Rafael Santi was born in 1483 in the Italian city of Urbino. Santi is often called the "artist of Our Lady" or the "master of the Madonnas." However, this Italian painter was both a graphic artist and an architect. Raphael's father was also an artist, so craving for beauty is a family trait. The second mentor after his father can be considered the master Pietro Perugino, who had a serious impact on his student's vision in art. At the end of 1504, Rafael moved to Florence, where he met with the celebrities of that era - da Vinci, della Porta, Michelangelo and many other talented people. They also had a certain impact on Raphael. In particular, culturologists distinguish the paintings of R. Santi - before moving to Florence and after.
The meaning of the picture
Rafael Santi (1483-1520) lived only 37 years, but during this time he created many paintings and frescoes. The plots of the artist’s works are diverse, but he was particularly attracted to the religious genre, in particular the image of the Madonna (Santi has more than 40 portraits of the Virgin). “Madonna of the Conestabile” is one of the earliest creations (presumably, Raphael painted this picture at the age of 20). Many cultural scientists note that the fascination with portraits of the Madonna is associated with childhood psychological trauma. At the age of eleven, Santi lost his mother and tried to tell about his lost motherly love in every portrait of the Virgin.
Long way to Russia
The portrait previously had a different name - “Madonna and Book”. R. Santi wrote it in Perugia (
Umbria region, Italy) by order of the aristocrat Alfano di Diamante (approximately 1500-1504). Then the painting was inherited by the owners of the old gallery, Counts of Conestabile della Staffa, from where the name “Madonna of Conestabile” came.
The wife of Alexander II - Maria Alexandrovna - wanted to buy this particular picture. The director of the Hermitage Stepan Gedeonov went with the aim of acquiring the canvas to Florence. At first he was refused, but in 1870 he still bought a masterpiece for 310 thousand francs. For Italy, it was a big loss, but the government did not have so much money in its budget to return the picture.
In 1871, the portrait falls into the Winter Palace (St. Petersburg, Russian Empire). In 1880, the painting goes to the Hermitage according to the will of Maria Alexandrovna. "Madonna of the Conestabile" was the only Raphael canvas in Russian collections. At the moment, the portrait can be seen in Hall 229 of the State Hermitage Museum.
From tree to canvas
In 1881, the process of transferring from a wooden canvas to a canvas began in the St. Petersburg Hermitage. It was here that it was discovered that at first Mary held grenades in her hands - a symbol of Christ's sacrifice and shed blood. It is known that Santi adopted this motive from his teacher
Pietro Perugino."Madonna of the Conestabile." Description of the picture
This small portrait has the shape of a tondo (short for Italian rotondo - round). A circle with a diameter of 18 cm is inscribed in a square frame. This shape gives the picture a sense of completeness. Originally painted on wood with oil. The frame is also drawn from the original. These are black and gold ornaments in conjunction. The picture is very small format and more like an illustration for a religious book.
Rafael, "Madonna of the Conestabile." Portrait description
The female silhouette is drawn exactly in the middle of the whole canvas. The baby’s body is on the same slope as the mother’s head. Maria is dressed in a red-cherry dress, completely covered with a blue scarf. The young painter Rafael ("Madonna of the Conestabile") took the most vibrant colors - red, blue green - and was able to combine them harmoniously. The blue shawl does not merge with the color of the sky. A red dress does not look flashy.
Baby Jesus carefully peers into the pages of the book (presumably a prayer book), which gives the impression that he is reading it. In the smooth lines of the faces of Mother and little Jesus, tenderness, love and harmony are expressed. The tondo form holds together the figurative unity of figures and landscape and gives the whole scene a particularly harmonious character. The rounded shape perfectly emphasizes the smoothness of the lines of the shoulder, head and lines of the second shoulder of the young woman. With the help of the halo, the “master Madonna” emphasized the divine principle of the depicted people.
Landscape in portrait
In his famous painting “The Conestabile Madonna”, Rafael Santi painted Maria and her child reading a book against the backdrop of beautiful Umbrian nature: hills around the lake, thin bare trees, green ground, snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you look closely at the background, you can see the locals - peaceful Italians are swimming in a small boat, and someone is just walking among the hills. This is the image of spring awakening nature. The appearance of the young Madonna is fully consistent with this nature - the same gentle and blooming. It is also felt that the artist himself is young in body and soul. In one of the first portraits of the Mother of God, a fresh look of the creator is visible.
It is believed that the artist left the portrait of Madonna Conestabile unfinished due to the relocation from Umbria to Florence. However, this is the whole charming charm of this work of art.