Sistine Madonna, Mary

The work of Raffaello, which is almost as famous as Mona Lisa in Europe, will be called Sistine Madonna. The work is exhibited at the Alte Meister Picture Gallery in Dresden, Germany.

This magnificent work, dated to 1513-14, is the last work Raphael completed before he died at a young age. Raphael was particularly impressed by Michelangelo's work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The figures, which were not very three-dimensional before, started to become more voluminous after seeing these pictures. This work was commissioned by the Benedictine Monks to be placed in the Monastery of San Sisto in Piacenza.
The purpose of the order was the tomb of Julius II, the fierce and powerful Pope of the period. Michelangelo designs the Pope's mausoleum, and it is decided that Raffaello will paint some of the tomb's paintings. He is definitely a lucky Pope...

Giving life to stone and marble, Michelangelo designs a mausoleum including the statue of Moses, and Raffaello creates this beautiful work.

Let's start from the left. The first person we see is Pope Sixtus I. Because he is the patron saint of the Julius family. While Pope Sixtus points to a point outside the picture with his hands, he also looks towards Mary.

Directly opposite her, on the right side from our perspective, is St. Barbara. The reason why he is included in the picture is that the sacred relics he left behind when he died are located in the San Sisto Monastery. The saint looks very dignified and looks downwards.

We see the figures of baby Jesus and Mary in the center of both location and emotion of the painting.

The strong light coming from behind reminds us of the intense and artificial light we see in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes, and this light effect both highlights the figures and increases the sanctity of the scene with the countless angel faces faintly visible in the background.
They also present us with a highly idealized and magnificent view. The expressions of Jesus and Mary we see here are of a type that we are not used to in western art. This difference has caused many art historians to make various interpretations. They look pretty weird...

One of these comments; The expressions of Mary and Jesus are a reaction to death. Of course, this death is not just anyone's death. Directly the death of Jesus.
From our perspective, the figure of Pope Sixtus I on the left showing the outside of the painting was not a practice we encountered very often at that time. On the wall opposite this painting was the crucifixion of Jesus...
Knowing this, let's look at the picture again. The uneasiness on Jesus' face, the sorrow on Mary's face, the anxiety of Pope Sixtus I and the reason why Azize is looking down allow us to be as enlightened as in the picture with this information.
Baby Jesus sees what will happen to him when he grows up. Look at the beauty and surprise in her facial expression. We see that the baby in Mary's arms will one day be crucified.

Azize cannot even look at that point. After these details that bore us, our eyes slide downwards to get rid of the gloom of the picture. Here are two figures that had not attracted much of our attention until then, causing us to stay in front of the picture longer.

Because we see two angels who do not care at all about the heavy gloomy environment above. These angels should have been placed in the painting to create an emotional contrast. This shows the genius of the artist. Do they get bored because they cannot understand human emotions?
While on the one hand we feel peace and joy because of these angels, on the other hand we cannot help but feel sorry for Mary and Jesus. It's a disturbing, entertaining picture that we can't get out of.
These angel figures are so famous that we even see them on t-shirts. They are so loved in Western art that they are often evaluated, shared and explained separately from painting.
Most copy painters only deal with these angels without painting the rest of the scene. So, we can say that these little angels prevented the work as a whole from becoming famous.
Regardless, it is considered one of the most magnificent compositions in Art History. Raffaello, on the other hand, is accepted by most authorities as the greatest painter of all time and especially of that period.

What else could he have done if he hadn't died at a young age? This is one of the questions I am most curious about in art history. It is certain that he was very impressed by Michelangelo after seeing his works in the Sistine Chapel.

Even though they did not like each other, it is obvious that the young Raphael had great respect for the grumpy Michelangelo. I would like to end my article with a story between the two.
Raphael is young, enterprising and very popular in Rome. He is quite social and has strong relationships with Rome's notables. Michelangelo, on the other hand, is grumpy and grumpy. It is not social. He doesn't like Raffaello very much either.
One day they run into each other on the street. At that time, there were many rich merchants and important clergy next to Raffaello. They are traveling in large numbers. Michelangelo is alone.
Michelangelo asks; 'Raffaello, where are you surrounded by such a chancellor? says. Its purpose is to provoke. It is not right for an artist to travel like a famous person.
Raffaello's answer is sad; 'Tell me, great Michelangelo, where are you all alone like an executioner?

Thank you for reading. Stay with art... 🖤