El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-10-03
Rafael Loved But Did Not Wed
Great ItaIian Artist Feared His Work
Would Suffer should He Take n
Wife; His One Love.
BY Madison c. Peters

-By Mnoison c. Peters---
- APHAEL. the greatest Of the group
Of early Italian artists, and they
IL have never been surpassed, came
by his talent naturally, for his father
was an artist, as well as poet
Raphael was born in 1873 at COLOR
dolo. A small town in the duchy Of Ur-
bino. whose ruler, FEDERICO, Of Monte
felto. was an enthusiastic patron Of
all arts.
RaphaeTs parents were both Of good
family. his father being Giovanni Santi
and his mother, who died when he was
but eight years oI5. being the daughter
OF Battiste Charlie, a merchant Of Ur-
bino At the age Of II years he was
left an orphan and was placed with a
painter. PietrO Perugino, an adherent
Of Savanorola, where he had an oppor-
tunity Of developing his great talent
during the nine years that this re-
manned his home
He died at 81, and yet what a Won
derful collection Of paintings he left
behind him! de was not the creator
Of one masterpiece, but Of many. His
..TransfiguratiOu" was unfinished at
the time OF his death, but was carried
in his funeral procession
HIS Best Known Work.
His "ElStlTE Madonna. painted Tor
Benedictine monastery Of san S1stO. at
Pfacenza- is perhaps his best known
work. having been so extensively
copied, both as q whole and IN part, and
people who may not know the artist,
know the painting by name It now
has an honored place in the Dresden
gallery in a room set apart Tor II, with
q setting Of rich red velvet Then there
are his Madonna OF the Bullfnch, the
st Cecilia, THE Marriage Of the Fir-
gin" his portrait Of himself, and many
others one OF his early works, the
.Connestabile Madonna though only
6% inches square, sold in 1871 for
Meets Woman Of His Heart.
In 1908 the pope commissioned him to
fresco the judicial assembly hall Of the
vatican II was while he was engaged
on this work that he met the one Wom-
an he ever loved one cay WINE walk
ing in the street Of Santa Dorotea, ne
espied the beautiful girl bathing her
feet in a fountain Of the gardens he
was so fascinated by her beauty that
he left nothing undone TO bring ABOUT
a meeting Unlike so many OF those
fmpulsive attractions which OFTEN prove
so disappointing. Raphaefs admiration
ripened into the deepest love, winch
lasted until his death On his first
rough studies Of La DlspuIa nave
been found some love Sonnets TO the
fair Margherita, showing that ne IN
herited some OF his fathers poetic
genius.
So many hours were consumed In
dreaming Of his beloved that his work
suffered in consequence, and his patron
at this time. q rich banker, AgoSuno
Chigt. in whose palace ne vas lnsI SIlt'
despaired Of ever having mis- work fin
ished. and he finally prevailed upon /
Margherita to take up her abode IN |
the palace also
In 1909 Raphael painted Margherita's |
portrait. She is described as being the /
pure Italian type, an oval face, with |
dark eyes and black hair smoothly |
parted over her brow
No Desire to Marty.
Raphael seems to have had no desire |
~ NARY for. although his uncle de- |
sired him to have a chatelaine for MS /
fine residence in the Via de Berso /
Nueva, he declared that his Work might
have suffered had he been encountered /
with a wife.
At one time he was engaged TO I
Maria. the daughter Of Antonio Dlyizio I
ia Bfbiena, but evidently he was not
anxious to make the tie more DlndlnSr f!
-. tbe enga cement was prolonged year /
after year until it was finally broken !
bv the death Of Maria She IS buried IN /
RaphaePs chapel, in the Pantheon
Marrherita was an inmate OF ha-
rbaeTs home at the time OF his death, /
and he left her IN comfortable clrcu.h-
stances Whether he did not want the I
confirming ties OF marriage, or WneIner /
he considered Margherita his social IN
ferior. II is hard TO tell; or perhaps had
Vsrgherita been more unattainable, he
might have married her but Of his I
lasting passion there can be no doubt
II is thought that she was the original
81 the s'Sistine Madonna" when she was
more mature than at the time he paint
I'd her portrait In one Of his sonnets
to her he writes:
Love thou hast bound ne with the
light Of two eyes which torment me,
with a fac elike snow and roses, with
sweet words and tender manners 50
great is my ardOr that no river or sea
could extinguish my fire"