Painting "Madonna Conestabile" by Raphael Santi

Rafael Santi was born in 1483 in the Italian city of Urbino. Often, Santi is called "the artist of the Mother of God" or "the master of the Madonna". However, this Italian painter was both a graphic designer and an architect. Father Raphael, too, was an artist, so the desire for beauty - a family feature. The second mentor after his father can be considered the master Pietro Perugino, who had a great influence on his pupil's vision in art. In late 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 definite influence on Raphael. In particular, culturologists distinguish the paintings of R. Santi - before moving to Florence and after.

Value of the picture

Rafael Santi (1483-1520) lived only 37 years, but during this time he created many paintings and frescoes. Plots of the artist's works are diverse, but especially he was attracted by the religious genre, in particular the image of the Madonna (Santi has more than 40 portraits of the Mother of God). "Madonna Conestabile" is one of the earliest creations (presumably Rafael wrote this picture at the age of 20). Many culturologists note that the fascination with portraits of Madonna is associated with a child's psychological trauma. At the age of eleven, Santi lost his mother and tried to tell about his lost mother's love in every portrait of the Virgin.

Long way to Russia

The portrait previously had a different name - "Madonna with a book". R. Santi wrote it in Perugia ( Umbria region, Italy) , commissioned by the aristocrat Alfano di Diamante (circa 1500-1504). Then the picture was inherited by the owners of the old gallery to the graphs of the Conestabile della Staffa, where the name Madonna Conestabile came from.

Wife of Alexander II - Maria Alexandrovna - wanted to buy this particular picture. Director of the Hermitage Stepan Gedeonov went with the goal of buying a canvas in Florence. At first he was refused, but in 1870 he still bought a masterpiece for 310 thousand francs. For Italy, it was a great loss, but the government did not have in its budget so much money to return the picture.

In 1871, the portrait enters the Winter Palace (St. Petersburg, Russian Empire). In 1880, the painting goes to the Hermitage under the will of Maria Alexandrovna. "Madonna Conestabile" remained the only painting by Raphael in Russian collections. At the moment, the portrait can be seen in Hall 229 of the State Hermitage.

From tree to canvas

In 1881, the St. Petersburg Hermitage began the process of translation from a wooden canvas to canvas. Here it was discovered that at first Mary held a grenade in her hands - a symbol of Christ's sacrifice and spilled blood. It is known that this motif Santi took from his teacher Pietro Perugino.

"The Madonna of Conestabile". Description of the picture

This small portrait has the form of a tondo (short for Italian rotondo - round). A circle with a diameter of 18 cm is inscribed in a square frame. This form gives the picture a sense of completeness. Originally painted on a tree with oil. The frame is also drawn from the original. These are the black and gold ornaments in the mix. The picture is very small and more like an illustration to a religious book.

Rafael, "The Madonna of Conestabile". Description of the portrait

The female silhouette is drawn exactly in the middle of the entire canvas. The body of the child is under the same bias as the mother's head. Maria is dressed in a red-cherry dress, completely covered with a blue handkerchief. The young painter Rafael ("Madonna Conestabile") took the most succulent colors - red, blue green - and was able to combine them harmoniously. The blue handkerchief does not blend with the color of the sky. And the red dress does not look flashy.

The Baby Jesus carefully peers at the pages of the book (presumably - the prayer book), which gives the impression that he is reading it. Tenderness, love and harmony are expressed in the smooth lines of the faces of the Mother and the little Jesus. The form of the tondo holds together the figurative unity of figures and landscape and gives the whole scene a particularly harmonious character. Rounded forms perfectly emphasize the smoothness of the lines of the shoulder, head and line of the second shoulder of the young woman. With the help of the halo, "Master Madonna" stressed the divine beginning of the depicted people.

Landscape in the portrait

Rafael Santi painted Mary and her child in reading the book against the backdrop of beautiful Umbrian nature: hills around the lake, thin bare trees, a green earth, snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you look at the background, you can see the locals - peaceful Italians swim in a small canoe, and someone just strolls among the hills. It is an image of a spring awakening nature. The image of the young Madonna fully corresponds to this nature - the same gentle and blooming. It is also felt that the artist himself is young with soul and body. On one of the first portraits of Our Lady the fresh look of the creator is seen.

It is believed that the artist left a portrait of "The Madonna of Conestabile" unfinished in connection with the move from Umbria to Florence. However, in this lies the all enchanting charm of this work of art.