A Reading of Raphael’s “The Sistine Madonna”
From 1513-1514, Raphael Sanzio painted a Madonna altarpiece commissioned by Pope Julius II for the Church of San Sisto, Piacenza (Encyclopedia of Art Education). The painting features three religious figures in a triangular arrangement. At the center is the Madonna, draped in red and metallic blue cloth while carrying the child Jesus. She and her child look worried to an imaginary figure outside the painting. At the lower left is Saint Sixtus, an old bald man, garbed in white and yellow gold, kneeling by the side of the Madonna and pointing his fingers to an imaginary figure also outside the painting. At the right side is Saint Barbara, a young woman with braided gold hair and clothed in green, blue, and red, gazing at the figures below in melancholy. Her quiet, unmoved expression suggests an inner sadness at what the other figures might be looking outside the painting. Despite the sadness, they look majestic while standing on a heap of clouds. From the top, emerald curtains hanging on a wire swirl as if it was recently opened. At the bottom, there are two putti or chubby-cheeked winged cherubs, hanging out on the ledge and gazing sadly at the figures above them. Near these winged cherubs to the far left corner is a white dome-shaped hat surrounded by gold implements. This is the Papal tiara of Pope Sixtus I, a symbol of the divide between illusionary space and the real space of the viewer (Encyclopedia of Art Education). This Raphael’s masterpiece called “The Sistine Madonna” is indeed venerable. It showcases how art can imitate the lifelike proportions of the human body’s contours and reveals how artists creatively weave religious images as illusions.
This painting provides an overview of techniques used by painters during the Italian High Renaissance period. One of its achievements is creating an illusion. There are hints of geometrical designs in “The Sistine Madonna” like the triangular position of the Madonna, Saint Sixtus, and Saint Barbara. Their facial expressions are unified. The Madonna placed higher in the triangle and the putti placed nearer at the real space of the viewer create a depth that separates illusion from reality. Another achievement is the veneration of lifelike body gestures in paintings. One example is the contours of the baby Christ held by the Madonna. They are muscular amid a very innocent looking child. These instances of achieving the lifelike dimensions of the body go back to Greek art. Another example of this influence is found in the three figures. The Madonna’s feet show a contrapposto, her left knee bended counter to her right leg in an effect to make her left foot point angular. Saint Barbara kneels with her upper torso facing the Madonna but her head twists away to her left below the figures. Meanwhile, Saint Sixtus hands show the minute veins in pointing and touching. They all arch their body gestures to reveal human proportions of the divine. …
