Portrait of Pope Julius II (Raphael)
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| Artist | Raphael |
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| Year | 1511-1512 |
| Type | Oil on wood |
| Dimensions | 108 cm × 80.7 cm (43 in × 31.8 in) |
| Location | National Gallery, London |
Portrait of Pope Julius II is an oil painting attributed to Italian painter Raphael. This painting of Pope Julius II, who was a popular subject for Raphael and his students, was unusual for its time and would carry a long influence on papal portraiture. From its beginning, it was specially hung at the pillars of Santa Maria del Popolo, at the gates to Rome, for feast and high holy days.
For many years, a version of the painting which now hangs in the Uffizi Gallery was believed to be the original, but in 1970 opinion shifted. The original is currently believed to be the version hanging in the National Gallery, London.
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[edit] Composition
The painting is a portrait of Pope Julius II. The subject was a popular one. According to the 1901 catalogue of the National Gallery, "This portrait was repeated several times by Raphael, or his scholars. Passavant enumerates nine repetitions...besides three of the head only."[1] There is a possible cartoon for the London version in the Palazzo Corsini, Florence,[2] and a red chalk drawing at Chatsworth House[3]
The presentation of the subject was unusual for its time. Previous Papal portraits showed them frontally, or kneeling in profile. It was also "exceptional" at this period to show the sitter so evidently in a particular mood - here lost in thought.[4] The intimacy of this image was unprecedented in Papal portraiture, but became the model, "what became virtually a formula", followed by most future painters, including Sebastiano del Piombo and Diego Velázquez.[2] The Oxford Dictionary of Art (2004) indicates that the painting "established a type for papal portraits that endured for about two centuries."[5]
[edit] Provenance
The provenance of this painting is constructed based on documents, analysis of the painting and preliminary sketches. For centuries the painting was co-located with the "Madonna of Loreto (Raphael)," first at the Santa Maria del Popolo, then in private collections, and for a time their location was unknown. The original painting by Raphael is now believed to be the version at National Gallery.
[edit] Santa Maria del Popolo
Julius II commissioned of Raphael[6] this painting and "Madonna of Loreto" which resided at Santa Maria del Popolo,[7][8][9] at the entrance gate to Rome.[10]
An impressive array of Renaissance artists were brought in to decorate the San Maria del Popolo church and its chapels in Rome, beginning with Raphael.[11] Both paintings by Raphael, Julius II and the Madonna were hung on pillars during feast days[12][13] or high holy days.[8]
The two paintings, nearly the same size, seem as if they were meant to complement each other. Nearly the same size, they also both had a strong vertical orientation. The eyes of the paintings were downcast and gave a contemplative feeling. The positioning and lighting within the paintings seems to indicate that they were meant to each flank a side of an altar in the domed chapel. Although the paintings were paired for a time through change of ownership, "Madonna of Loreto" is now located in the Condé Museée in Chantilly, France.[12]
As a means of indicating Julius' apprecition of the Madonna, which resulted in the pairing of paintings, Julius commissioned another Madonna painting, the "Sistine Madonna", in the last year of his life where his adoration is shown by the Pope kneeling at the feet of the Virgin.[14]
There are many suppositions about the circumstances surrounding the painting after Popolo, partly because there were many copies of the painting and partly due to delays in publication of vital documents.[15]
[edit] Cardinal Sfondrati
In 1591, the Raphael paintings "Julius II" and what was later called "Madonna of Loreto" were removed from the church by Paolo Camillo Sfondrati, later Cardinal Sfondrati, and nephew of Pope Gregory XIV.[15][16][17] In 1608, he sold the paintings to Cardinal Scipione Borghese.[15]
[edit] Borghese Collection
The paintings, purchased in 1608 [15] were still recorded as part of the Borghese collection in 1693[17] as a small inventory mark at bottom left shows. It presumably left the collection in the 1790s, and was in the Angerstein Collection by 1823, and was acquired by the National Gallery in 1824.[2]
[edit] Uffuzi and National Gallery paintings
Until 1970, it was commonly believed that the London version of the painting was a copy by a student of a Raphael original, which was believed to be the version existing in the Uffizi Gallery.[18] In that year, the National Gallery's Cecil Gould and Konrad Oberhuber, along with others, successfully changed common opinion with reference to scientific data and historical records.[18][19] However, the attribution is not universally accepted and was challenged in 1996 by James Beck in Artibus et Historiae.[18]
[edit] Notes
- ^ National Gallery:522.
- ^ a b c Gould (1975):210
- ^ Jones & Penny:157-8
- ^ Jones & Penny:158
- ^ Chilvers:576.
- ^ Müntz, E (2005) [1888]. Sir Walter Armstrong. ed. Raphael: His Life, Works and Times. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 213. http://books.google.com/books?id=pO7GkO4soMgC&pg=PA213&dq=Raphael+Madonna+Loretto&hl=en&ei=V_17TeDwGJL6swPIhoD6Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAg#.
- ^ Szakolczai, A (2007). Sociology, Religion, and Grace: A Quest for the Renaissance. United States and Canada: Routledge. p. 294. http://books.google.com/books?id=q1gNgW0Evp4C&pg=PA294&dq=Raphael+church+Loreto+Madonna&hl=en&ei=RMR7TceEAoTEsAPM2vDyAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Raphael%20church%20Loreto%20Madonna&f=false.
- ^ a b Berlin and its treasures. New York: D. Appleton and Company. 1867. p. 158. http://books.google.com/books?id=pFVOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA158&dq=Raphael+Madonna+Loretto&hl=en&ei=iOp7TfeQD4mCsQOVkMT7Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=Raphael%20Madonna%20Loretto&f=falseAny information later refuted was ignored.
- ^ Partridge, L; Starn, R (1980). Renaissance Likeness: Art and Culture in Raphael's Julius II. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. p. 77. ISBN 0-520-03901-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=C8mFuRbodS4C&pg=PA1&dq=Raphael+%22Madonna+del+Velo%22+OR+%22Madonna+of+Loreto%22+OR+%22Madonna+of+the+Veil%22&hl=en&ei=8Cd7TerfKpGosAORufX8Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Raphael%20%22Madonna%20del%20Velo%22%20OR%20%22Madonna%20of%20Loreto%22%20OR%20%22Madonna%20of%20the%20Veil%22&f=false.
- ^ Raphaël. 1966. pp. 129, 342. http://books.google.com/books?id=QVYVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA342&dq=Raphael+Madonna-of-the-Veil+OR+Madonna-of-Loreto+OR+Madonna-del-Velo&hl=en&ei=Bc57TfOpFIi6sAOY0OjyAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=Raphael%20Madonna-of-the-Veil%20OR%20Madonna-of-Loreto%20OR%20Madonna-del-Velo&f=false.
- ^ "Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome - History". Rome: Santa Maria del Popolo. 2009. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-santa-maria-del-popolo. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ a b Partridge, L; Starn, R (1980). Renaissance Likeness: Art and Culture in Raphael's Julius II. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. pp. 1, 96, 102–103. ISBN 0-520-03901-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=C8mFuRbodS4C&pg=PA1&dq=Raphael+%22Madonna+del+Velo%22+OR+%22Madonna+of+Loreto%22+OR+%22Madonna+of+the+Veil%22&hl=en&ei=8Cd7TerfKpGosAORufX8Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Raphael%20%22Madonna%20del%20Velo%22%20OR%20%22Madonna%20of%20Loreto%22%20OR%20%22Madonna%20of%20the%20Veil%22&f=false.
- ^ Grimm, H; Adams, S. The Life of Raphael. London: Alexander Gardner, Publisher to the Queen. pp. 170–171. http://books.google.com/books?id=U9BCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA170&dq=Raphael+Madonna+Loretto&hl=en&ei=Y9V7TfaWHI3EsAP-lpmBAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&sqi=2&ved=0CFYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Raphael%20Madonna%20Loretto&f=false.
- ^ Shaw, C (1996) [1993]. Julius II: The Warrior Pope. Oxford and Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers. p. 201. http://books.google.com/books?id=vb2iu3SiAqoC&pg=PA201&dq=Raphael+Madonna+Popolo+OR+Loretto+OR+Loreto+OR+Lorette+-Caravaggio&hl=en&ei=Yxl9Td_1GpCasAOHsbCWAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Raphael%20Madonna%20Popolo%20OR%20Loretto%20OR%20Loreto%20OR%20Lorette%20-Caravaggio&f=false.
- ^ a b c d Gould, C (May, 1980). "Afterthoughts on Raphael's so-Called Loreto Madonna". The Burlington Magazine (The Burlington Magazine Publications) 122: 336. http://www.jstor.org/. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ Crowe, J; Cavalcaselle, G (1885). Raphael: His Life and Works. 2. London: John Murray. pp. 108–109. http://books.google.com/books?id=TurqAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=Sandrart+Madonna+Popolo&source=bl&ots=qxDA9RIlIh&sig=zKkUIWRFtUpjcrOFW-Bobo0EV0k&hl=en&ei=KEN8TcHUHM_1rAHHx-3wBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Sandrart%20Madonna%20Popolo&f=falseMuch of this reference is involved in conjecture about the nature and movement of the painting. Anything later refuted has been ignored.
- ^ a b Shearman, J. Raphael in early modern sources (1483-1602). 2. p. 1400. http://books.google.com/books?id=mcy5JHquXNYC&pg=PA1400&dq=Paolo+Emilio+Raphael+Julius+1591+OR+1595&hl=en&ei=YlZ8TbbSI4-WsgODtuW_DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Paolo%20Emilio%20Raphael%20Julius%201591%20OR%201595&f=false.
- ^ a b c Beck:69.
- ^ Gould (2004)
[edit] References
- Beck, James (1996). "The Portrait of Julius II in London's National Gallery. The Goose That Turned into a Gander". Artibus et Historiae 17 (33): 69–95.
- Chilvers, Ian (2004). The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 9780198604761. http://books.google.com/books?id=WYaRX58a0_IC&pg=PA576. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- Gould, Cecil (October 2004). "A Raphael Goose Turns into a Swan". Apollo. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_512_160/ai_n9480372. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
- Gould, Cecil (1975). The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools. London: ?National Gallery Catalogues. ISBN 0947645225.
- Jones, Roger; Nicholas Penny (1983). Raphael. Yale. ISBN 0300030614.
- National Gallery (Great Britain) (1901). Descriptive and historical catalogue ...: with biographical notices of the ... painters .... http://books.google.com/books?id=IVQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA522. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
