- Galatea (c. 1512)
- Madonna with the Fish (c. 1512–1514)
- Madonna della Seggiola (c. 1513–1514)
- Madonna of the Candelabra (c. 1513–1514)
- Sistine Madonna (c. 1513–1514)
- Madonna dell'Impannata (c. 1513–1514)
- Madonna della Tenda (c. 1513–1514)
- Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1513–1514)
- Sibyls (1514)
- Portrait of Bindo Altoviti (c. 1512–1515)
- Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (c. 1514–1515)
- Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary (c. 1514–1516)
- Creation of the World (1516)
- Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano (1516)
- Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena (c. 1516)
- La velata (c. 1516)
- Visitation (c. 1517)
- The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia (c. 1514–1517)
- Madonna with the Blue Diadem (c. 1510–1518)
- Holy Family of Francis I (1518)
- Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan (1518)
- Ezekiel's Vision (c. 1518)
- Portrait of Doña Isabel de Requesens y Enríquez de Cardona-Anglesola (with Giulio Romano) (c. 1518)
- Saint Margaret and the Dragon (c. 1518)
- La Fornarina (1518–1519)
- Small Holy Family (c. 1518–1519) (with Giulio Romano)
- Portrait of a Young Woman (c. 1518–1519) (with Giulio Romano)
- Transfiguration (1516–1520)
- Madonna de Bogota (c. 1517–1520)
- Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals (c. 1518–1520)
- Madonna of the Rose (1518–1520)
- Self-Portrait with a Friend (1518–1520)
- The Parnassus (1509–1511)
- The School of Athens (1509–1511)
- Disputation of the Holy Sacrament (1510–1511)
- Cardinal and Theological Virtues (1511)
- The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple (1511–1512)
- The Mass at Bolsena (1512–1514)
- The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila (1513–1514)
- Deliverance of Saint Peter (1514)
- The Fire in the Borgo (c. 1514–1517) (executed by Giulio Romano)
- Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1514–1516)
- Christ's Charge to Peter (1514–1516)
- Healing of the Lame Man (1514–1516)
- Death of Ananias (1514–1516)
- Conversion of the Proconsul (1514–1516)
- Sacrifice at Lystra (1514–1516)
- Saint Paul Preaching in Athens (1514–1516)
- Lucretia (1500s)
- Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1508)
- Jonah (1520) (executed by Lorenzetto)
- Elijah (c. 1520–1524) (executed by Lorenzetto and Raffaello da Montelupo)
- Chigi Chapel (1507–1520) (continued by other architects)
- Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia (1515–1519)
- Palazzo Branconio dell'Aquila (c. 1520)
- Sant'Eligio degli Orefici (1509–1575) (completed by Baldassare Peruzzi and Bastiano da Sangallo)
- Villa Madama (1518–1525) (completed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and other disciples)
- Villa Farnesina (decoration)
- Giovanni Santi (father)
- Imperia Cognati (mistress and model)
- Margarita Luti (mistress and model)
- Giulio Romano (disciple and collaborator)
- Raphael and La Fornarina (1813 painting)
- Raphael (1894 opera)
- La Fornarina (1944 film)
- Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
- SS Raffaello
- Raphael (crater)
- Vatican loggias
- 1 Also attributed to Lorenzo di Credi
- 2 Attributed