The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-12-23
RAP HAEL's MADONNA
Mareherita In the Most Wonderful
Picture In the World.

hapuaGi SlSLluc MdQOuua IL LnS
most beloved picture in the world
and the greatest. There are few critics
who do not concede this point And
there are equally few OF us who have
not seen the masterpiece Of the Italian
painter, for 1t has been reproduced 80
often in paint and print that today 1t
hangs upon the walls of even the hum
blest homes. Yet how many of those
whose hearts have been pierced by the
spiritual beauty of this mother and
child, know the story OF the picture?
Probably very few. For art with the
average person is an accident. not an
education.
From the beginning, says writer
in the New York Evening Telegram,
Raphael showed signs of a very great
genius which, after all, was not SO
extraordinary, as his father, Giovanni
Santi, was a noted artist attached to
the court Of the Duke of Urbino, in
which province the family lived. The
boys mother was a woman Of unusual
sweetness OF character, and it was
from her that he inherited that beauty
OF disposition which made him quite
as remarkable as his art.
But the mother who endowed him
with this gentleness of manner died
when the boy was s years old, and
when, two years later, his father died,
the lad was left alone.
His first step was to enter the
studio of Pietro Perugino, an artist
who had one of the largest schools In
Italy. When the man saw the boys
sketches he stood aghast. Let him
be my pupil" he exclaimed, she will
soon become my master
For nine years the young genius
worked under Perugino, winning the
love OF both master and pupils, and 1t
was under the direction of this really
great teacher that he painted his first
pictures.
Then Raphael left the studio TO
make his way alone. There were very
few who were willing to give the young
artist work, for he was unknown and
his genius as yet unrccognized. 1t
remained for a woman to help him In
those early years, and to help, thereby,
the whole world of art.
And it remained for another woman,
this time young and beautiful girl,
to lead him through a great and glori-
GUS love to the height of his career.
Raphael, whose fame had spread
over all of Italy by the time he was
twenty-five, had been called from
Urbino to Rome by papal command to
decorate the Vatican.
Near the Santa Cecilia stood pref
ty little house which was an object OF
great interest to all the young artists
who passed that way-for beautiful
girl was often seen in the garden
which adjoined the house, girl SO
perfect in feature and form that her
beauty lured as magnet.
Raphael passed by the house one
day and peered over the wall. He saw
the girl and Immediately succumbed to
her charms. When he discovered that
Margherita's mind was as beautiful as
her body he fell SO deeply in love that
for twelve years he remained faithful
to the love which ended only with his
life.
With this fervent and lasting ardor
In his heart Raphael worked on his
glorious frescoes In the Vatican, be-
coming more famous with every pic
ture. Finally this task was finished
and the artist commenced to paint the
Sistine Madonna for the Benedictine
Monastery OF San Sisto, from which
It takes its name-not from the Sistine
chapel In the Vatican, as many sup
pose 1t was the last Madonna the
artist painted. Perhaps 1t was be-
cause he had presentiment that this
was to be his final effort, perhaps be-
cause he was painting the face he
loved so well, or perhaps it was mere
ly because he had reached the height
of his genius that Raphael put into
this canvas something that penetrates
the hearts OF hundreds of men and
women every year. Its construction IL
sublimely simple. as all great things
should be.
| We see the Madonna, who has the
glorified countenance OF the beloved
Margherita, standing upon the clouds
In the midst of myriads of cherubs.
In her arms she holds the child. They
are one with the infinite heaven which
seems open behind them. Her eyes
look at you, but they see you not;
they are thinking looking back into
her past with It's mysteries, looking
forward into a veiled and significant
future These eyes once seen are
never forgotten; they draw you agair
tand again to look into their unfath
omable depths.
4 The child, too, is enveloped i'm vel
Iof mysticism. His eyes, looking out
upon the world, seem to see the ira
vail OF his soul and i'm his face W.
read that he ID satisfied. The picture
hangs today In Dresden, having beer
purchased from the monastery in 1754
two hundred years after IL was paint
II nd--Fny- &A{1f)f11